It's All About Me!

I have been cleaning out my photo library this afternoon.

I've culled over 3,000 photos and I'm less than halfway through them all!  What a job!

I thought I would share The Master's speech with you tonight.  The speech that he made at the exhibit opening.

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** First of all, let me say thank you to the directors of the gallery for having me here, and a personal thank you to Roz for inviting me to say a few words tonight.

I am often asked to speak at various functions and events that relate to photography, including at graduation events for photography students as they graduate from college. 

But I have never before had the chance to speak at the opening night of a photography exhibition by a person who was once one of my students, and who I can now call a friend.  So it is indeed a very special honour to be here.

No please don't think that by mentioning that Roz was one of my students I am trying to take credit for what she has done.  I might have planted a small seed of knowledge at the start, the the rest is all Roz.

When I first met Roz it was April last year, at my beginner's workshop.  I will repeat, Roz was at a BEGINNER'S workshop, just 18 MONTHS AGO.  At the time, Roz was really - to me - just another student (no offence Roz).

I keep in touch with a lot of my past students through an online forum, so I was able to see some of Roz's progress ... I noticed that she was taking a lot of photos and the quality of her work was getting better and better.  Then around Christmas, I got an email saying "Help!  Someone wants to buy my photos and I have no idea what to charge them!"

I sent back an email full of very sensible advice, when what my email should really have said is -

"Excuse me ... what the hell?  Less than a year ago, you were a beginner (no offence Roz) and now people are asking you to name your price?  Seriously?  That's not possible."

But of course it is possible because Roz did it.  So forget 'not possible' ... it's just 'not fair'.  Not fair on all those talented photographers out there who toil away for ten years to achieve only a fraction of what Roz has achieved.

So, how does one go from enthusiastic novice (no offence Roz) to virtual professional in less than a year?  Apart from raw natural talent, you can sum it up in one word - dedication.  OR you can sum it up in three words - TOTAL LUNATIC OBSESSION.

(No offence Roz)

I am guessing that Roz is out there 3 or 4 hours a day, 7 days a week, 364 days a year.  And I don't mean just trundling about randomly until you accidentally stumble across an opportunity.

I mean getting to know your locations inside and out, so you know where you need to be, when you need to be there, what time of the day sun shines from the best angle, what time of day the birds are active, which spots are good at high tide ... or low tide.

It all goes into the big mental calculator ... and when a moment comes along that seems just too good to be true, you don't capture it by sheer luck.  You capture it because you were the one person on earth who anticipated that moment and was there waiting - camera in hand - before it happened.

During all these hundreds of hours you are busily taking thousands of photos.  And don't think for a minute that all we do is snap away and eventually we get a few good shots by accident.  No, you look at every shot you take and you ask yourself - what did I do right, what did I do wrong, what can I do better - and you use that information to make your next shot better, and you keep on doing it until you get that shot perfect.

And here is the thing that sets the lunatic apart from the rest.  Even when you have your perfect shot - you go back the next day and see if you can get something even better.

So all in all, I guess it was only a matter of time (just 18 months as it turns out) before Roz became a featured artist in an exhibition.  What did surprise me, when I was preparing my thoughts on how far she had come as a nature photographer, was to find out - oh by the way, I will also be showing some of my new art deco work.

So I repeat - what the hell?  It's not enough that you master in six months what most people spend a lifetime trying to achieve, you have now just picked up a whole new art form and mastered that as well!

So, to sum all of this up in just a few short words.

ROZ... YOU ARE TOO GOOD - it's not fair on the rest of us.

YOU ARE A LUNATIC - No offence - I mean lunatic in the best sense of the word.

And one more thing ... congratulations. I am so proud of you, and may this be the first of many successful exhibitions **

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Thank you to The Master :D

Finishing off with a family photo, taken before my brother left on Sunday morning.

Fancy that!  Two family photos in one weekend!  Unheard of!

Nite all.