Today's post comes from my friend Leslie Buker, an art director in Seattle:
Two years into my advertising career, I keep getting the same feedback about my book – I need to show more art. So, I recently dug out an old camera with a half-shot roll of film inside and headed to a Seattle park to finish it off. When I got the pictures back I was blown away by two things – The first half of the pictures were snapshots from five years ago (five years!) and those I had just taken weren’t snapshots at all – they were actual compositions with a thought behind them.
It was five years ago when I decided to focus on advertising instead of eking out a career as an artist. But as I look through the viewfinder for the first time in a long time, I can’t deny it. I see things in so much more detail now. And as an art director, it has been essential to learn the difference between what looks good and what looks bad.
So, what can I say? Advertising has made me a better photographer. And maybe if I work at it, that’s something I’ll be able to show in my book.
