Last week my wife and I sat in Yom Kippur services for the first time in three years due to the pandemic. During that time, we like many others were restricted to live streaming and now it was good to be back. There were many things that struck me, but thinking back upon it there was a particular verse in one of the most important prayers that asked for forgiveness for not becoming what we could be.

I’ve thought about that quite a bit; it’s that important. In a broader sense we could ponder the thought with respect to the entirety of our lives and we should, but for now I would like to talk about the portion of our lives we spend or should spend on the art and craft of our photography. Are we doing all we can to become what we can be?

I know there is much more I can and should be doing to become better. Why? Because it is important to me and my life!  And when it really comes down to it, other than my family, there is nothing I love more.  The problem is that things get in the way that are not really important at all, or I decide to do something else that is easier or a waste of precious time. While I’m fortunate to work for myself and my time is more flexible than most others I know, my non-working time is precious and there are important competing requirements for it beyond my dear wife and family.

So, what can I do to become what I can be in my photographic life? First of all, use my available time better to become better, be it in the field or in the darkroom. That means taking a long look at what free time I have available and become determined not to waste it. But what else can I do to become what I can be? Be ever mindful that I will never be like all the greats I admire so much, and that I should never want to. Instead, I should strive to become the best of what I can be as me. Why? Because me is who I am!

What else? I need to reaffirm my love for what I get out of photography beyond the act of making the photograph itself. There is so much more. It’s the entire experience … the journey itself.  Even if you don’t get any keepers when you’re out there, or don’t even make a single exposure. Finally, there is the aspect of Living a Photographic Life and all that entails for me. I’ve written about this many times before, about maintaining the important personal relationships we make during the course of our photographic lives, as well as all the many other things we can should be doing to keep our heads in the game and keep learning, even when not in the field or darkroom. To me this is just as important as the making of photographs and we must not squander the time we have been given to do this. So, moving forward, some of things I will be doing more of include:

1. Carefully examining my proof sheets and making prints of only the best images.
2. Going through my old proof sheets and making images of keepers I somehow missed.
3. Reading books about photographers.
4. Studying monographs I own.
5. Learning about photographers I’m not familiar with and obtaing their monographs.
6. Utilizing the Internet for good ideas.
7. Visiting museums and galleries in person and online for photographic and other art exhibits.
8. Identifying and removing what is distracting and preventing me from becoming what I can be.

I intend to keep trying to learn, be productive and to continue living a photographic life. I also intend to do my best to do whatever it takes to keep my photographic spark alive and not to squander the opportunity I’ve been given! In short, I going to rededicate myself to do everything I can to become what I can be.

I hope you will think about doing everything you can do become what you can be in your photography and photographic life!

Stay safe,

Michael