{"id":479,"date":"2011-10-09T11:36:36","date_gmt":"2011-10-09T19:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/randyw.camiwp.com\/?p=479"},"modified":"2020-07-01T12:11:01","modified_gmt":"2020-07-01T20:11:01","slug":"randy-wells-photography-classic-porsche-automotive-travel-music-reviews-68","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/randywells.com\/blog\/?p=479","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

\"aw6a.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

ON BEING AN ARTIST TODAY<\/strong> – Randy’s Photo Tips<\/p>\n

Sometimes I forget how hard it must be for young photographers and artists who face the challenges of today’s modern world.<\/p>\n

I was recently compelled to post a comment on a blog buddy’s website. I saw a comment that gave advice on this stuff that seemed to come from a different culture. Maybe I’m just lucky to still be able to work at what I love, or maybe I’m just an old white guy…<\/p>\n

Here’s what I wrote. Maybe it will help somebody somewhere. <\/p>\n

“Simplify, simplify, simplify. And learn how to say no.” <\/p>\n

“It’s a huge help that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been blessed to do what I really love for a living. Great wife and no commute. If I weren’t passionate about everything I do (I work 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week), I would have given up years ago.” <\/p>\n

“Not getting any easier though. Working more for less is something that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve adjusted to like many artists. I keep telling myself that when the economy recovers I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be well positioned to take advantage of it\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6”<\/p>\n

“I try to take one day off a month and do nothing, and I mean nothing. Maybe stare at the ocean is all. It helps. Hope this helps too. Hang in there.”<\/p>\n

“Whatever you do, please don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do anything half-assed. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get that philosophy. If you feel like you have to slack off at something, you shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be doing it in the first place.”<\/p>\n

“Sometimes you need to just do nothing. Choosing to do nothing is a long way from simply going through the motions.”<\/p>\n

Please remember to approach life as if everything matters (because it does). Once you find your life purpose, do everything you can to align yourself with the best people and projects that fit into that. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry about making mistakes along the way. There are none.<\/p>\n

By eliminating the unimportant stuff, you can approach what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s left with full commitment. Do everything the best you can. From opening a door to organizing a complex photo shoot. You only have The Now<\/em> to think about. There is no tomorrow and no yesterday. Life\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a journey that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best approached one step at a time. (Zen lecture over)<\/p>\n

I used to teach a workshop called The Poetic Element in Photography<\/em>. These are the books I referenced:<\/p>\n

Art & Fear \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Boyles\/Orland
\nArtists on Art \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Goldwater
\nThe Artist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Way \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Cameron
\nAs Above So Below \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Miller
\nThe Business of Being an Artist \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Grant
\nThe Courage To Create \u00e2\u20ac\u201c May
\nA Creative Companion \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Sark
\nDrama of the Gifted Child -Miller
\nEscaping the Prison of the Intellect \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Chopra
\nFeel The Fear and Do It Anyway \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Jeffers
\nFree Play \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Nachmanovitch
\nI Become Part Of It \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Jordan-Smith
\nA Joseph Campbell Companion- Osbon
\nListening To Nature \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Cornell
\nLove Is Letting Go of Fear -Jampolsky
\nNo More Secondhand Art \u00e2\u20ac\u201c London
\nNo Ordinary Moments \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Millman
\nOn Creativity \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Moore
\nColor Photography \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Haas -check out the philosophy section of his website: ernst-haas.com<\/a> <\/p>\n

(Photograph: Andrea Wells)<\/p>\n

Steve Jobs 7 Secrets to Success<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ON BEING AN ARTIST TODAY – Randy’s Photo Tips Sometimes I forget how hard it must be for young photographers and artists who face the challenges of today’s modern world. I was recently compelled to post a comment on a blog buddy’s website. I saw a comment that gave advice on this stuff that seemed … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/randywells.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/randywells.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/randywells.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randywells.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randywells.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=479"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/randywells.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18574,"href":"https:\/\/randywells.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479\/revisions\/18574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/randywells.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randywells.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randywells.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}