Kurt Reitz Photography

July 19, 2013

On Goals

Having some structure to your photography outings can only help. I have found that just wandering aimlessly with my camera, over time, leads to feeling trapped, or bored with what I am seeing. Wandering the same places, finding similar subjects, similar light gets old quick. So I set some goals, some aspect of photography that I think will address weaknesses in my work, inspire me to see with fresh eyes, learn a new technique -- whatever strikes me as useful, or fun.

So I try to mix it up.  I am going back to the fundementals of design this summer. Every week I have some aspect of designI will be working on. Here is the plan for the next month. I hope I can stick to it:

• Week of July 22 - 28: Lines! Just lines. Vertical lines, horizontal lines, repetitive lines, single lines, simple and complicated lines. I will look for lines everywhere and make them a prominent part of the images I capture.
• Week of July 29 - August 4: Textures! Fabric, wood, walls, plants, bugs. Texture is everywhere so this week I will focus on bringing out the texture of what I see.
• Week of August 5 - August 11: Shapes! Circles, squares and rectangles, arcs, triangles.. From the curves of nature to the structure of a bridge. Shapes are everywhere and the most fundemental component of design.
• Week of August 12 - August 18: Colors! I have a tendency to look for bold or ontrasty colors because that is what I like. This week I will focus on more subtle colors.
• Week of August 19 - August 25: Combinations of the above.