The essence of photography: seeing and creativity

1. Finding your groove : Discovering and developing personal interests ; Photographic rhythm ; How your equipment affects your photographic rhythm

2. Your interests and your imagery : Finding your photographic interests ; The starting point of photographic seeing and creativity ; Compositional and lighting considerations ; Composition ; Light ; Example images: applying compositional and lighting considerations ; Eliminating problems in advance with careful looking and seeing ; Improving your seeing with film ; Print size ; Getting feedback and responding to it ; The importance of feedback in shaping my work and yours ; Exercise completed

3. Who are you trying to please? : Personal work versus professional work ; Pleasing yourself versus pleasing others ; Professional necessities versus personal expression ; Personal satisfaction versus photographic sales ; The impediments to new and different work ; Breaking barriers ; Photographs versus fine art photographs ; The power of photography ; Emotional effects of photography ; The psychological high of photography

4. Finding inspiration for realism or abstraction : Inspiration from daily life ; Photographic inspiration near and away from home ; Inspiration from literature ; Inspiration from music ; Interpretation of realism and abstraction ; Color in realism and abstraction ; The importance of defining your expressive goals ; We see similar patterns in different subjects

5. The heart of intuition and creativity : Creativity requires preparation ; What drives creativity? ; "Know thyself" ; Applying insight and intuition to photography ; Trusting your intuition ; Finding opportunities for creativity ; Personal examples of creativity ; Creativity in unexpected places ; Moving ahead with creativity ; Pushing yourself versus pressuring yourself ; Putting everything to use

6. Learning through photography workshops and associates : Photography workshops ; Misguided education in the arts ; The benefits of photographing with others ; Reviewing the work of others and vice versa ; Finding photographic associates ; Openness from instructors

7. Technical knowledge, materials, and equipment for creative purposes : Using technique for creative and educational purposes ; Combining known ideas in new and creative ways ; You cannot rely on good technique alone ; Materials, equipment, and other openings to creativity

8. Breaking the rules and following your passion : Working with light ; Cedar breaks, Winter ; Rooftops, Heidelberg ; Photographing my passion; finding yours ; Photography as a creative art form ; Defining my goals; defining yours

Technical information.