[sssl]

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/alain_briot_fine_art_photography_top_16.shtml

1 - Become an expert in light
- The most important aspect of photography is not the gear you own or the techniques you use
- The most important aspect of photography is light
2 - Compose your images carefully
- Slow down
- Use a viewfinder
- Walk the scene
- Give equal importance to all the areas of the frame
- Refine your compositions progressively
3 - Study colors and contrast
- Study the contrast of the scenes you photograph
- Study the color palette of the scenes you photograph
4 – Create images that represent what you felt, not just what you saw
- Study the differences between objective and subjective representations
- Technique is objective and emotions are subjective
- The camera is objective and the artist is subjective
- Study the differences between documentation and personal expression
- Documentation is showing only what is in front of the lens
- Personal expression is showing your emotional response to the subject
5 - Focus on quality not quantity
- The goal of Fine Art is not to create a lot of images
- The goal of fine art is to make a small number of great images to be enjoyed for a long time
6 – Master both art and technique
- Fine art is about both art and technique
- Do not study just one or the other
- Study and practice so that you master both
7 - Master all the aspects of Fine Art Photography
- Photography is a multi-parts process
- These include composition, conversion, optimization, printing, curating, exhibiting, etc.
- Learn how to complete each step to fine art standards
8 - Optimize your photographs using layers in Photoshop
- Don't do all the optimization work in the raw converter.
9 - Make the final print your goal
- Do not just learn how to take and optimize photographs
- Learn how to print them well
- Nothing is as beautiful as a fine art print
- Photographs in books, magazines, on the web, etc. are all reproductions
10 - Mat and present your work in a professional manner
- The print is not the end of the process
- A Fine Art photograph needs to be matted and framed.
11 - Focus your work and efforts on projects
- Don't photograph everything that attracts your eye
- Be selective and deliberate in your choice of subject matter
12 - Share your work with others and build an audience
- Do not keep your prints in boxes
- Learn how to exhibit and promote your work so you can share them with others
- It is by exhibiting your work that you will find an audience.
13 - Do not try to recreate the wheel
- Instead, learn from those who know and teach how to do what you want to do
- Get advice from those who are where you want to be
14 - Create a Personal Style
- This is what will make you stand out from everyone else
15 - Do not expect success overnight
- It takes time to do this well
- Patience, perseverance and not giving up are the keys to success
- You can only progress step by step
16 - Do not overestimate talent
- Talent is not within our control
- Hard work and not giving up are
- Many more succeed because of hard work than because of talent
- We succeed because we control what we do

''The purpose of the artist is to express reality as felt'' Robert Motherwell