Copyright Scott Bourne 2004 - All Rights Reserved
I heard Guy Kawasaki say this once. It never left me. He’s right of course. Every boat is safest in the harbor – but boats aren’t meant to sit in the harbor. Boats are designed to go sail the ocean blue. So while it’s safer to sit in the harbor, all the action is OUT THERE.
As photographers, we can sit in our comfortable place. Whether that’s a creative rut, a routine that provides the same exact shot over and over or a closet full of excuses like we don’t have enough gear or the weather isn’t perfect, etc, we can just stay safe.
But just as boats aren’t meant to sit in the harbor, neither are we as photographers meant to just stay in our ruts. We need to go out and just have fun. Go out and just make art. Be a five year old again. Just create stuff. Just photograph everything with whatever camera and lens you can find. Change it up – mix it up. Don’t just sit in the harbor because the seas get rough. Heck – that’s when it gets interesting.
Get up early tomorrow – without regard for the weather or how you feel or what condition your camera is in – just get up. Get off the bed or the couch. Put down the Cheetos and the remote control. Get your camera and shoot something you’ve never shot before. Find a subject or a location or a time of day that is brand new to you and make photographs.
If you let your boat sit in the harbor too long, it will be crippled by barnacles. There will come a time when it won’t even sail. And while it will have been “safe,” it won’t have fulfilled its purpose – that is – to sail the ocean blue and make something new!
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Sponsored by PMA – It’s not too early to mark your calendar because this is big. For the first time in the USA, the PMA tradeshow and conference will be open to the general public – September 6-11, 2011 in Las Vegas. See you there – http://bit.ly/9yaL2I
