How To Build and Develop Muscles
“A photographer slices space and time, then bundles them together with light to produce an image for others to appreciate.”
We recently returned from a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Luckily we were able to use our timeshare exchange, which was about to expire, and my wife Elfa managed to trade it for a week in one of our favorite cities. We’ve been there many times in different seasons and were happy to return for a visit. Our excuse was The Santa Fe Photographic workshop. I began the ritual of taking a week-long seminar with great photographer teachers here in 2011. We’ve come here each year since then, with the exception of 2013, when we took our first trip to Cuba—sponsored by this organization. The result of that workshop was my first photo-book Soy Cubano (which you can buy on Amazon too).
This time, I wanted to take a class with Sam Abell, a world-renowned photographer, who worked for National Geographic for 31 years and taught in Santa Fe for 26 years. The problem was that the enrollment was full. I was the 8th person on the waiting list. What were the chances for me to get in? But where there is a wish, there is a way. Three days before our departure, I received a call—I was in!
My education as a photographer came primarily from years of experience, classes I took at the City College of San Francisco, and seminars with various photographers. I photograph as well as look at books with the works of other great photographers, daily. You see some of my results once a week in the “My Encounters: Photos & Stories by Manny Kagan” newsletter. Photography requires various skills. One of them is the ability to see. Most of us know how to look—seeing is a different skill. This might be the talent similar to those possessed by painters, musicians, and athletes. And like with all of the mentioned fields, one’s talent can manifest only through constant practice with the help of good teachers.
As adage points out, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” Sam Abell was such a teacher in my current state. His course was appropriately titled “What is Next?” For me, photography is a hobby after I spend 10 hours a day helping clients get a mortgage. But it is a necessary self-expression. I see my photography (as well as my mortgage occupation), as a way to share what I possess—a way to help others to feel better and find joy. Sam Abell’s photography is very poetic; his images contain subtle messages. Some of them are among the best in National Geographic history.
One of the teachings he passed on from his father was “compose and wait”. I often practice this rule in my mortgage work as well. The trick is—how to compose? How to make mini adjustments, which will convert a snapshot into the image that will evoke positive emotions for the viewer (or the recipient of the mortgage)?
This requires mastership, which comes through constant practice.
P.S.
The four images are from 20 that I’ve shown to the group during the workshop (out of 2500 that I photographed). Enjoy and share it with a friend.
Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!
