Simplify Simplify - Taking Is Less Really More One Step Further

A Bench's Daily View

My personal challenge of “Is Less Really More?” has been achieving exactly what I had hoped it would.  It eliminated a lot of useless distractions and got me back to just focusing on taking better photographs.  The essence of this personal challenge can be summed up perfectly by Thoreau, “Our life is frittered away by detail…simplify, simplify.”  By satisfying only our needs and ignoring our wants we are truly achieving this simplification. 

Before I continue I should let you know that the “Is Less Really More?” project actually started over a month ago; I am just late on posting about the topic.

My photographic progression has come much faster than I expected when I started this little pet project.  As time progressed I found the wants slowly starting to creep back to the surface.  Thankfully I had started it with a clear understanding of my needs and I could ignore the wants whenever they did surface.  Nikon almost ruined the whole thing with their announcement of the new 5100, but thankfully it was missing one “need” that was a deal breaker for me so it was an easy pass.

As progression continued I began analyzing my “body of work” (albeit not very big), what I enjoyed shooting the most, and what I planned to continue to mainly shoot.  If you remember when I started this challenge I knew eventually I would need to upgrade again but only when my current system no longer met my needs.  This time has come.  My analyzing and reflection allowed me to gain an even better understanding of my needs. 

So the original challenge is kind of over, as I have changed cameras.  I only say “kind of over” because the essence of the challenge is still going strong.  In changing over my system I have actually simplified my photography even further.  In my change I switched from Nikon to Canon but the simplification has come in my lenses.  I have only been using a fixed length 50mm lens since I made the switch. 

You want to talk about simplifying the process; when I want to zoom, I walk forward J  I am actually loving it.  By simplifying my lens down to a single fixed length it has really forced me to pay attention to the composition of my photographs. 

Slowly I will continue to add to my lens collection, but I am really thinking of staying with the fixed length prime lens instead of getting a zoom lens.  It is hard to explain but I feel a greater connection to my photography with them; in fact I have even considered getting a cheap all manual film camera to play around with and simplify it even more J

Of course every time I start looking for my next purchase all those beautiful wants will coming barrelling to the front trying to convince me I actually need them.  It really is difficult to stay focused on only our needs when we are being constantly bombarded at every angle with wants.  How many times have you gone to the grocery store to get the bare minimum and walked out with a cart full of snacks?  Or gone into an electronics store and walked out with a brand new don’t pay for it for 3 month credit card and the newest gadget? 

Our wants are satisfied through impulse; in fact they prey on it.  The only problem is once we satisfy that want you can almost guarantee a new one is going to come along almost immediately. 

I have found two things really help combating these wants.  First, sitting down and honestly understanding your true needs before you go to make a purchase is invaluable; whether it be as simple as a grocery list or complex as analyzing your photography style.  The second is a little rule that Amy and I have developed over the past year for ourselves.  When you decide to you want to make a significant purchase, wait two weeks.  If you still want it after those two weeks it is no longer an impulse buy and thus, no longer satisfying those wants.  This strategy works because most of our wants are so fickle they have moved onto another want by the end of the two weeks.

I would love to hear your thoughts.  Do you have a strategy for fighting off those nasty wants?

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Is Less Really More (A personal Challenge)

Late last year photography for me started moving from a simple hobby to a passion.  I had begun studying it much more detail and actively working towards becoming a better photographer.  Then some great news came my way, they found my bone marrow match and I would be having my transplant immediately.  From a health standpoint this was awesome news but it also meant an extended hiatus from my newest passion.  What made it worse is I had just upgraded my equipment to much nicer lenses and a semi-pro camera that I was dying to use. 

As most of you know the transplant went great and I began my road to recovery.  Soon I would be back out on the streets and in the parks doing what I love.  Then it happened, the first decently nice day where I could go outside had come.  I grabbed my gear and off I went to re-ignite my passion.  Something was wrong; while I was out I didn’t feel inspired.  I felt like I couldn’t find anything of interest for me to shoot, and I went home fairly dejected.  I decided maybe it was just my creative eye was lazy from its hiatus and just needed some time to practice to see properly again.  I went out the next day, which turned out better but still not that same passion as before.  Everything when I was out was a chore.

That night I started reflecting on what was happening.  Why was I not enjoying this like I used to.  I had this fairly top of the line camera and lenses, I should be having a blast.  It was this concept popped into my head, is Less Really More?

As I reflected back on my year in photography in 2010, although I was enjoying it quite a bit I was always changing and upgrading my gear.  Finally, when I hit acquired the kit that I thought would make me happiest, I was actually enjoying it the least. 

I realized I had fallen into the common trap of consumerism.  We are always being bombarded with bigger, better, and faster products with all these new bells and whistles in a bid for us to replace our perfectly good products for something new.  But the real question is do we actually NEED these features. 

This realization made me take a step back and begin to analyze what type of photography I actually enjoy shooting and what I features are actually required for this. 

This is when I really started asking myself the question, is less really more?  To do this I had to start honestly weighing my Needs versus wants. 

When I actually sat down and looked at my kit I realized all the great features it offered had come at a cost, weight.  My camera was heavy, and for someone recovering from a transplant, I was much weaker which affected my ability to shoot with the camera.  This wasn’t the biggest issue.  When I really looked at it I realized the camera made me a lazy eye level photographer.  I am not afraid to lie on the ground and roll in the grass (of course when it is less muddy and dry) to try a different perspective.  But with this camera I wasn’t really open to trying out more perspectives.  In addition, I realized that I barely used all the features that made this camera better than the lower level versions.

This realization made me really intrigued with the concept of is Less Really More.  As Einstein said, “any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent. But it takes a touch of genius and lots of courage to move something in the opposite direction.”

So I thought I would give myself a new challenge to help improve as a photographer and re-ignite my passion; The less is more challenge.  I would downgrade my equipment to something that only satisfied the NEEDS of my photography and ignored the wants.  This way I could focus solely on improving as a photographer.  I knew I would of course upgrade my camera again one day but only when I felt that my equipment was limiting me photographically and my current camera was no longer satisfying my needs.  No longer would I be sucked into the consumerism trap bigger and more complex unless it specially addressed a need of mine. 

It took me a couple weeks of swaying back and forth between the "is Less Really More" personal challenge.  But each time I came back from taking photos I grew more and more restless, and finally pulled the trigger.

I think my Less is More challenge achieved exactly what I had hoped for.  It not only reignited a passion for my photography but poured a whole gallon of gasoline on it and it has made me a much better photographer.  The images in this post are what I consider my five best images since I took up this personal challenge.  They were all created with the entry level Nikon D5000 and Nikon’s cheapest lens, the 18-55 VR.
Since taking up my personal challenge my photography has improved in leaps in bounds.  So the question I would pose to many of you, are there things in your life that would actually be improved by imposing this less is more strategy?  If so I would love to hear about it.

Is there an image that is missing from here? 

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