Closing The_Gap

This week we pickup where we left with the previous episode. There are so many things to say about the topic of turning pro that we just couldn't fit them all into one episode.On this one, we talk about:Turning pro is a journey of self-discovery.Clients care for the experience more than anything else.How good you need to be start?Why you don't need to justify your prices.Learning how to run a business.Specialists vs. generalists. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In these uncertain times, many people are being furloughed, have lost their jobs, ot are struggling financially. It they have been considering becoming a professional photographer for some time, they might think now is the time to do it.Taking this step, if not done with the right mindset, can be dangerous, however.In this episode of the podcast, the first in a series about turning pro, Fabrizia and Ugo discuss what it takes to become a pro and the mistakes to avoid. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is said that our brains only remember things in three ways:Through highly emotional connection, like deep joy or deep traumaThrough repetitiveness over a long period of time Through photosWhen one of these ways isn’t available, the memory will fade and eventually get archived, deleted from consciousness. We only remember our lives through one of these “anchors”Unfortunately, when photos are simply digital files, they’re hardly ever looked at, and often end up lost, deleted, or corrupted. Even when we save photos on a cloud service, that’s where they end up: literally on a cloud, far away, forgotten. If we don’t print them, it’s very likely that we won’t see them again.Eyewitness is an opinion campaign, spearheaded by our own Fabrizia Costa, to raise awareness about the importance of printing your photos.Ugo and Fabrizia are back on the podcast to discuss this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In last episode we discussed why photographers and all creatives, even if they are not writers, should start writing and we listed some of the way that creativity and productivity can benefit from writing.This week we continue the conversation on the topic of writing. We give you some more practical tips on how to develop and maintain a writing habit. We analyze and debunk some of the typical objections, like “I am not a good writer”, “I don’t know what to write about”, and “People will laugh at me.”Mentioned in this episodeSuperpowers by Fabrizia CostaUgo Cei Photography Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

17 – The Importance Of Writing, Part OneIf you want to be a great photographer, you need to learn how to write.We know this is counter-intuitive, but it actually makes a lot of sense and we hope that listening to this podcast will convince you that it’s actually true.This week, we talk about the reasons why you should be writing. Stay tuned for next week’s episode, when we will give you some very practical tips on how to start developing a writing habit.The Benefits Of WritingWriting helps you avoid distractions.Writing helps you communicate more effectively.Writing helps you think more clearly.Writing is essential to achieving commercial success.Writing helps you remember.Writing influences your speaking.Writing teaches yourself while you teach others.Writing makes a name for yourself.Writing is storage for your ideas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a hiatus of a few weeks, the show is back, but for this week’s episode we have something different from our usual format.A few days ago, our good friend, photographer, educator, and writer Marc Silber informed us that he was about to publish his latest book, titled “Create: Tools from Seriously Talented People to Unleash Your Creative Life”.We thought that the topic of the book–creativity and the tools and processes that help creative people produce their best work–would be perfectly appropriate for out podcast. So we asked Marc to be our special guest and talk about what it takes to be truly creative. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the podcast we talk about jealousy and why being envious of the success of others is yet another manifestation of the Resistance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today’s over-competitive world, the word mediocrity has taken on a decidedly negative connotation. When we say something is mediocre, we mean it is not good, even worse than average.In reality, on any scale by which we can measure the quality of what we produce, something that is of median quality is, by definition, better than 50% of the rest. Is that such a bad place to be? We don’t think so.There are some photographers whose work we admire greatly. Looking at our bookshelves right now we can see books by Steve McCurry, Sebastião Salgado, Nick Brandt, Art Wolfe, and others. If we put our work besides theirs, we can’t help feeling that ours is so much inferior that the only word to define it is mediocre, in comparison.Our first advice to those who feel the same is the following: if you want to overcome your mediocrity, do more work. Study the work of the masters and practice deliberately. If it takes 10,000 hours to become proficient at anything, as Malcolm Gladwell says, then start rolling up your sleeves.There are no shortcuts, but we can guarantee you that you will become better, if you don’t give up.“I know that to paint the sea really well, you need to look at it every hour of every day in the same place, so that you can understand its way.”Claude MonetIn the end, however, you will never be completely satisfied with whatever goal you have achieved, because dissatisfaction is part of human nature and is what drives us to reach even loftier goals.Another piece of advice that we feel we should share is this:Stop comparing your work to that of others.Most of all, never ever compare your work to what you see posted online by those who rake in thousands of likes for each photo they post on Facebook or 500px. That is just a popularity contest and the factors that determine popularity have little or nothing to do with quality.If you do and if you make your satisfaction depend on popularity, we can assure you that you will never be satisfied.“I’ve been woken from enlightened man’s dream / Checkin’ Instagram comments to crowdsource my self esteem.”Kanye WestAppreciate what you have, do not compare yourself to others and every achievement will be more meaningful. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The topic of today's episode was inspired by an article on artsy.net that presents the results of a research on the relation between the degree of success that many famous artists enjoyed and the number of their connections.The conclusion of the research is that "for successful artists, making friends may be more important than producing novel art."We discuss the importance of making connections in today's world, be it in person and virtually, on social networks. It turns out that there are some behaviors that would be considered normal, if not absolutely expected, in real life, that most people forget in the virtual world.We also give some tips for making the most of online connections, without looking like a complete dork.What do you think about this? Let us know what you think by leaving a message using the button below. