Greetings fellow users of the internet.
No one can argue that one of the biggest life changing moments one can experience is having a child. Gone are the days of freedom, both in terms of time and money; two things which photography can heavily require. However, this change in lifestyle doesn’t have to mean the end of your photography. Rather, it can test your ability to adapt to your conditions. Admittedly, I’ve been lucky to have such a wonderful wife to do most of the heavy lifting at home, so I can still enjoy my hobby and work towards making it something more. That being said, I’ve still done my best to reduce the amount of time I’m out of the house, chasing the light.
One thing I find a lot of professionals will talk about is “finding your style”. I can see where this comes from, as it can be easier to maintain an audience when they know what to expect. However, as many artists and creators have shown, sometimes it also helps to have variety. Let us not forget, George Miller made both the high impact, visually stunning, adrenaline rush that was Mad Max: Fury Road, as well as the movie that definitely exists, Happy Feet. Also, if you look at some of the greats in music, many of them changed their sound and style over the years; The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Wombats (OK… so I’m just a big fan, sue me).
However, I feel like the problem with “finding your style” is that it can stagnate creativity. I don’t want to name drop, but there are a lot of professional landscape photographers I fell in love with back in 2015/2016, but after just two years of seeing epic Icelandic landscape after Icelandic landscape, it just gets a little… dull. Don’t get me wrong, they are still great and I still admire their work, but even I put away my Beatles albums for a few days in favor of The Gorillaz or Foster the People.
All this is to say, the ability to adapt and try new styles is key to staying active and fresh. This is where we come back around to the overall topic mentioned in my title (it only took 3 paragraphs). Having a baby forced me to change from a more landscape based focus into a more building abstract focused style. This has benefited me in a number of ways. The first of which is that it has significantly increased the number of quality and unique images I can create in a shorter amount of time. Where I used to take a 2 hour trip (one way) to grab one or to photos during sunset or sunrise, I can now get upwards of 3 or 4 just 20-30 minutes from my house, all hours of the day. This has allowed me to expand my style from just landscape photography which, let’s face it, is an over-saturated photography market, to a more abstract style, which is still prominent, but much less so than landscapes. As a result, I’m able to spend more time with my family and helping around the house than standing around waiting for the light.
Another way this has helped me is by changing the way I see cities. If you had told me a year ago that some of my favorite images of the year would be taken on a bridge in Kawasaki, a train station on the border of Chiba and Tokyo, or a parking lot in Hamamatsu, I would have called you crazy. However, here we are in 2019, and that is the case. These days, buildings aren’t just buildings, they are possible subjects, and I’ve been finding more and more joy walking around the city looking for the perfect angle to capture abstract images, regardless of how crazy it makes me look.
The final way this has helped me is by giving me the chance to explore parts of Tokyo I’ve never seen before, even after living here for 5 years, and passing by them numerous times. A few years ago I felt I needed to go to amazing locations in Yamanashi or Nagano for a few days to capture truly great images, however, now I find I’m better able to do that by just taking a short trip over to Shinjuku or Musashi-Kosugi. This means I’m able to save money and spend more time with my family, all while continuing to produce high quality images. Had I never had a baby, I don’t know if I ever would have been able to see the cities of Japan in the way I currently do: as abstract wonders waiting to be photographed.
Has there ever been a moment or life event that has caused you to change your photography? I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a comment.
Thanks for reading.
(If you're interested, you can see the original post on my website, which also includes full resolution versions some of these photos, and a few extra photos. https://www.jordanmcchesney.com/blog/how-having-a-baby-changed-my-photog... )
Sorry, I could only make it as far as the third paragraph..............to put it succinctly I had to forego the pleasures of photography forty years ago when I had to start feeding people and providing shelter for same. Now that they're grown and I'm retired I get to rediscover the joys provided by pressing a shutter button.
It's all good, I have a tenancy to be a little verbose when writing these kinds of stories/opinion/blog posts.
