Jim Fiscus has an interesting interview (given by a student from his alma-mater, East Texas State) over on the Stockland-Martel blog.

In particular, I liked his parting advice to “aspiring” photographers. (I put aspiring in quotes, because frankly, I think it applies to ALL photographers.)

Learn business skills. Outwork your competitors. Take risks, and be willing to fail.

Good stuff. A simple lesson that bears repeating. Luck is important, but the harder you work, the more opportunity for luck to jump in and lend a hand - you make your own luck.

A few other gems hiding in there. His point about good light is important. Many people seem to think you can fix or create just about anything in post production. And there is no doubt that you can do quite alot. But starting with good light. Learning how to light and set a subject, puts you that much further ahead. It saves you time in post, you start with better material, all in all - you can work to make a good or great picture that much better, instead of spending all of your time trying to overcome flaws in technique.

All of which is a long way of saying. Technique matters. It doesn’t matter how grand and creative your vision is, if you cannot effectively realize it in final image.

Read the full interview here.

Thanks all. Good light.
Liam