I have worked with a coach and mentor regularly for the last few years. One of his key ideas is what he refers to as ‘cadence’. He believes that everyone has a natural pace or rhythm. If you are able to recognize what this is for you and work with at your pace or ‘cadence’ then you will be more productive and more successful. I have interpreted this to mean is that a critical component of success is being true to yourself. This is of course another way of saying ‘do what you love and success will follow’.
While I didn’t think that I had made enough clicks to have a defined style – I’ve shot under 100,000 images with my digital cameras – from a recent review of my archive there are clear themes that stand out. I like the grand vista images that others take but I tend to gravitate towards abstractions of the larger scene and more intimate landscapes. Although I had previously tucked many of those images away in the ‘nice but a bit weird’ pile, I have come to realize that many others make similar images. I was recently turned onto the fact that Eliot Porter made similar intimate landscapes and even had an exhibition and book of the same name. David Ward, the English landscape photographer predominantly makes this style of image and William Neill also appears to have a tendency towards this style of image too. All are photographers worthy of further study.
What I am increasingly realizing is that my most successful images are of the subjects that I enjoy photographing. What a revelation! When I am pushing myself in a direction that I’m not comfortable with I find this often shines though in the images that I’ve made. The photo here is a good example of this. While I did need some encouragement to get out of the door on this day because the weather was awful I was glad I did. I have made images from the other side of this headland previously and wanting to try something different I set up here. I had a break in the weather for a few minutes that allowed me to make this image before it began pouring again.