By Wayne Cosshall

The common image of the lone photographer out with a camera working in isolation isn’t always accurate.

My wife, a painter, recently became involved with art groups that provide highly social and creatively rewarding, collaborative working environments. Her experiences with these groups got me thinking about photography.

On the surface, my photographic life seems to have been mainly solitary. I haven’t run a studio with assistants around. Nor have I worked in wedding or portrait photography, which are inherently people-oriented disciplines. When I shoot, I do so mainly for myself or to illustrate articles I am working on, so I mainly shoot alone. Yet this is only on the surface.

I actually do not always shoot alone. My 11-year old daughter is often with me, because I am teaching her photography. This is rewarding, not only in terms of strengthening family bonds, but also to my own photography because I get to see things through new eyes.

Occasionally, I shoot with other photographers who I have met online. I am very active online in photography discussions and discussions with my own readers, here and on my own site www.dimagemaker.com. Some of my online relationships with other photographers and digital artists go back many years. Many of these relationships are quite rich and deep, with ongoing discussions of our work, methods and aesthetics in general. I also teach photography, now mainly through workshops, and enjoy rich interactions with my students.

And I interact with other photographers more distantly by seeing their work at exhibitions, in books and magazines, and online. Not only is this type of relationship more remote, but it is really a three-way relationship between me, the other photographer and his or her work.

Plus, I talk to other photographers at various meetings, exhibitions (both mine and others’) and conferences.

There are definitely great rewards in working alone. For example, you get to develop uninfluenced by others and more easily gain the meditative benefits of photography. But there are many benefits from social interactions, too. Some of these benefits include:

·         Exposure to new ideas, ways of working, and interpretations;

·         The ability to work through photographic problems by asking others for suggestions;

·         Relaxation and stress release;

·         The discovery of new shooting locations;

·         The ability to try out equipment before buying it;

·         The opportunity to give and receive criticism of photographs;

·         Training;

·         Introductions to other people who can help;

·         The opportunity to learn through teaching and assisting others;

·         Multiple opportunities to join exhibitions, publication, and new work.

The number of ways to broaden your photographic social network is huge. Some of these are:

·         Posting online portfolios and discussing the images on sites such as flickr;

·         Participating in online discussion groups and forums;

·         Joining camera clubs;

·         Attending or teaching workshops and courses;

·         Interacting with fellow attendees at exhibitions;

·         Exhibiting your own work and getting feedback from viewers;

·         Using networking sites such as meetup.com to find and join face-to-face get-togethers of photographers;

·         Getting  acquainted with painters and other visual artists;

·         Joining professional associations, either general photography groups, or those that specialize in your area of photography;

·         Attending conferences and trade shows.

People are fundamentally social creatures, so it’s not surprising that there are myriad ways to interact socially even in what seems to be a solitary avocation.

We all can become staid and stagnant sometimes. Thus, it can be beneficial to shake up the status quo from time and time and try doing something new.

Even if you already have an extensive network of photographic contacts, keep in mind that those contacts can also become stagnant. Just as a trip to a new country can stimulate the creative juices, so can bringing new people into your life.

Why don’t you reach out tomorrow?

By Marc Aguilera 

Are you on Twitter? If so we want to hear from you. Our user name is @encompus and we would love more followers. If you don't know all about the Twitter craze, just read David Pogue’s tips for beginners in the NY Times, Jessica Guynn’s story in the LA Times, or even watch a Charlie Rose interview with Evan Williams, CEO and Founder of Twitter.

By Wayne Cosshall

I teach photography workshops. I also effectively teach through my writings here and at Digital ImageMaker. And I also do public speaking on photography at camera clubs, libraries and the like. These activities, combined with my years of editing professional photography magazines, have allowed me to spend a lot of time talking to both amateur and professional photographers.

By Wayne Cosshall

You can read more on this topic on my online magazine The Digital Imagemaker.

By Wayne Cosshall

In part 1 of this article, we looked at how photographers could free themselves to be more creative by becoming better organized. In that post, we talked about organizing equipment, shoot planning, and contact lists. Let’s continue getting organized.

Tracking payments, debts and invoices. Tracking and managing all these business details is critical if photography is your business, either full or part time. You have compliance and tax obligations to meet, and must stay in control of your costs and income.

Here you have three choices: (1) do it all yourself; (2) do some of it yourself; or (3) hand it all off to a bookkeeper or accountant. The last is a great option, because most of us creative types find anything like bookkeeping to be instant death. However, an accountant costs money, so it may not be an option.

Alternatively, you can invest in some appropriate accounting software, learn it, and then use it either to do the whole job or just parts of it, with an accountant or bookkeeper doing the rest. This gives you more control and reduces costs. Accounting software such as QuickBooks or MYOB, can do the job for you.

Whatever solution you use, get an accountant to set it all up for you, including choosing the software. Then go to a training course or send the person who will be tracking your payments, debts and invoices. This is important, as even the simplest program of this type is quite complex. You need to get it right.

Planning image manipulations. In the old days of working in the darkroom I would do straight proof prints in 8x10 size and then, much later, sit with a chinagraph pencil and mark up areas of the print for burning in or holding back, dropping in another negative with masking, etc. I didn’t do this in the darkroom, but only after the print was completely dry and in the sort of lighting in which I would eventually be hanging the finished print. Free from the darkroom, I had my choice of lighting and could consider the image in comfort and over an extended period of time. I could even put the print on the fridge door so I could consider it over days.

Today, I do all my manipulation work on the computer. There is a great temptation to do all the work at the computer. I believe this is a mistake.

It is far better to mirror the darkroom approach and make a proof print in a smaller size. Then, consider it carefully and mark it up only after you’ve allowed yourself time with the image. It doesn’t all have to be a rush.

Getting things done on time. In today’s fast-moving 24/7 world, there is so much to keep track of. You need to keep track of deadlines, research, contacts, trips, websites, models, locations, timelines, client appointments and more. All of these can be tracked on paper. But as a computer nerd, I look for computer solutions.

Keeping track of everything you have to do is important. You can use a diary or calendar program but not all tasks are best kept that way.

I like to-do lists and I’ve tried a variety of programs to manage them. Most calendar programs have basic to-do capabilities, but these are very limited.

I’ve started using a program called iGTD. This is a Mac-only program, but it suits me because I work mainly on a Mac. The name comes from a book by David Allen called Getting Things Done, which describes a methodology for managing all the things we have to do. There are many other programs that implement these ideas for both Macs and Windows PCs.

iGTD lets me create tasks, and assign end dates, priorities and level of difficulty. I can also write notes about tasks, and set up tasks to repeat on a set schedule. When I complete such a task, it automatically reschedules to the next date.

iGTD is donationware software and works amazingly well. I love it, though I am still exploring all it can do for me. For example, it can also synchronize with a calendar program and generate alarms or reminder messages.

Tasks can be assigned to Contexts and Projects. Contexts divide tasks into those that need to take place in certain locations. Projects are particular activities. Both Contexts and Projects can be hierarchical, giving you further organization options.

Getting organized is not a burden. In fact, it frees you from worrying about all the things that must be done. Getting all that out of your head and off your shoulders frees you to create, and to enjoy the creating.

It can take time to turn something of little interest into something of beauty. This is especially true of creativity, which you can't do in a rush or with millions of other things on your mind. Get better organized and you are free to play.