Hello Readers:
June is upon us and the summer shooting season starts for the Northern Hemisphere. Â We are all aiming to take some amazing images this summer, but lets not get ahead of ourselves, as Ansel Adams, the master of landscape photography once said “Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.”
Ansel Adams also said “There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.”  This should reinforce the concept that photographs must be carefully thought  out to be appealing.  The photograph needs to be appreciated by the viewer and should be inspiring, by inspiring I mean it should:
- Firstly, inspire you to continue photography;
- Inspire others to want to see more of your photographs;
- Inspire others to want to achieve your standard;
- Lastly, inspire persons to want to purchase your photographs for their own enjoyment and display them for the enjoyment and appreciation of others.
We as photographers, though not overly narcissistic, relish attention and appreciate when viewers appreciate our photography in a manner that is not given to the average snapshot.  We love when our viewers enjoy the images in wonderment – how did the photographer capture this image?  As photographers that is our food – we exist to show our work we rarely take images purely for our own personal consumption it is about showing our perspective to our viewers.  We are guides of the path!
At FYP our writers are adroit at speaking of their own work and lighting the path for others, it is important for all photographers to be able to talk about their work and more so to have people skills, as Andre shows in his article “Why You Need To Ditch Your Portfolio and What To Do Instead.” technical skills are rarely enough, unless you are operating under the direction of another you must be able to represent your work and also related to photographers and non-photographers alike.
We all know someone like that, their technical prowess is amazing but to quote a popular saying from Barbados, where I live, “they can’t hold a spoon properly”.  Naturally this does not instil confidence in anyone they are attempting to hire them.  So word/people skills are equally as important as the technical aspect of photography.  If you were asked on the spot to describe your work, could you do it or would you start to hem and haw?
Our writers at FYP can talk at length about their own work and the work of others in a fluid manner and this puts them ahead, we are masters of the word. Â If you can talk about your own work and inspire others we would like to invite you to join us and write a monthly column for FYP. Â Our columns are typically 800-100 words and showcase your talent not only to represent your imaging capacity but also gives you exposure and hones your skill at speaking fluently about you work. Â As a long time educator I can tell you that the best way to understand something yourself is to teach it to others.
If you are an exceptional photographer with great time management skills  and would like to take up the challenge of honing your skills and inspiring others to join the photographic fraternity or develop their skills further or even reach out to the art appreciating public drop me a note.  I look forward to hearing from you and would love to discuss how you can join our team as a writer or Assistant Editor and develop yourself and others.  As our sister publication Fuel Your Writing puts it “Writing Is  a War & Your Story Is a Trojan Horse.” I’m already checking my inbox editor@fuelyourphotography.com
Inspiringly yours, take care!
– Jeremy
Editor-in-Chief
