I have learnt that in terms of photography, to never ever
EVER underestimate the importance of your friends. The main reason for me is
that they can prove a massive source of inspiration. Things they say, things
they do, experiences you have shared together all contribute to the swirling
mess of memory and emotion that fuels creativity. A good example of this is in
the image below. It was getting into late evening and I was stuck for an idea
for my 365 project. I had been wasting time chatting to my friend Gary Chapman on
twitter, and we spent several minutes taking the piss out of each other, then
BANG, out of nowhere I knew what I was going to do.
Another important (in my opinion) reason to recognise the
importance of friends to your photography is that they offer support, and often
feedback. Now some friends will without a doubt be “ yeah that’s a pretty
photograph!” , which is fine for ones ego, but that’s about it. Sometimes
however you get “that’s really good because……” or more importantly for me “that’s
shite because……”.
These comments and opinions are without doubt the best
feedback you can get, and this is why I value Flickr so much as a tool. It not
only allows me to come across new people and make new friends who are also
passionate about photography, but many of them are more than willing to stick
the boot in and offer advice, constructive criticism or just plane old Banter.
I’ve never (apart from one sill racist individual) had
anything said to me which I haven’t found useful or that hasn’t helped me
develop my photography in some way.
So Id like to thank all of you who have taken the time to
look, and especially those who take the time to comment, I’m rapidly
approaching 40,000 views of my images, which is small fry stuff in the world of
Flickr, but it means a lot to me :-)
I like your extra finger shot. One suggestion though, instead of taking the last digit and copying it over and stretch/skewing it, take a second photo with your hand moved over and mask it in to match. I think it would be a more realistic appearance.
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