I'm glad to hear you have some time to rediscover the power of the shutter!
i got through it all yet there was no prize awaiting me but i did find a typo lol. you know my situation as we have spoken already. having a large family and responsibilities takes first place in the time lineup and also financial. While i would love to spend 8 hours of my day photographing waterfalls well i don't get paid for it so i have to manage by getting up at 4am getting what i can and getting back by 9 to do family stuff. you at least have the fortune of being in the urban jungle not suburban hell lol my local environment sucks.
You did not, Joseph! ;-) Jordan doesn't do typos. Including in his photos.
yes i did lets play a little game of grammatical where's waldo hehehehe
Considering I wrote part if this on my lunch break, and the other at like 12am, I'd almost be disappointed if I didn't make at least a few typos, haha.
Yeah, I know how you feel. If I still lived in my hometown, I'd have no chance to do anything like this. To be honest, only the last photo in my post was taken in "the city", the others are typical suburban Tokyo. The third one is just a house in my neighborhood, with a little bit of digital magic done to it.
Also, you say "typos", I call it "artistic licence", haha
Lmao🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for sharing Jordan. I noticed previously on your website that your portfolio is split into two distinct and differing categories, (nature & cities) so this helps explain that.
I think it's fine to specialize in one genre or style, but I feel that we have to make the most of our environment and look to create at every opportunity. As you indicate we have to adapt or be exceptional in our genre of choice, otherwise we get lost amongst the crowd
I also think that a lack of time may actually be a benefit. I find when time-constrained I tend to become more focused on the task, paying greater consideration to each shot, ensure results etc.
If I had to pick an event that change my photography it would have to be the evolution of groups like FStoppers on the internet. Being able to post images online and having others see/critique has really forced me to become a better critic of my own work. You'd better believe that I question every image I post, forecasting comments and paying attention to the flaws that I'm sure others will find.
That and the fact that I gain inspiration from the creative work of others.
In closing I'll say that I do appreciate your city portfolio, it is a worthy companion to your excellent nature work.
Part of the reason I broke up my website into "Nature" and "City" was to help the images flow a little better. I originally had them all together, but it just seemed like an Instagram page full of random photos with no theme. If it wasn't for my daughter, the city page probably would exist.
I don't necessarily think specializing in one or two areas is a bad thing. But I think rather than "finding your style", I'd go with "explore your styles".
For me, a lack of time can be either a blessing or a curse. Only 1 of these shots were planned (the colouful house), the others were taken because I had a few hours to walk around without any predetermined shots in mind. Had I been in a rush, I wouldn't have noticed them.
I think the internet has really changed photography. Some may say for better, others for worse. I like Fstoppers, but I'm not huge on the rating system. If I could disable ratings, I would, because with all due respect to Lee and Patrick, it does more harm than good. I love the groups here, but I'm getting more and more wary of even bothering to upload photos to my portfolio.
I'm glad you like my city stuff! I'm planning on focusing more on that. Perhaps it's what I need to do to take this to the next level!
I agree about the rating system. I wouldnt mind it as much if it wasn't anonymous.
Thought-provoking, Jordan. Well conceived and well executed, like your images - which are so much so that I'd forgotten you're an amateur. I always check out and enjoy your images and words.
I'm very impressed by your skyscraperscapes. Again, well conceived, and without distracting flaws, as these images have to be just right, or they flop. I like that slightly claustrophobic effect you get by excluding sky - and, well pretty much everything other than building façades. A bit Andreas Gursky but without the cheating (I think!)...
I echo your sentiments about epic Iceland. I wanted to go there after seeing a portfolio by Klaus Francke in the pre-internet era. Now, Fstoppers looks a bit like an Iceland travel brochure, and tales of its crowded epic "wilderness" have put me right off. Amazing foreign and exotic (or "wild") places tend to inspire postcard-like or even clichéd images. So now, it's commonplace to "out-epic" the others by stretching mountain peaks, matching epic skies to epic other things seen other times... all for what, I often end up wondering?
There are fine images made with such manipulation, but you may as well paint then, I reckon.
The thing that transformed my photography the most was doing lots of it. There was a reason (taking holidays to escape misery after my wife's death) but I don't think that's actually connected, life-changing as it was.
Keep up your fine work, and keep posting (as much as fatherhood permits!).
Thank you so much for your kind words!
