Naturally the first steps to successful photography are learning the skills, the rules of ocmposition, the camera controls such as aperture and shutter speed, and of course understanding light.

However, truly inspirational phhotography has at its heart something more. An essence, a feeling, a mood, something that comes from within the photographers themselves. The greats of photography have learnt this and they knew that to make unforgettable images meant looking into themselves and finding that something unique in all of us. They knew how to look at the world with their own unique vision.

The following is a link to some wonderfully inspiring words from some of photography's greats. Their tips on what they think is that essence that makes a photograph memorable.

http://heartifb.com/2012/11/15/photography-for-bloggers-15-photography-tips-from-famous-photographers/

Jo

After the chaos and headaches of the last workshop I was determined to be super organised for the latest one.

I spent hours writing and compliling a swath of written learning material complete with charts and photographic examples so that I could use this as a guide to follow topic by topic.

Well it started out so well that we very quickly abandoned the paperwork and focused much more on a practical direction. The participants were all fantastic and very enthusiastic, They all got involved in such a great way that I found their questions allowed the workshop to be steered by their interests and needs.

It flowed so well as a result. We also let the weather and location dictate the content as we went along. Certain subjects would become a good example of practising some of the skills they'd just learnt, and the light gave us some lovely variations to talk about different lighting conditions.

We were having so much fun that we ended up going overtime and I personally didn't want the time to finish.
I truly love what I do and feel so privilieged to be able to earn money engaging in my passion. It has to be the ultimate life's goal.

As some wise person once said, "find something you love and get good enough at it that people will pay you to do it." I can say quite emphatically that I have acheived this truly enviable goal and encourage everyone to do the same with their ultimate dreams.

It's the best feeling in the world!

Jo

I believe the ability to see things with a photographer's eye is one of the keys to success and growth as a photographer. It is also one of the true joys of learning photography. For me, developing a photographer's eye meant really seeing the world so much clearer than I ever did before. It may not have improved my lousy eyesight but the quality of what i see has become greatly enhanced.

You'll find with practice that you start to see composition opportunities everywhere. (many times I've excitedly tried to get my partner to stop the car in an instant. This doesn't always go over well ;).)

Having moved back to my hometown Melbourne after many years away, I have been so excited by rediscovering places with my photographer's eye. Its like seeng everything for the first time. Travel anywhere, even short trips, thrills me so much now. Anywhere new to explore and discover with my camera is just the biggest buzz.

Jo