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unsolicited critiques are the bane of online photography forums. In this episode of the podcast we argue that you should ignore the criticism you receive online, unless it’s coming from someone you admire and respect and who you know has your best interests at heart.Most critics have a tendency to put others down for purely selfish reasons and they should be ignored at best.It also follows that you should refrain from criticizing the work of others, because it’s highly unlikely that you’re not doing it for purely selfless reasons.As Steven Pressfield writes, criticism is a manifestation of the Resistance but, unlike other manifestations, it hurts others, not just ourselves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A day doesn’t go by in online photography circles without some professional decrying the fact that amateurs are driving prices down, ruining the market, and basically killing photography and everything that’s good and fair.We don’t think professionals should worry about what the amateurs are doing and we try to explain why we believe so in the latest episode of the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The importance of pursuing personal projects to revitalize one’s creativity cannot be overstated.Whether photography is your job, a side gig, or just a hobby, it is important to do what you love, or the well of creativity will soon dry up.We discuss this topic in the latest episode of the podcast and give practical tips on how to find personal projects to work on. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode of the podcast, we give voice to one of our listeners and a great friend of us, Pia Parolin.Pia used the button we put under every episode to record her question for us, which can be summarized as “Now that I have become proficient with my photography and started showing my work, what next steps should I take to be more successful and appreciated?”We believe that Pia is already doing great with her photography and taking all the right steps towards closing the gap, but we tried to answer her question anyway, with an eye towards those who are struggling a bit more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode of the podcast, we continue the discussion we had last week about reclaiming your time to pursue your passion and artistic endeavours.Time is a fixed quantity and you can't really manage it. You can only manage the work you have to do, by assessing priorities, blocking time slots, using systems, and more.This episode is chock-full of practical tips about this topic that so many struggle so much with, so you sure don't want to miss it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all like to say we're busy and overwhelmed with too many things to do. Managing your time can be really tough, but it becomes easier when you realize that you can't really manage time: all you can do is just managing the work you have to do.One way to do this is to learn to say no to the constant barrage of demands that work, society, friends, and even ourselves put on us.We discuss this topic in the latest episode of the podcast. This is the first of two episodes about time management. In the next one, we will give you some practical tips that we use to organize our days. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you’re not making a lot of bad photos, you’re not trying hard enough. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the podcast, we go deeper into the conversation about deliberate practice and try to answer the question:Where does one find the motivation and the inspiration to continue practicing, every single day?We argue that we cannot expect that those two elusive things will somehow float down the river, when we are laying on the grass, watching the clouds in the sky.Motivation and inspiration don’t materialize out of thin air, but must be nurtured. Finding the resolve to practice every day takes courage and determination. Rituals, routines, and habits can help us dig motivation up from the ground.Fine some inspirational quotes about motivation, inspiration, and routines below the fold.“I only write when I’m motivated to. I just happened to be motivated every day at 8am.” – Todd Henry“It doesn’t matter what you are trying to become better at, if you only do the work when you’re motivated, then you’ll never be consistent enough to become a professional. […] We all have goals that we would like to achieve and dreams that we would like to fulfill, but it doesn’t matter what you are trying to become better at, if you only do the work when it’s convenient or exciting, then you’ll never be consistent enough to achieve remarkable results.” – James Clear“Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work. And the belief that things will grow out of the activity itself and that you will — through work — bump into other possibilities and kick open other doors that you would never have dreamt of if you were just sitting around looking for a great ‘art idea.’ And the belief that process, in a sense, is liberating and that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every day. Today, you know what you’ll do, you could be doing what you were doing yesterday, and tomorrow you are gonna do what you did today, and at least for a certain period of time you can just work. If you hang in there, you will get somewhere.” – Chuck Close“I begin each day of my life with a ritual. I wake up at 5:30 AM, put on my workout clothes, my leg warmers, my sweatshirts, and my hat. I walk outside my Manhattan home, hail a taxi, and tell the driver to take me to the Pumping Iron gym at 91st Street and First Avenue where I work out for two hours. The ritual is not the stretching and weight training I put my body through each morning at the gym. The ritual is the cab. The moment I tell the driver where to go, I have completed the ritual.” – Twyla Tharp“Mind the gap” audio sample courtesy of bbc.co.uk – © 2018 BBC. Click here to download the original file. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Does it really take 10,000 hours of practice to get really good at something?Where do you find the motivation to keep practicing?Are all kinds of practice equally good and what does it mean to practice deliberately?We ask ourselves these questions in the latest episode of the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes people believe they are not ready to take the next step towards closing the gap because they lack knowledge. Is that a legitimate concern?We take our inspiration from the following quote by James Clear and discuss the relationship between knowledge and practice:“It can be easy to assume that the gap between where you are now and where you want to be in the future is caused by a lack of knowledge. This is why we buy courses on how to start a business or how to lose weight fast or how to learn a new language in three months. We assume that if we knew about a better strategy, then we would get better results. We believe that a new result requires new knowledge. What I’m starting to realize, however, is that new knowledge does not necessarily drive new results. In fact, learning something new can actually be a waste of time if your goal is to make progress and not simply gain additional knowledge. It all comes down to the difference between learning and practicing.”Stop Thinking and Start Doing: The Power of Practicing More – James ClearClosing the Gap, the MasterclassClosing the Gap, a Photography Retreat“Mind the gap” audio sample courtesy of bbc.co.uk – © 2018 BBC. Click here to download the original file. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you really need innate talent and special genes to be an artist or successful in any field?We discuss this topic in the latest episode of the podcast.Despite what many people think, the science is pretty clear on this: "the differences between expert performers and normal adults reflect a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific domain."We also believe that, most of the time, it's not a lack of knowledge that stops people from closing the gap.So, what's really needed to close the gap? As Ira Glass says, it's doing a lot of work. But doing a lot of mindless work might only serve to reinforce errors and bad habits.We will delve deeper into what it means to practice in the right way in the next episodes. Stay tuned! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.