Exactly what does it take to be “lucky?”

I’m a firm believer that we all get opportunities in life. Now, to be clear, we don’t all get the exact same opportunities. Some get bigger opportunities than others. Some get more frequent opportunities than others. The fully unfair lottery of the circumstances of our own birth is beyond our control. We don’t control where we were born, which parents we were born to, or much of our built-in demographics. But, if you are fortunate enough to live long enough, at some point, opportunity will cross everyone’s path. Whether or not we take advantage of it, or even recognize it as an opportunity at the time, is often the difference between success and a dream deferred.

Of course, just like we can’t control the circumstances of our birth, the idea that we can generate our own opportunities can seem equally far-fetched. I can’t just decide I want to get the opportunity to be president, then just expect my inauguration to manifest itself on demand. But, even for something as grandiose as that, there are actually tangible steps within my control that I can do to help fate take a hand. Getting involved in student government to gain experience. Keeping my nose clean and free of scandal. Interning with a local politician. I have no desire to be a politician, so my knowledge of how to run a successful presidential campaign is limited. But you get the picture.

The same rules apply to us as artists. The truth about artists is that the world is absolutely full of us. Never in the history of man has the Earth lacked creativity or those wanting to use that creativity for profit. And, if you’ve made it your goal to make your living through your own creativity, there’s no getting around the fact that you have chosen a very crowded field on which to play. The “big” opportunities are going to be scarce. And it is inevitably going to feel at times like all the great opportunities are going to someone else.

So what can you do about it? To paraphrase Les Brown, all you can do is all you can do. And all you can do is enough. But you have to be willing to do it. The tools to create your own opportunities are in your hands.  But they require action to be effective.

Create Personal Work

One of the more peculiar things that tends to happen to professional photographers is that, at some point, it becomes easy to forget to create images just for ourselves. We usually begin as photographers, shooting images purely for fun. We do photography because we love it. At some point, we love it so much and we get good enough at it to consider making it our profession. Turning a hobby into a business necessitates certain shifts in how and what we shoot, with a greater emphasis on how each of our images will help further our commercial prospects. If you’re lucky, you are able to build a successful business and eventually can get paid every time you take out your camera.

But the hidden thing that very few people tell you is that, while commissioned shoots are what build your bank account, personal shoots are what build your legacy. It is when doing personal work, images without a commercial motivation that only exist because you wanted to push yourself artistically, that we find our “voice” as artists. Unbound from the demands of an art director or client, these passion projects are our opportunity to create work that is 100% our own. Depending on your genre, your commercial work may also offer a fair bit of authorship. But it’s when you self generate your own concepts that you really get to learn for yourself what lights your personal creativity on fire. And, ironically, these personal projects are usually the ones that are of most interest to your clients, anyway. They want to know what you bring to the table as an individual. They want to see the skills and vision that you personally bring that can elevate their project. Not what you can do when art is directed by someone else. They want to know what YOU bring to the project.

Doing personal work might seem like a waste of time or a waste of money. But, by doing so, you are creating an opportunity for your clients to peek behind the curtain. You are offering them a chance to see you in another way. Perhaps in a way they wouldn’t have considered if they only looked at your highly controlled commissioned work. By taking the initiative, you give them the opportunity to notice you. And, in return, you are creating an opportunity to be noticed.

Bet on Yourself

It’s cliché but true. If you don’t believe in yourself, nobody else will.  

Much to my parent’s chagrin, never in my life have I ever wanted to do anything with my life other than create art. I’ve had a million and one day jobs. But the only thing that has ever given my life any meaning is the art that I have created. Yet, despite this unbridled passion, even I can admit that pursuing a career in the arts is far from the most practical decision. If your goal is to make the most money possible, there are far easier ways to do so than to be an artist. If you like things like stability and certainty, choosing a freelance career where every day is a different adventure with the very real possibility that you’ll fall flat on your face might not be the best fit. That doesn’t mean you can’t still make art as a hobby. But choosing to commit to doing so as your main line of income takes a special level of leap of faith.

But the leap doesn’t stop just because you’ve finally admitted out loud that you want to be a professional artist. Maintaining that career means taking that leap again and again to keep ascending. This is a career where stagnation equals death. If you aren’t getting better, you’re getting worse.

Sometimes these daily leaps are things like choosing to invest money in a personal project, knowing there’s little likelihood of financial return. Other times, it’s submitting your work to a dream client despite your internalized fear that your work might not be good enough. Or continuing to submit images to a prestigious photo competition despite the fact that you haven’t been selected for 10 years running.

In short, you have to be willing to put yourself out on a ledge. Even if other people might think you are crazy for doing so, you need to put your belief in yourself. Is this a guarantee of success? Absolutely not. But, by putting yourself out there, you are again creating an opportunity. That big brand can’t possibly hire you if they don’t know you exist. Reaching out to them might end in rejection. But not reaching out most certainly will. You have to constantly generate the potential for new opportunities by constantly putting yourself in a position for opportunities to come along.

