This week has been somewhat of a return to a completely different kind of creative process: photography. Once upon a time, I shot professionally: weddings, portraits, stock, product, industrial; 35mm, medium format. I lugged cameras everywhere. And not just cameras, of course, but lenses, enormous lighting, a cooler for film, cables, batteries, chargers, stands, light meters, and generally two of everything since there was simply no excuse for missing a shot when there was a client. Even the backups had backups.
These days, I don’t really shoot anymore. I spend most of the day, every day, writing. When the writing energy peters out, though, I’m now culling thousands of images for those that I think might work for stock photos. It’s been an interesting process, one begun in the new year, and I realize how different the two processes are.
Although photography can involve a great deal of setup, it can also be very spontaneous. Many of my favorite shots simply happened in front of me and I was lucky enough to snap the shutter when they happened. I look at the images now and I’m glad I lugged those cameras everywhere.
Writing has been a much more studied affair. Sometimes it’s word by word. Sometimes it’s the detailed outline. By the time it’s done, though, it has to read right and it has to sound right. I find that I wordsmith and tinker and return repetitively to the same passages for more work. Writing has a spontaneous aspect to it, no doubt. But looking at my images now, I can’t go back and redo them, fiddle endlessly with the lighting and composition. Once the photo is done, it’s done. Yes, I use Photoshop, but even Photoshop can’t fundamentally change a photo and make it what it’s not.
Back in the day, of course, a photographer often didn’t know what they had until they got the developed film back. They learned through trial and error how to see the end product. You eventually got to the point where, when you looked through the lens or the rangefinder, the mind’s eye was already visualizing the final result, shadows, highlights and all the rest. That visualization was especially important with complicated lighting.
In writing, though, I find that I don’t have a clear idea of the finished product, especially if it’s complicated. No matter how detailed my outline, I find that the characters, turn of events, and locations will surprise me. Even in a rewrite, with much of my novel’s world complete, or in a tutorial, where I know the exact steps I’ve just taken, I find that the end result is often not what I had thought it would be.
Perhaps in photography I knew that I had to visualize in order to create a successful image. In writing, I have a goal that is less well defined and I work toward it. I honestly don’t know which is a better process, but I do know that I like not knowing exactly what will happen. I also like that the two processes are different. I guess I’ll keep them that way.
And here is one of those lucky shots I like.
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