Hi ,

Happy New Year! I know I'm a couple weeks late, but I'm currently in the depths of my training for my upcoming 24-hour mountain bike race, which is just over 4 weeks away. 

I'm actually working with a professional cycling coach who has given me a dedicated training plan that is optimizing my workouts for best performance. Although I've always been in pretty good shape and have raced bikes for years, I decided to turn to an training expert to help push me beyond what I have previously experienced with my own fitness, strength and endurance. 

In a way, it's no different than when someone does coaching with me. I've been doing a lot of sessions lately, and I see the impact I have on the photographers I help, when I give them advice, help them set up their cameras, or share insight that they might not have ever thought of or used in their own image making process and practice before. 

If you'd like to kick start your new year with some added insight that can help you take your photography to the next level, consider a personal 1:1 coaching session with me. 

I'll even give you a special $20 coupon. Simply checkout here and use coupon code NEWYEAR20 to book a discounted session and give your camera skills a boost.

CREATIVE TIP - DON'T FILL THE FRAME

You don’t have to fill the frame up with stuff. In fact, it’s better if you don’t. In most cases, a cleaner, less cluttered composition will make for a much more powerful image. One approach is to leave large swaths of empty space in your photos.

Although we call it empty space, or negative space, large fields of like-minded pixels can actually contribute to a very positive impact on your imagery. For one thing, it gives the picture an air of simplicity. As with life, simplicity is always preferable because it doesn’t distract the eye and clutter the image processing centers in your brain. Remember, photography is as much about the brain as it is the eyes. Give your viewer room to think, and they’ll able to take in everything with a much more clear head.

Give your subject room to breathe and it will stand out more from the background. In addition, you can use these open areas of color or texture to help create a stronger sense of balance in your photos. You’ll find that this seemingly empty space can become a prominent subject element in itself, and it can enhance the storytelling aspect of your photo by creating suggestion, mood, environment and ambience. 

Generally, the more powerful the subject, the more space you can include around it. By combining this technique with the ideas about framing your subject that we just explored, you can create some very dramatic and eye catching imagery.

The obvious candidate for empty space is a large open patch of sky, whether it’s deep blue or fiery orange pink. Clean, uncluttered parts of the landscape work as well, as do large shadowed ares. 

I hope you're starting 2024 with a positive attitude and lots of excitement and inspiration for the coming months. I always like to think of New Years like blank journals. They're filled with unending potential for new ventures and exciting ideas. 

As you start diving into 2024, take some time to reflect on what this year will mean for you and your photography. What do you hope to shoot? What do you want to learn and improve on? Where do you want to go? Is there a particular subject you've been dying to explore?

So many possibilities. I look forwards to being part of your journey this year. Thanks for reading and take care!