"you have a 'good eye'."

what even is that?a good eye.I have two eyeballs, most of you have two eyeballs...it's a weird thing to say in my mind. ;)that weird statement leads me to think about a funny conversation I've had with my husband a few times now...when I make a positive comment about a photograph that he's taken and tell him he has "a good eye" in regards to a particular shot he's taken...he'll often jokingly say:

"well, even a blind squirrel can find a nut every once and a while."

he makes me laugh.  a lot.but it got me thinking about what goes into photography and in cultivating "a good eye."I don't think it's something you're born with.yes, certain people have a more creative bent than others.but the longer I pursue photography and the more my eyes are opened to others who have spent their lives pursuing photography,the more I understand the discipline, the technique, the repetition, the studying that goes into calling oneself a photographer.let alone a professional photographer...(I'll save that thought for another blog post...)photography and art is a process.a journey.it takes discipline, time, effort and the passion to keep after it over and over again.the older I get, the more I realize that most great things do.I just finished the book “outliers” by malcolm gladwell.it's a fantastic book and is about how people throughout history have gotten to be really good at their crafts.to nutshell the book, it takes all of that discipline, time, effort and passion...oh, and at least 10,000 hours of repeated practice.yep.ten. thousand.  hours.I think I may be going on 100,000 hours and in my mind I still am not there.why do I think that?because I keep pushing the bar higher for myself.what I’ve learned, is that I will never get there...wherever “there” might be.some see “there” as a finish line.others may see it as a goal checked off the list.as far as I know, there is no rating system in art – there is not a first place prize for winning the "best art"…we have created categories such as “greats” that we learn from, but even that is subjective.I’d put annie liebovitz, tim walker, sue bryce, jose villa into that "great" category, but it takes a career and a substantial body of repeated great work to even get “there.”that's what this session is for me.putting in the 10,000 hours of artistic work that I am passionate about.constructing, composing, paying attention to lines and shadows...and collaborating with a MOST creative person I admire.I will never on this side of heaven be able to bend and move as artistically as lynne does.but, gosh, I love to photograph it.I am not "there"...but in doing this session I am hopefully headed to "there" eventually.thank you for the afternoon lynne and for being artistic with me! :)