All of our blogs, flickr accounts, facebook pages and tweets bear evidence that we were all there together and forged friendships that will transcend the different continents and timezones that we all live on. But what has really struck me, in retrospection, was the entirely different approach we all took to capturing our images. I am not just talking about the technical differences – between us we shot on Holgers, Leica, Canon, Nikons, Olympus, wide angle, fixed focal length, film, full sensor, crop sensor and point and shoot. I am talking about our different inspiration and therefore our different vision.

Whilst I was in Chicago I set myself a number of exercises. This post is the final one of those exercises, where I wanted to explore how important my own end vision of an image was to me as part of my own creative process.

I am going to show you 2 images. First off, I’ll show you how I chose to process them as color images. Remember, I had my own vision for this and I had deliberately selected certain aesthetic settings to achieve that, including the idea that I wanted to show the vibrancy of the neon lights and color as dusk fell.

Before I show you the imitated vision, I want to give you some context. I know it is invidious to name names but to illustrate better what I mean I need to be a little cheeky and amplify my argument with some personal observations – so apologies to the Chicago crew.

Take Sabrina’s approach for example. For those of us who have had the privilege of meeting Sabrina, we all have experienced what a great listener she is. She is naturally empathetic and reflective, she seldom offers a suggestion or idea that isn’t both positive or well considered and you immediately warm to her. So while I was trying to melt the latest Lexmark card terrified of missing a single decisive moment, Sabrina waited patiently until the city spoke to her. It called to her early in the morning. Her resulting images showed a private, local, insightful side of Chicago that few casual visitors ever see. Her decision to process in strong contrast Black and White totally reflected her vision for a city transferring from night to day; from local to tourists and from asleep to awake. Check out her blog for her inspiring images.

Or Stuart’s take. I know from being with Stuart on a workshop in Italy that little gets by him. He has an effortless laid back manner that lulls you into a false sense of security. He’ll claim that he “just happened to be there at the precise moment that a ray of light lit up the statue of the Madonna in an otherwise dark Italian graveyard” but, a little like our joint new hero, Cartier Bresson, luck is not really part of his repertoire. He is able to observe things; to anticipate; to spot a trend or a movement that will lead to a “Cartier Bresson decisive moment”. Some of you have yet to see Stuart’s image of two children playing in the fountain called “Can we talk”. Seek it out and you will see what I mean. Or just look at the way that he overlaid the famous “blues” of Chicago onto its other famous signature, its skyline, to provide a stunning series of selenium shots that emphasize the different architectural styles, yet bring them all together into a cohesive group that screams “CHICAGO”

Although we have yet to see Mark Olwick’s images from the trip because he used film, I know from having watched him that we are in for a treat. He will have spotted a combination of light and shadow, texture and form that will leave most of us wondering if we were on the same trip as him. His true post processing technique in the darkroom allows him complete control over how he will realize his vision for how he saw Chicago. And perhaps the largest dollop of respect goes to Sue Ables, who seldom drew the camera to her eye because on this rare occasion she wasn’t getting the inspiration she needed and rather than as so many of us would have bowed to peer pressure, she decided not to force the issue or get frustrated, but to just observe, reflect and wait for the moment.

The common theme then for all of these talented photographers is that, however much they feel they are still on a journey (and it seems that no matter how great, respected or published you are, we are all still on a journey of discovery), there is a maturity about how they approach their vision for each image. If they spot an opportunity it is seldom point, click and move on. Aesthetic selections of shutter speed, ISO, film type, lens selection, time of day, light, primary subject etc are all made with an end vision in mind. Post processing, sometimes consciously and sometimes subconsciously, forms part of the process even before the shutter is clicked, but for every image they strive to have an end vision in mind. And of course there is no way any of us can replicate the exact conditions or decisions to arrive at precisely the same point, the same way, with the same outcome. In other words we cannot copy and get away with it. With ourselves or with any one else for that matter.

Okay, back out of the rat hole and back on message! I am now going to show you how those original images look when I imitated first Stuart’s style and then Sabrina’s. To copy Stuart’s style I use a selenium blue presets and for Sabrina’s I took a strong Black and white contrast

I am not saying that their style is right or wrong, or that the images are better or worse for having tried to copy them. What I am saying is that they are different and, crucially to my mind, show a Chicago that either I wasn’t observant enough to spot or that just doesn’t convey what the City said to me. Or at least for me that is the result. Why? Well simply because they no longer convey the story, mood, feeling or message that I had originally intended. Although both of my original color images are competent in terms of composition or style or technique, the end vision is changed.