Get Out of The House

You never know who you’re going to meet. We tend to think of networking as a dirty word. We think of it purely as a matter of brown-nosing people with impressive titles to try to get us a job. And, to be sure, this is part of it. But networking can be as simple as maintaining healthy relationships with your colleagues and fellow photographers.  

As a serious introvert, socializing is not often my favorite thing to do. But so much of the work I get is because I met someone, who knew someone, who had a friend at another place, who had worked with this one guy, whose sister’s husband was a janitor at that place, which does the banking for that agency, and the agent bumped into the janitor in the hall, and somehow my name came up, and you get the picture.

Getting new clients isn’t always as simple as A to B. Often, it’s an accumulation of touch points that ultimately build up to what seems like an opportunity coming out of the blue. But it takes a lot of hard work to get lucky. And putting yourself out into the world physically can go a long way towards putting you in the right place when opportunity arises. 

Of course, it’s entirely possible that you could go to every party in town and never meet “the right person.” But what if you do?

Opportunities abound. Yes, even for you. The trick is to put in the work so that you are in the right place to receive them. Put in the hard work beforehand so that, when those opportunities do come, you are ready to take advantage of them. And keep an open mind and an open heart to allow in those moments that could change your life.

In the latest episodes of Andrew Budziak’s “Edge of Frame” series about urban wildlife photography, he continues his trek eastward across Canada, this time making productive stops in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Montreal, Quebec.

In each episode of “Edge of Frame,” including the two most recent ones, Budziak has chatted with locals. It’s not just part of making interesting video content, it’s an integral part of his wildlife photography process.

“Talking to people who live in these cities is fantastic. One of the things I’m always curious about is how local people view urban wildlife. Do they love it? Do they not love it? Do they think about it at all?” Budziak tells PetaPixel.

“When you’re in a new place, asking ‘where’ often yields great results. Locals know where the animals are. No guidebook or website is as good as local knowledge.”

In Saskatoon, Budziak took local knowledge even further by chatting with local legend, Mike Digout. Known as “The Beaver Guy,” Digout is an expert on Canada’s iconic semiaquatic mammals, and spends considerable time observing and recording them.

In addition to capturing fantastic photos of beavers with Digout’s assistance and insight, Budziak also saw beautiful pelicans and prairie dogs.

It’s incredible how many different animals can be seen quickly when a photographer knows where to look and adds a healthy dose of good fortune.

“Your city is a wild place. You might not know that, but it is. Once you know where and how to look, you’ll be amazed at the amount of wildlife in your city,” says Budziak. “There’s something magical about having these encounters with wildlife in the city. Seeing wildlife in an urban setting can almost be a mythical experience.”

In beautiful Montreal, Budziak was treated to many wildlife opportunities. Despite its size and relatively dense population, Montreal has more than 1,000 local parks, including some huge ones, like Mount Royal Park (692 acres) and Parc Jean-Drapeau, the site of the Canadian Grand Prix.

Budziak photographed raccoons and foxes, both fun and exciting subjects. They’re also commonly found in urban areas, as they are highly adaptable.

“Our cities’ forests, waterways, and parks are full of life,” says Budziak. However, these animals are under constant threat by people, whether it’s cars, pollution, or other disruptive behavior. “We need to be actively protecting [urban wildlife] from things like development.”

Photography is a great way to raise awareness and help people learn about their often invisible neighbors.

“You can’t protect what you can’t see, and photography is a wonderful tool for showing people what’s out there,” Budziak says.

There are two episodes remaining in Budziak’s “Edge of Frame” urban wildlife video series. In previous episodes, Budziak visited Vancouver and Edmonton, encountering diverse wildlife including seals, rabbits, and even a scary run-in with a mountain lion.

Image credits: Andrew Budziak

How many times have you had a promising conversation started with a potential client, only for them to simply stop responding to you, never completing a booking? It is a very frustrating but also very common experience. This helpful video tutorial shares some useful advice and techniques to decrease that ghosting rate and land more clients. 

Coming to you from Chelsea Nicole Photography, this excellent video tutorial will help you increase your booking rate with clients. No doubt, this is a very frustrating experience, and because you are being ghosted, it can be hard to figure out why it is happening. I went through this for a year or so, and I vastly decreased my ghosting rate when I followed some of the advice mentioned in the video, namely, reducing as many friction points in the process as possible. For example, instead of asking people to share their schedule with me and going back and forth on booking a consultation, I started including an automatic booking link that synced with my calendar and allowed the potential client to simply select and instantly confirm a time to speak with me, with all contact info going out in the confirmation email. Not only does it reduce the amount of work the client has to do, it also make the process look much more professional. Check out the video above for the full rundown.

