Smartphone Photography Club

One of the biggest challenges we face as photo enthusiasts is the self-belief that we are not creative enough. Is that you? Did you miss out on that creative gene that everyone else seems to have? I believed that for so long myself. My dad and sister can pick up and play any instrument and are excellent illustrators. My stick figures are barely recognisable and I cannot even play the kazoo.

Working in a technical field of photography for 20 years, there was no scope for creativity. I believed that was my strength and I was one of those technical types. I discussed this in more detail in episode one.

Surveying our wonderful Facebook group, the two top obstacles to reaching your desires were photo composition and creativity. Have you found yourself in a location and just standing there thinking I do not know what to capture. That is covered in the 14-Day Photo Creativity Challenge (Link below).

We all scroll through our social media feeds and are inspired by amazing photos such as National Geographic. The majority of accounts now on Instagram for example are curated photos from a number of sources. Some of those photos take months to prepare, setup and execute.

Creativity starts by learning some basic design and visual communication concepts and principles. The key to an engaging, interesting photo is learning what attracts, holds and controls the viewer's attention. This knowledge is far better than a smartphone upgrade!

In this episode, I share how to take a mundane, simple subject and push yourself to capture nine interesting photos. You can start with different angles, perspectives, lighting and the inclusion of props. etc.

This activity is not about the end result. It is about getting out there and pushing yourself to try new things and most importantly experiment. After a while, we all end up in a creativity rut, where we get bored with our own photos. This is a great exercise to come back to on a regular basis as it is quick easy to do.

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Take the14-Day Photo Creativity Challenge to quickly unleash your photo creativity through daily project-based learning: bit.ly/3aBXPhy

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FREE membership – full access to the community forum, unlocked tutorials, downloadable PDFs and 5-part video series: bit.ly/sptgetstarted

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Smartphone photography gear: Struman Optics lens accessories and tripods: bit.ly/3gv9JuC

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Accelerate your learning. Join the Live 6-week small group program: Smartphone Photography Transformation: 5-Step System: bit.ly/sptspt

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Join the email list to stay up to date on the latest articles and tutorials: bit.ly/sptemail

Be passionate, Be creative and Stay curious

- Mike

Read the full article at https://www.smartphonephotographytraining.com/capturing-photos/subject-9-ways-discover-your-creativity

In this first episode, I provide the backstory of Smartphone Photography Training. This provides the context of who I love to help and how I am a little different from every other photography educator out there. 

After 20-years working in a technical area of photography, I didn’t take photos personally and really disliked photography. This became apparent when my mum passed away and I tragically discovered only 6 photos over her last 9 years as my 3 kids grew up. It was then that I realised photos were a gift for others. 

I suspended my prejudice toward the smartphone, took more photos of my family and myself. Surprisingly, I discovered a passion for taking photos of flowers and landscapes. I knew all the technical stuff; however, creativity and creating those stunning photos was a real struggle. I didn’t get it and was a real frustration until I shared a coffee with my professional photographer friend Kyle. 

He explained that his creativity came from applying photography principles and guidelines to every photo. I couldn’t believe it, what I thought was my weakness could become my strength. A systematic approach to photography was the answer. The big AHA moment was thinking about how all the elements in the photo would attract, hold, guide or detract and viewer’s attention and affect their experience. My results accelerated like never. My photos had a purpose, emotion, communicated something, they were special and meant something. 

Researching and delivering these guidelines through in-person workshops, I needed to simplify everything into an easy step-by-step system to deliver the biggest transformation in the shortest time. After investing 2-years in Instructional Design qualification, I created the ‘Complete Smartphone Photography Transformation: 4-Step System.’ Each step has its own step-by-step system: Step 1 – Photo Intention and Storytelling; Step 2 – Composition Stacking; Step 3 – Blurry to Tack-Sharp Photos and Step 4 – Mobile Editing to Enhance the Photo.

Studying photos, you admire, you will be able to break down the elements, identify what the photographer did and model it in your own photos – essentially becoming a Photo Hacker! Smartphone photography is fun, good for the mind, body and soul. You too will have less self-doubt and insecurities about your photos, more self-esteem and feel motivated and inspired. 

The direction of this podcast will be guided by you, the audience. Your comments and reviews provide direct feedback on what you want more. This is not going to be a smartphone camera review or technical podcast. I will be concentrating on solid photography principles and make it relevant to you using your existing smartphone... Android or iPhone.

・・・

Take the14-Day Photo Creativity Challenge to quickly unleash your photo creativity through daily project-based learning: bit.ly/3aBXPhy

・・・

FREE membership – full access to the community forum, unlocked tutorials, downloadable PDFs and 5-part video series: bit.ly/sptgetstarted

・・・

Smartphone photography gear: Struman Optics lens accessories and tripods: bit.ly/3gv9JuC

・・・

Accelerate your learning. Join the Live 6-week small group program: Smartphone Photography Transformation: 5-Step System: bit.ly/sptspt

・・・

Join the email list to stay up to date on the latest articles and tutorials: bit.ly/sptemail

Be passionate, Be creative and Stay curious

- Mike

Read the full article at https://www.smartphonephotographytraining.com/podcast/ep1-welcome-smartphone-photography-club-podcast