I think one of the biggest challenge with photography, and other forms of art is that it can be hard to make the jump from amateur to pro, regardless of quality. I often get asked by people here in Japan telling me I should be a "pro" and my response is "well, it's not really my choice", because it's not a normal job where you hand in a resume and bing bam boom, you're a pro, haha. I'm currently in the beginning-ish phase of figuring out how to make the transition, without being overwhelmed.
I've seen a lot of people including skies in shots like this, and they look great, but I've never been able to pull them off. I'm not quite sure if Tokyo has the right buildings for it, or perhaps I just don't have an eye for it. That being said, I do like the look I've started to develop, as it removes the sense of familiarity we have with buildings, and turns them into shapes, colors, and patterns.
While Iceland is shot a lot, I won't lie, if I was offered the chance to go there, I'd hop on the first plane available, haha. I'd love to run workshops here in Japan as it suffers from a similar problem. Not many prominent English speaking photographers that I know of come to Japan, but the ones who do all go to the exact same locations. While these locations are stunning they are missing so many lesser known opportunities, and occasionally don't know the "best location" from which to shoot a subject. The two problems I have to overcome here are the language barrier for reaching out to companies ( my Japanese is OK, but not business level), and the fact that I'm a nobody, so any attempt to reach out to these photographers was met with empty responses.
I'm sorry to hear about your wife. I think photography can be a good way keep one's mind busy. Over the last 11 years, photography has provided me with more help than I can even explain. I don't know who or where I would be had I not picked up a camera. I certainly wouldn't be as in love with Japan as I currently am.
I'm glad you like my work. I'll do my best to keep both all 3 of my lives balanced! (work/family/photography)
Hi Jordan, I enjoyed this entry very much! I LOVE your work and am so happy that you have had a crossroads opportunity that brought you to this. Thank you for sharing it. Photography is a solitary endeavor and groups like this, and posts like this, are one thing that has had a big influence on me.
One point you touched on was of particular interest to me. it is about developing a style. I may or may not have understood you correctly so I just wanted to give my idea of this. Personally, i believe having an identifiable style is different from shooting the same subject (landscapes, architecture,
...). When i began to try and hone a style, i found that 1) i must have a split personality as i have two very distinct bodies of work and 2) style is more about a look rather than subject. Here is an example of what Im trying to say. i have only ever posted 2 images with a person as the subject on fStppoers. But, if you know my work, and you scroll through the contest entries for the current concert theme, i would guess that anyone here could pick out my two entries out of the hundreds there. They look different and they have a definite "Ruthie" feeing. I will probably never shoot a concert again but if I put these two images in my portfolio, they would not look out of place. This is what i believe is meant by having a style.
Also, like Alan, i think belonging to groups such as this one would be the most pivoting thing for me. Particularly this one where i have such regard and respect for you all. It makes me analyze my work more and the feedback is priceless!
Looking forward to many more things from you Jordan. Cheers!
PS - I have been thinking about 2 new groups. The first would be "Technique of the week" and the second would be "If i were an fStoppers writter, I would post this..."
This would be a great first post for the group. So.... I'm going to try it and I hope you will repeat this there.
I'm glad you enjoyed my novel! I should release it as an audio book, haha.
Sorry, perhaps I wasn't quite clear about "style". I was considering both subject and style. As I mentioned in a response above, rather than "finding your style", I like the idea of "exploring your styles" as it opens up more opportunities. This probably relates more to amateurs as we have less freedom to travel. So, for example, if you only do landscapes chasing the light at sunset, sunrise, or the blue hours, you're basically unable to shoot for 3 months of the year here. However, if you only shoot city abstracts, you'll never explore the endless beauty of the Tohoku region (Northern Japan.)
Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissuading people from finding styles they stick to, I'm just saying don't let yourself be bound to those styles and those styles alone. I am very inspired by the work of Yokoyama Taikan, a Japanese artist whose work varied in both subject and style.
As for your group ideas, I like the idea of the "Fstopper writers" one. I wrote this one as a kind of "article", without the pressure of it being an actual article, haha. I'd be interested to see what other people would write about.
Agree on all points!
Cool photos , i like the upfront compressed look.