Abstract landscape photography offers a unique opportunity to explore the world around us in a completely different way. By focusing on patterns, shapes, and textures, we can discover unseen worlds in even the most mundane places.

Although this style of photography can seem a little daunting, I am going to break down six tips that have helped me along my abstract photography journey.

Tip 1: Look Around

While it may seem like a simple tip, it’s often overlooked by photographers when exploring new locations. Instead of solely focusing on the grand vistas or the prominent subjects in the distance, take a moment to look around you. You might be surprised to find fascinating abstract patterns and textures in the most unexpected places, even right beneath your feet.

Pay attention to your surroundings and don’t be afraid to get close to the ground to capture the intricate details, just be mindful of where you step. For example, I was able to capture stunning sand patterns created by the natural ebb and flow of the tides.

Tip 2: Flatten Your Plane of Focus

To emphasize patterns, shapes, and textures in your photographs, try creating a 2D look for your scene. This technique simplifies the composition and gives your image an abstract feel. One way to achieve this effect is by shooting straight down with a wide or mid-range lens.

Alternatively, if your subject is a vertical object such as a tree or rock wall, try to keep your camera parallel to it. This approach allows you to capture a perfectly focused image at F16 without needing to use focus stacking. However, if the ground or wall is not entirely flat, you may need to use focus stacking to ensure your image is fully in focus from top to bottom.

Always take multiple frames at different focal points to ensure you have a range of options to work with. Even if you don’t require additional frames, it’s always beneficial to have them available in case you need to enhance the focus of the scene from top to bottom later on.

Tip 3: Work with Your Conditions instead of Against Them.

Ah, the age-old debate of weather conditions in landscape photography — it’s a topic we often focus on too much. The beauty of abstract or intimate landscape photography is that you can capture stunning shots under any weather condition. It all depends on the subject and what you want to highlight.

For instance, when I was shooting at the beach, I started with beautiful diffused light that gave the landscape a soft look. Suddenly, the sun broke through the clouds and produced incredible golden light. I decided to capture both and loved comparing the two shots.

If you’re shooting on a clear sunny day and want to avoid harsh shadows, look for scenes in the shade or create your own shade with a photo reflector or even yourself. It may sound absurd, but I have shot mud tiles in the desert, focusing on a small patch and using my shadow as diffusion. Surprisingly, the photo turned out pretty good.

Even if you’re on the coast and think that a clear day wouldn’t work with harsh light, specular details reflecting off the sand and water can create mesmerizing results. So don’t let the weather stop you from capturing great shots. If you’re determined enough, you’ll always find something interesting to shoot.

Tip 4: Try Using a Polarizer.

The transformative power of a polarizer on a scene is truly incredible. It can completely change the way reflections appear, offering a whole new perspective. Take a look at these two abstract photos side-by-side, with one using a polarizer and the other without.

You can see the stark difference it can make. If you’re heading out to shoot on the coast or in a forest, make sure to pack a polarizer in your bag and experiment with it. You never know what kind of beautiful images you might capture.

Tip 5: Create a Story.

Creating great abstract photography is all about focusing on shapes and patterns, looking for repetition in nature and interesting color patterns. Sometimes, that can feel a little too abstract (forgive the pun). But fear not! One technique that can help you create interesting abstract work is to tell practical stories through your images, thinking of the shapes as something completely different from what they are. For example, in the photos below, I see not just sand patterns or mud, but the faces of creatures, an aerial perspective of sand dunes, and even wild animals.

This not only gives more context to the photo than just saying, “Oh, look, some shapes and colors,” but also makes the hunt for these photos more fun. So, next time you want to shoot abstracts, try this technique and see what interesting stories you can create.

Tip 6: Capture the Things You Like, Exclude the Thing You Don’t.

Don’t feel like you need to go to the most awe-inspiring locations to create stunning abstract photography. You can find beauty and intrigue in the everyday world around you. The key is to have fun and focus on capturing things that pique your interest. When you’re looking for patterns and shapes, ask yourself, “Do I like this?”

If the answer is yes, then also ask yourself why you feel that way. Once you’ve taken your shot, take the time to carefully edit out any elements that detract from the interestingness of your image. This may mean cropping out empty space, removing distracting objects at the edges, or adjusting the composition to eliminate converging lines. Remember, the goal is to create a composition that is captivating and has visual flow.

Abstract landscape photography is an excellent way to explore the world around us in a completely different way. By focusing on patterns, shapes, and textures, we can discover unseen worlds in even the most mundane places. I really hope these six tips help you and thanks so much for reading!

About the Author: Michael Shainblum is a photographer, filmmaker, and educator based in San Francisco, California. He has been working professionally as a photographer and filmmaker for 17 years since the age of 16. He has been commissioned by clients such as Disney, Nike, Samsung, Apple, and Google. He also shares his knowledge via his Youtube Channel, Instagram, and workshops.