December 13, 2009
What If You Were To Shoot 1000 Hoops A Day?
I just returned from a trip to Florida where I was hoping to get into a creative groove. However, once there I found that I was so out of “practice” that it took me several days just to get back up to speed. It reminded me of a recent experience.
My daughter was upset because she didn’t make the varsity basketball team. We discussed it and came to the conclusion that if she wanted to be on the varsity team she would have to improve her skills. She asked me how she was going to do that and I asked her a question: What if you were to shoot 1000 hoops a day, what would happen? She said “I’d be really good!”
Practice doesn’t just improve physical skills such as shooting hoops, it also develops and hones our creative skills. The more I practice seeing, the more I see. The more I practice breaking the “rules,” the more I create unique images. The more I practice shooting differently, the more different my work will become.
It’s not rocket science; practice can improve everything we do.
It then hit me how far I had strayed from my own personal goal of shooting every day. I had become so caught up in the “business” of photography that I had no time for the “art” of photography. Ironically, if I kept this up there would be no “business” to take care of and I’d have plenty of time to photograph!
When I look at my work since 2004, the times I was most productive were the times I was shooting every day. And when I say “shooting every day” I mean it literally. I carry my gear in my truck and anytime I saw something interesting, I’d stop and shoot. Even if I didn’t see something inspiring, I’d still stop somewhere and look. What I usually found was that most locations had something interesting if I looked hard enough and got close enough.
I’m recommitting to shoot every day; I’ll carry my gear with me, I’ll look constantly and I’ll shoot for at least 15 minutes a day. I’m 100% certain that this will result in some wonderful images that otherwise would not have happened.
Cole
P.S. I did eventually get into the spirit of things while in Florida and created the above image: Harbinger No. 12
Thanks for the timely reminder, Cole. In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “Outliers,” he’s tracked down research that supports the notion that 10,000 hours of practice is linked to being successful. He cites the practice experiences of the Beatles, Bill Gates and Boris Becker. Here’s a link to one article about the concept http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article4969415.ece
I think I’ll go out and shoot…
A great link Robert, I hope everyone will read it.
Thanks.
I too have read Outliers and am convinced of the link between a huge amount of practice and success. It is not only “Just do it” but “Just KEEP doing it”.
To get motivated when I am stuck I remind myself of the saying “You cannot steer a stationary bicycle”. That gets me moving again even if I am not precisely sure of the direction. That part comes once I start moving.
“Outliers” does have some interesting studies, and if nothing else motivates us to go shoot. I did that in the cold thios morning…and later deleted them all.
Your image posted is beautiful.
As Wayne Gretzky said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” It applies to hockey as well as to photography.
Matt
WOW! I am bowled over! I guess all these years when I’ve been telling everyone that my daughter is the “creative one”, I don’t have a creative bone in my body, I should have been stopping and taking the time to observe, digest and seek my own area of creativity.
Thanks for making me think more about this. I have been trivializing my own self’s contribution, privately and publicly.
Merry Christmas!!
Cole, I found this simple truth “practice makes improvement”, two years ago and I force my self to carry camera in daily walks with dogs .
My blogs are the “thing” that reminds me to constantly think about making art and that encourages me to take my shots in every “ordinary” place I am during my regular schedule. Sometimes I am just not in the mood, but I want to get that habit of looking around, so when it actually happen, to be on the spot for excellent shot, I will be ready.