Climb Up The Ladder to Success...

Or dig a hole and lower the ladder to ground level. Either way you eventually arrive at the top rung. Suppose you have a photo idea. A good idea, A great idea. A stonkingly frabdibulous idea that will make you the idol of millions and only requires you to buy a particular lens from Camera Electronic and take it out on a certain day for one shot. What do you do? You buy the lens, of course. At what may be an advantageous price. If the luck is with you, there is one sitting on the shelf. You go out, take the picture, and there you are; FRABDIBULOUS. Now suppose you have no idea. No clue at all. Your idea locker is entirely bare. What do you do? a. You repair to the book store and buy books about photography that are written by people who tell you they are successful photographers. If you buy the books, they are successful booksellers. You may be successful as well in overcoming your ennui, and if you do, all is well. You may not make new stuff, but you'll make stuff, and that is better than stuff-all. b. You go to the camera club and listen carefully to the other members telling each other their ideas. Some of them may be worth pinching. You can make a quiet judgement from the images that are entered into the club competitions as to whether the ideas actually have legs to stand on...or just tentacles. If you succeed with a pinched idea it is good manners to buy the person you robbed a Nice biscuit and a cup of warm coffee. c. You enrol in a course. If it is well-taught, you learn something, and can take this new knowledge as inspiration. You no longer have no idea. If it is badly taught, you can also go out with some ideas, but don't divulge them. d. You can go to a camera shop and moon about looking at the stuff. I do this every month or so, waiting for the trade to pick up and the flood of new gear to fill the shelves. If you do make a regular visit, you'll see patterns of change, and occasionally something new will hit the rack. This may be all you need to fire you up with artistic fervour. One hint - in today's lean trade climate, if you do see something you might want to buy one day, make that day today. It may not come back. Perth is notorious for the singleton product that appears and disappears like the Cheshire Cat's smile. Get it while we are all still grinning.