I've followed his work for quite a while now on flickr and have also started reading his new blog. I've started gathering a collection of my favourite blogs and adding them to my iPhone rss reader for a great supply of photography goodness that I can read, learn from and steal ideas from whenever I have spare time.
The vast majority of Ben's Flickr work is shot with only his camera, speedlites and the occasional light modifier. This is one thing that really grabbed me as it is no different from the equipment I use. It gives me something to strive for but something that is within my reach if I apply myself and remain persistent. Having goals and a specific vision of what you want is a million times better than just wanting to get better, with no real direction. Last year he started a 365 day project where he took at least one frame every single day. Something I would really love to do myself, what a fantastic way to get as familiar and comfortable with your gear as possible. Added to that, self portraits filled out the majority of that project which proves that there really is no excuse for not being able to do something like this.
The vast majority of Ben's Flickr work is shot with only his camera, speedlites and the occasional light modifier. This is one thing that really grabbed me as it is no different from the equipment I use. It gives me something to strive for but something that is within my reach if I apply myself and remain persistent. Having goals and a specific vision of what you want is a million times better than just wanting to get better, with no real direction. Last year he started a 365 day project where he took at least one frame every single day. Something I would really love to do myself, what a fantastic way to get as familiar and comfortable with your gear as possible. Added to that, self portraits filled out the majority of that project which proves that there really is no excuse for not being able to do something like this.
Ben is pretty much where I would one day like to be. Working as a photographer is a bit of a dream job for us isn't it? What could be a better job than doing what you love so much?
I really urge any readers to check out his work, and don't just flick through his pictures and say, they're cool... Have a good look at them over a period of time. I found that I used to just flick over an image that I saw anywhere and then spent a lot of time reading about it. In particular, on strobist.blogspot.com. Now, I always study an image first, try to figure out how it was lit myself, study the composition. What makes it a good image? Then I will read on and see what I can learn. I think that surrounding yourself with an abundance of great work, showing your brain what looks good, over and over again, starts to train it to automatically know how to create your own amazing images. One day...
I really urge any readers to check out his work, and don't just flick through his pictures and say, they're cool... Have a good look at them over a period of time. I found that I used to just flick over an image that I saw anywhere and then spent a lot of time reading about it. In particular, on strobist.blogspot.com. Now, I always study an image first, try to figure out how it was lit myself, study the composition. What makes it a good image? Then I will read on and see what I can learn. I think that surrounding yourself with an abundance of great work, showing your brain what looks good, over and over again, starts to train it to automatically know how to create your own amazing images. One day...
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