What is your philoshophy on sharing your work? Do you share ONLY your best images? Do you share only one image on a certain frequency? Or do you share multiple images, whenever inspiration strikes? Do you even have a philosophy you follow for sharing? Where did it come from?
I realized I DO have a philosophy for sharing my work yesterday, when discussing this with another photographer friend. He was talking about the idea of sharing ONLY your best work online, something that I’ve heard many times from different professional photographers. The idea is that you cull the images down to the best of the best and only share those.
There are things I agree with in this philosophy, namely the “culling” of the many to the few. I think one of our best learning opportunities is in the review and selection of our “best” photographs. Being able to distinguish them, and to be able to consciously say why, helps us to grow our vision. The next time we are out photographing we will bring the learning from the previous session’s review, helping us to create even better photographs. It’s a never-ending cycle that builds. I think of it as a spiral: Each time you come around the spiral to photograph again, you are in a slightly different, slightly better (higher) place on the spiral if you work hard to review and select your best.
In general I don’t follow the “share only the best” philosophy, though, and that’s because regular sharing has become part of my personal practice in a different way. It’s not about sharing for feedback or to grow an audience, it’s about a regular practice of creating and what I learn from it. This practice started long ago, while in Italy, when I was being badgered by a friend to update my blog. I didn’t want to write about daily life or activities, but I could get myself interested to share a favorite photograph each day and writing a little bit about it. Holy Moly, did that change everything! I learned about my photographic eye, and myself, in amazing ways. It became an essential part of my creative process. Over time, it became more and more about writing from the heart and choosing the right photograph to complement my words, than choosing the “best” photograph to share that day.
Recently, my daily creative practice has changed, but sharing is still a big part of it. Even though I write almost daily on the blog and this is an important part of my creative practice, my daily “goal” for creating has shifted to creating at least one new, edited image a day from my mobile work. Then I share. Sharing is the completion of the process; the check in the box that says I fulfilled my personal goal. In a way I’m doing sort of a 365 project, but with editing instead of photographing every day, and without strict adherence to the “365” part. Whether it’s photographing, or painting or writing every day, it’s all creating, anyway, regardless of what type it is. It’s all useful for learning and growing.
What I’m sharing every day this way is not necessarily my “best” work. I find it takes some time to tell what’s “best.” Sometimes I look back at the things I’ve shared and am horrified. I liked it, maybe even loved it, at the time, or I wouldn’t have shared it. The ones that are the “best” are the ones I love days, weeks, months later. Sometimes, I know that in the moment I’ve created it, that it’s one of my best. Other times, a “best” image has to grow on me. The history I build through creating and then sharing helps me to learn more about what’s “best,” while also providing a record of my development over time.
I don’t share everything I create, believe me. There is some stuff in the moment of creating I know is awful and leave it on the hard drive. I have lots of failed experiments. They serve their purpose, helping me learn what does NOT work. I also do cull significantly from my original photographs, to get to the images I use for my creations. I can’t imagine trying to creatively edit every photograph I take. Whew. I wouldn’t have the time, or the inspiration.
It was an interesting conversation, yesterday, as we discussed this topic. I was figuring it out on the fly, as I realized I had a different motivation for my sharing than he did. It reminded me that each of us will have different motivations in our art, and I can’t assume yours will be the same as mine. Each person can develop their own personal rules and philosophy for sharing, like anything else. Some may share for feedback, while others share for connection. For me, it’s primarily part of a daily creative practice that keeps me learning and growing.
What is your philosophy on sharing?
My blog says – “One side of me would prefer to call this my visual ‘journal,’ as this section reflects images that I make, new techniques I try, places I explore or events that I record throughout the year.” And, I think that pretty much fits my philosophy regarding sharing. While I do try to ‘cull’ the images – posting typically the better ones, but not always the best ones – there are a few images in retrospect that make me shake my head! LOL
A friend once asked me why I blogged. I described it as a form of discipline or an exercise to keep shooting and learning.
You have raised so good questions in today’s post. I’ll try to come back later and read what others have to say!
Thanks for leaving a note, so we can see what philosophies come through for folks. I’ll be interested in hearing more, too!
I’ve just been thinking about this lately myself. While I try to share good photos on my blog, my purpose is a little different- taking photos for me is a creative outlet & I find it relaxing & therapeutic- so my blog is a way of sorting through what i take & organising them. For me i think it’s more important to take photos regularly & post them regularly than to wait for only those that are ‘good enough’. ( I probably wouldn’t post often at all!)
Thanks for sharing Leanne! I like the way you put that, your aren’t waiting for those that are “good enough.” I bet over time, through regularly sharing, your idea of “good enough” has changed anyway. Maybe it’s through a regular practice of sharing that we actually start to find our “best” ones. If we waited for “good enough,” we never would.
Interesting question. Photography for me is a personal creative outlet, not a profession, and sharing my photos at all is relatively new to me. Of course, I’d like for all the images I share to be beautiful and worthy of attention. But my blog is also a way for me to share bits of my life with friends, and sometimes the photos I post are not the “best” either artistically or technically. They are just pictures of things I find interesting or curious or amusing and think that others might enjoy seeing, too.
The photographs you share are a personal connection to you, and I love that, Lee. I think there is a distinction between those who are striving to be professional and those who are not. Maybe posting only your “best” images is what you need to do if you are striving to make a living selling your work or as a commercial photographer.
Kat, I’ve been noticing how you have started putting up just one image a day on your blog, unless you’re doing a tutorial. Then I began taking note of other bloggers, and how many photos they post……I have to admit that when it’s over 6 or 7, I feel overwhelmed!
Recently, I’ve been realizing that I like to tell stories with my photos, and so will select the ones that best illustrate my narrative when I post. I’ve also started a 365 project, which is getting me out more with my camera and trying new things. I select the ” best of the day” to put on flickr. Sometimes, when I really love an image, I will share it on my blog. These two practices seem to complement each other.
And on this topic, I have to add: my email box got filled up by a friend who just returned from India and sent over 400 photos in her email — what was she thinking?
Wow, 400 photos via email! I guess that’s the modern equivalent of being invited over to watch someone’s vacation slides. Yeah… culling is an important skill!
Your comment leads me to think… whether we show one photo or multiple photos often depends on the story we are trying to tell. I think the goal is to be intentional, whatever we decide to do!
I read something a couple of days ago that recommended only posting your best pictures and that did make me stop and think. But when I started my blog it was specifically as a creative outlet and to get over my perfectionist tendencies – I think if I only posted my best work there would be very little on my blog! My 365 is about capturing everyday moments – they’re not all ‘best’ shots but again, that’s not really the point for me.
I also find it interesting that it is sometimes the shots I’ve hesitated to publish that get the biggest response, go figure!
I’m glad you know what the point is for you! And it is interesting that we can’t predict which images others will like. Whenever I do a giveaway and ask people to choose, they always surprise me!
On my blog, I tend to share what I would consider my “best” or at least, my favorite work at any given moment. But as you said, sometimes that judgement changes over time, as my skills and interests evolve.
On a daily basis, I share a photo on Flickr as part of my Project 365 commitment. It is the nature of such a project that some days yield less-than-stellar results. When I look back on my 3+ years of images, there are certainly many that, from this vantage point, are cringe-worthy. But the commitment is about making photography part of my daily life and not every day results in a portfolio-worthy image.
And again – I really, really love this image. That combination of organic tree silhouette and the geometric mosaic is so very appealing to me. If you have time, stop by my blog tomorrow – I wrote a post about recent artistic influences and your work figures in. Thanks for the inspiration 🙂