From Convention to Creativity

This is a relatively new talk but already has had great feedback.

One of the most important things you can do in photography and life is to question what you are told, ask why, and seek to understand. In photography asking why can help you become a more successful, creative and original photographer.

This talk starts with the question what makes a good photograph? And it asks whether "good" is even the right question to ask. We look at the importance of intent, and how composition works as the grammar and sentence structure of an image. How it is a key determiner of whether your meaning is communicated to the viewer or lost in translation. We look at common compositional rules and guidelines and ask whether they have merit, and take a short look at the science of how we actually see, and whether following the rules and guidelines improves your photography or limits it. In the final part I work through a series of real images, showing exactly what a range of compositional and post-processing choices do to a picture, and how these choices impact the viewer.

The aim throughout is to help you make more original, memorable and successful images, and to move from convention to creation.