5 Tips to Keep It Simple, Keep it Real

For what it’s worth, I thought I’d pass along a few tips that have helped me over the years, in fact most of these points have been with me through my whole career as a photog–too many years to admit. Here you go:

1. Use Notebooks: I’ve been keeping notebooks for years and in today’s all digital world, don’t forget the forgotten notebook. I love to keep track of key things and even print out vital instructions or notes for a design etc. The poor little notebook has been replaced by all sorts of devices but it’s not the same as having material right to hand!You can see I use the ones we used in school– yep they work great.

2. Use whiteboards: On a larger scale I love white boards to sketch out my projects. I can easily twirl around and have a look to stay focused. Great for tracking and reviewing our priorities with the team.

3. Look at other’s work, and not just photography by a long shot. On our recent trip to Spain I dove into he work of Dali and Gaudi, I was totally intrigued by their “over the top” creativity. I love to see how artists present their work and try to pay attention to all those ambient points that may slip by.

4. Get off the grid! Ok, here I am typing away and totally hooked to my digital world, but the downside is it can absorb and distract you better than just about anything short of a hornets nest breaking loose on a picnic! Be sure you put in plenty of time and get out with your camera and notebook and see life. I try to do things that are completely unlike what I do with photography and video~getting out for long swims, ride the Vespa, surf, hike etc.

5. Set your goals large and small and stay on top of them. In the big picture, I make sure I have my plans worked out at the end of each year, so I can jump right into the new year. I also review where I’ve been and where I plan to go when I take a vacation (and yes I laid out a plan for a whole new show on our recent travels.) In the smaller view, I begin each week with an action plan of what I intend to do and refer back to it and check it off regularly.

I’ve got plenty more and we can explore these along with what I’ve picked up from other artists. Just remember to keep it simple and keep it real.