Photography has always been in my life but the role it has played in my creative life has changed over the years. At certain times when I was younger it was a major creative focus, then music took over, or filmmaking, or writing, or “insert other creative endeavors here”. About 10 years ago, when I went from digital point and shoots and my phone camera to a DSLR it began to take more and more of my creative attention. It was 2014 that I realized this wasn’t a passing phase this time and that this was a creative pursuit I truly love. I needed to have a camera with me as much as possible and shoot as much as possible.
Since 2014 I’ve amassed thousands of photos, both film and digital. When you start shooting a lot you begin to notice patterns. Patterns in the subjects I like to shoot, the types of cameras I like to shoot with, the focal lengths, and more. Learning these patterns helps me make better creative decisions and better gear purchasing decisions (well most of the time…this is a subject for another day lol)
One pattern that glares its head every summer is the reality that most of my street photography is done from October to May. It doesn’t take a deep investigation to recognize what’s happening here. Once the Vegas heat begins to reach triple digits walking around for hours sweating like crazy pointing a camera at people who are also sweating like crazy and annoyed by the heat isn’t that conducive to creating my best work. This hasn’t been a concious effort to shoot less during this time, it just happens. A few years ago I might have felt guilt that I wasn’t out there creating as much as possible. Last year I realized I need to just lean into this pattern and use it to my advantage.
Although I still shoot as much as possible a lot of my shooting during these days, where the actual temp around our valley is 115 degrees or more, is stuff I can do in and around my house. Or it’s at the Welcome To Las Vegas sign where there is easy parking and I can get some good shots quickly and be done. It gives me my “fix”. Another major way I’ve taken advantage of this pattern is to use this time to go through back logs of photos and to work on specific creative projects.
That’s what I’m doing now. I want to make photo books and sell small prints. I want to create things you can hold in your hand. I want you to feel the paper, look at the photos up close and have that physical relationship with the work.
I’ve narrowed a ridiculous amount of photos down to 1500 during my first round of “filtering”. My hope is I can create at least 2 solid books out of those photos. Narrowing down the photos so each book has 50 photos or so. That would be perfect. I also will find a way to sell 4×6, 5×7, 8×10 and 11×14 size prints directly to you guys.
Recognizing this pattern and embracing this downtime during the intense heat has helped me at least make progress on these projects.
-Craig
Craig Bergonzoni's Blog 