Hi ,
I look back fondly on some of my favorite Thanksgivings; some of them were spend rock climbing and sitting around the campfire in the desert with friends, one of them was spent packing for a trip to climb volcanoes in Mexico, and of course, many were spent with family. This year I'm laying low in Anchorage turkey, close family and high hopes
for the snow to pile up so I can ride my fat tire snow bike. Or clear skies, so I can go out and shoot some new aerials. Looking at the weather, I may not get either. At least I had turkey.
Whether you enjoyed a big meal with family or ventured out on a road trip, I hope you had a very happy Thanksgiving and have some great stuff planned for the rest of the weekend.
With that in mind, I’ll make the theme of this newsletter, “3 Things to Be Thankful For as a Photographer.”
1. Creativity
We humans possess an amazing ability to see the world in a unique way, process our findings with the color of our own experiences and emotions and create things and ideas that have never been made or seen on this earth before. To me, this is simply mind blowing. I guess some people would call it being blessed. However you look at it, we human types all have the capacity for a wide range of creativity, whether it be through our end result or the methods by which we set out to make our
photographs, or whatever craft/art form we choose.
And that’s the great thing, we don’t have to limit ourselves. There’s an endless number of creative outlets we can explore, depending on our current drives, interested and desires. The only real limit we have for exploring our creativity is time, which I realize, is something we never have enough of.
Actually, that’s not quite true. Time is not our only limitation. We are often our own biggest roadblocks to creativity. We often let our inner judges run amok, which seeds fear of failure and self criticism and prevents us from realizing the full potential of our creative energies.
Although it’s a fact of life for everyone, to me this is tragic. We shouldn’t let this inner combat inside our psyche work against us. It happens, though, and we all (including me) need to remember that There is No Failure in Creativity. If we look at creativity as a mindset and a way of life, we won’t be so inclined to let that fear in. Read more of my thoughts on the subject and see how to prevent these kinds of negative thoughts here. Be thankful for your own creativity and don’t let your own fears hijack it.
2. Opportunity
We live in an amazing time. In this day and age, we have so many opportunities at our fingertips. Endless opportunities. Wondrous opportunities that have the potential to provide for immeasurable success, fulfillment and happiness. We can write own story and forge our own path in whatever way we desire. That’s not to say it’s easy to find. Quite the contrary. Good opportunity often lives behind formidable challenges. Sometimes opportunity requires considerable effort or money,
but sometimes it requires something entirely different.
And sometimes it takes looking at the world and at ourselves in a different way. Often times opportunity is hidden behind barriers that have more to do with ideas, trends and paradigms than with financial constraints or physical limitations.
The thing with life is that it doesn’t have any rules. Society has rules, but life does not. In fact, most of the guidelines for life were written by people who do not have your best interests at heart. The truth is that Life can be whatever you imagine for yourself.
If I believe in one mantra, it’s this- Your life is your own. Take control of it and don’t give your blood to people who will not genuinely appreciate it. That’s not to say that it’s not ok to give some blood in order to gather the means to reorganize and make important changes, just do not give all of it. Be thankful for your life and your ideas and do not waste either of them. Read more of my thoughts on the matter here.
3. Gear
Ok, so this one is a little more shallow in nature, but hey- gear is part of our creative life and it’s essential to our photography, so why not be thankful for high performance equipment, fast autofocus, razor sharp lenses, weather sealed bodies, high frame rates, and all the other benefits we get from modern day camera gear?
At the same time, it’s easy to fall under the spell that gear is what makes us better photographers. We all fall into the trap of thinking that we need better gear in order to take better pictures. I’m certainly not going to tell anyone they shouldn’t buy new gear, but before you drop your hard earned cash on a new lens or body, ask yourself if you don’t already have something in your arsenal that will let you accomplish the same goal or shoot the kinds of pictures you
want.
Yes, a faster lens or a better camera will indeed let you push your creative boundaries in certain situations, but what’s far more important in the whole process is that you actually get out and use the gear you have. That’s what will ultimately make you a better photographer and if you learn how to get around any limitations it might have in a given situation, you’ll become a much more proficient shooter in the long run.
Be thankful of the gear, and the subject matter you have. Use them to take some meaningful, fun, creative, awesome pictures this weekend, whether they’re landscapes, adventure photos or family portraits.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without the barrage of special deals. I don’t spent very much time on this, because I think we can all agree that spending your holiday weekend in front of the computer is not the ideal thing to do. Better to head outside and play with people you like. Maybe visit a State or National Park, all of which are are offering free admission this coming Friday.
That said, we all know that some of the Black Friday weekend deals are pretty enticing and are often too good to ignore, especially if you’ve got your eye on a particular product.
Here’s a link to the page of B&H Photo Black Friday deals, and a special link for all of their Black Friday Mac deals on Apple desktops and laptops.
Fuji is offering instant rebates on nearly every single X Series camera body, including the X-T1 an X-T10, and nearly every Fuji lens is on sale as well for up to $200 off.
Nikon is also offering huge savings on lenses and camera/lens bundles.
Here are deals on Western Digital Destkop Hard Drives. With all those RAW files, be thankful for cheap storage!
And in a shameless bout of blatant self promotion, every one of my books and eBooks is on sale at my brand new web store, including my brand new Backpacker Adventure Photography pocket field guide, which makes a great gift! Also, my Outdoor Photography Essentials online video course is on
sale for $25 off.
Purchase a Limited Edition Signed Copy of My Book
I don’t usually sell books out of my office, but I currently have two cartons of my Focal Press Outdoor Action and Adventure Photography book sitting under my desk. I ordered them specially to give my readers the opportunity to purchase personally signed copies from me this holiday season. As a newsletter subscriber, you get first crack, and when they're gone, they're gone.
I’ve only got 24 copies on hand right now, and I won’t be ordering any more before the end of the year. So if you’d like a signed copy for yourself, or as a gift for a special photographer in your life, use this special purchase link to order directly from me and I’ll sign it for you, or for whoever wish, and send it out via Priority Mail.
Due to the different cost of international shipping, this link is only for US customers. If you live outside of the US and want a signed copy, please email me directly to discuss the mailing rate for your country.
Of course, you can also get the book on Amazon if you don't care about having it signed. And, if you’ve already read the it, I’d love to hear your feedback and would ask that you please write a review on the Amazon store page. I’d be really thankful for that. :)
Again, I hope you enjoy this Thanksgiving, however you spend it. For all of my Non-US readers, I'll just say best wishes to you and your family on this regular, not-a-holiday weekend, and I hope you take some great photos during the next few days!
Thanks for following me. Keep in touch and have a great weekend.
Sincerely
Dan
