{"id":1025,"date":"2025-11-14T06:00:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T14:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.russbishop.com\/blog\/?p=1025"},"modified":"2025-11-14T08:54:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T16:54:11","slug":"the-path-less-traveled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/russbishop.com\/blog\/the-path-less-traveled\/","title":{"rendered":"The Path Less Traveled"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Fresh<\/a><\/p>\n

Fresh snow on fall aspens and pines, Inyo National Forest, California<\/em><\/p>\n

There’s been\u00a0an ongoing discussion in the photography world lately about\u00a0art\u00a0and originality, that of creating images that are not the photographer’s personal vision so much as an attempt to copy the work of others.\u00a0In\u00a0extreme cases some would argue\u00a0this\u00a0isn’t\u00a0art at all, but rather a mechanized form of duplication.\u00a0The unfortunate result is that many photographers are\u00a0no longer\u00a0willing to share information about specific locations, and those photographers involved in the practice are missing the opportunity to show the world their own unique vision.<\/p>\n

This trend is\u00a0ironic given that we’re a country born of rugged individualism, and photography above all is a form of personal expression.\u00a0But it’s no surprise when we are surrounded by such a lack of creativity in society today –\u00a0movie remakes of 70’s television shows; advertisements using\u00a0surprisingly similar images; and politicians repeating the same words as if they are uniquely their own. Perhaps\u00a0this lack of originality is due to\u00a0tight deadlines and too little time in our fast-paced world, or simply a fear of the unknown.<\/p>\n

Before I head off on a shoot (especially if it’s a location I’ve never been to before) I thoroughly research the area geographically and geologically, and I’ll also\u00a0review images of the area as\u00a0a\u00a0reference point to get a sense of place. But then after immersing myself in the details at home, I use the travel time to clear my head and fine tune my receptors to soak in whatever the location may offer.<\/p>\n

Instead of previsualizing,\u00a0I\u00a0prefer to see a place through a child’s eye as if I’m the first ever to experience it.\u00a0I’ll often avoid the obvious viewpoint\u00a0whenever possible in favor of an angle\u00a0that combines the key elements\u00a0of the scene in a fresh, new way. When that’s a challenge, I’ll try a different lens or shutter speed or perhaps just wait for the light or weather to change.<\/p>\n

So dare to be different and embrace the unknown! Find your own unique vision in photography and in life – and enjoy the rewards of the path less traveled.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a9Russ Bishop\/All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fresh snow on fall aspens and pines, Inyo National Forest, California There’s been\u00a0an ongoing discussion in the photography world lately about\u00a0art\u00a0and originality, that of creating images that are not the photographer’s personal vision so much as an attempt to copy the work of others.\u00a0In\u00a0extreme cases some would argue\u00a0this\u00a0isn’t\u00a0art at all, but rather a mechanized form … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Path Less Traveled”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[381,173,8,12],"tags":[30,381,55,425,569,311,108],"class_list":["post-1025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creativity","category-landscape-photography","category-nature-photography","category-techniques","tag-autumn","tag-creativity","tag-forest","tag-photography","tag-russ-bishop","tag-technique","tag-wilderness"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/russbishop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/russbishop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/russbishop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/russbishop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/russbishop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/russbishop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/russbishop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/russbishop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/russbishop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}