Is this making sense? I am not saying that simply using someone else’s Lightroom preset squanders your vision or that you are guilty of plagiarism or that good post-processing will transform rescue an image It might but hat is not the point here. Actually using presets suggests efficiency and expediency because they are a starting point, not an end point in themselves. I am saying that if you only rely on other people’s vision, settings, style or inspiration then your vision is hollow. That type of imitation will kill your vision. And without vision, no amount of imitation will rescue your images. Putting lipstick on a pig does little to hide the fact that it is still a pig, albeit a more ridiculous pig than before.

I have come away with a renewed confidence that my vision is sound – fledgling but sound. It needs to be explored, watered, nurtured, tested, stretched and inspired. But it must never be a pale imitation of what it could be or indeed an imitation of anyone else’s.

I’d be really interested in your thoughts on this, so please re-tweet and comment away! and for those of you kind enough to pander to my ego, I will be posting the full Chicago set tomorrow on facebook and flickr.

It is time for a fresh start, right? Mentally  we have swept clear any debris or frustrations of the previous year and are now sitting, perched at the edge of opportunity and fulfillment, with a clear plan to make it happen, fuelled by the expectation of what will be. This will be the year when I….

And yet, somehow things just aren’t quite going to plan, are they. The new year resolutions to learn a new language by just doing 30 minutes a day, or to get out and exercise regularly, or take a photo a day, have already fallen by the wayside. And if this is something that feels familiar, then the good news is that you are not alone.

I was touched by the honesty and openness that both Sabrina Henry and David duChemin shared on their recent posts about a workshop  in Kenya that David was leading. Sabrina, with the usual excitement that an expensive workshop in a stunning location with a great mentor  brings, was full of expectations. David on the other hand had amazing wildlife shots in his mental tick list of what the workshop would provide. But as their respective blogs will tell you, their expectations were dashed. They returned home, comparatively empty handed, frustrated by missed opportunity. For those of you that follow either of them, it will come as no surprise that both looked within themselves, found a positive message to take from this, and have refocused their energies accordingly.

For me, it was a recent trip with a buddy, Glenn Carter, around Singapore, and a visit to a local mosque. I had the image in my mind, found the shot, but the result (shown here) just wasn’t quite there. Not sharp enough, not blurred enough, not the right angle. Who knows.

But for most of us that that weight of expectation, when unchecked, can lead to despondency and frustration that is not always channelled so positively. Sure there are mitigating circumstances that we use to justify this to ourselves. “I just had to finish that project from last year before I could…” or “I didn’t have the right lens with me…” or “The worse weather in 100 years made it impossible for me to get out…” But subconsciously you know that the way out is something that you have to make happen, that you have to find. The grey funk that was lurking subconsciously at the back of your mind, is beginning to move into the conscious. You are frustrated. That weight of expectation about going to a new place, getting that iconic shot, losing that weight, learning that language is something that you are beginning to dwell on. And that makes you tense or inhibits the creativity that is so much of who you are, and so much of what your images reflect.

Well the good news is that you are not alone, and this has nothing really to do with you per se.

There  is an annual phenomenon that is caused by trying to cram so much into the end of the final weeks or months of the previous year, together with the pressure and expectation about having happy holidays with the family, that we are creatively exhausted. Now I am not a psycologist, but I do know that this is not a phenomenon restricted to creative types. In fact it is often worse in creative types because the very self awareness and self-criticism that fuels that creativity also has a dark side.

You have only to look at the financial markets to realise that this is something that happens to the rational left-side  brain people too (although given recent world issues caused by that talent pool,  perhaps we should not focus on swimming in their shallow end too long).

Every January the stock market dives. Sure enough this January  the markets have gone down , attributable to Obama statements but also historically this is the worst week of the year. To put it plainly people are tired , they have been pushing up to Christmas and also in an effort to set the tone for the year. Last year markets went down 6% on average this week and increased by 25% over the year. This pattern is repeated over the decades.

So don’t be worried. If your creativity feels a little slow to emerge in this new decade, if that expensive workshop occurs and you are not in the groove, then fret not. Find something that brings a smile to your face. Maybe put the camera down and spend time with the subject of the workshop or assignment rather than behind the lens. Whatever it is, have fun and remember others out there are feeling it too.