Fractured Creativity II

As I posted last week (Fractured Creativity) the idea of a break in the creative construct can do wonders for the process as a whole. And in all honesty it's not just the creative process that benefits from this. Anne Fisher, a senior writer at FORTUNE is quoted as, "What scientists have only recently begun to realize is that people may do their best thinking when they are not concentrating on work at all." Enough said.

With that in mind I set out in an ultra race last weekend to run 57km in the Swan Range of Montana. Had a great time (nice work Brad) but have to admit that the break from the process didn't set a mental fire as it does most times. With the effort involved in the race attention was more focused on the task of simply moving forward. Guess there's a limit to everything.

I still whole heartedly believe in and encourage everyone to seek that fracture that allows you to break the thought process (and thusly the mold). In fact, was just beta testing a high end commercial website by a 'new media' company in town that covers the likes of patagonia, Nixon, etc and was inspired with the energy put into it. So here's creative inspiration for a wild weekend ::

Freeman Patterson :: Photography and the Art of Seeing
Arthur I Miller :: Insights of Genius: Imagery & Creativity in Science & Art
Arthur Koestler :: The Act of Creation
And lastly ...

"...There Aren't Any Good Advertising Jobs in MT"

For anyone in Montana or the hinterlands anywhere for that matter here's a great story of myth vs reality. In 2006 advertising wunderkind Alex Bogusky (Burger King, Volkswagen, etc) CD of Crispin Porter + Bogusky was interviewed in Adweek and provided the mag with the above quote. Soon afterward the head of one of our own largest & brightest agencies, Mercury, began an online dialogue with Bogusky.

Fast forward a year+ riding a new wave of economy/creativity here in Montucky and Mr Bogusky has been invited to be guest speaker at the initial offthegrid event. The offical gathering is Thursday 9.27 in Bozeman at 5:30 at the Emerson Cultural Center and is billed as a gathering of "the creative professional arts formed to try to foster better professional development, network, host speakers." That and the evening should be "a good time with him eating a little crow".

Free drinks, food & the all important string band. So if you're anywhere in the state and up for the drive I'll see you there.

Fractured Creativity

During extended travel time (Judith Gap wind farm below) recently my mind was left to wander and inevitably consumed itself with considerations of possible shoots, workflow and new ideas. Being away from studio connects and camera for hours or days at a time does one good with the right mindset. This break, or fracture, I've come to find essential in the process of my own mental process - creative or not. Typically, however, the creative side benefits more than I ever expect.

For example, I am just now underway with a new multimedia project that I began developing during this fractured creativity. This break in ruts of idea generation and thought processes is accomplished by nearly any sort of extended distraction. For many of the athletes and professionals I work with it's in the form of exercise but it could be anything from knitting to vacation. Ever tried to simply visit a new place right in your own backyard - someplace you've passed by a million times but never given the time of day? As long as it breaks your routine and allows the mind a fracture between multi tasking necessity and genuine idea spawn.

The oft noted father of adventure photography, Galen Rowell, talks about this in one of his essays/books. Scheduled to head abroad to shoot for a client for two weeks he had all affairs in order for departure. At the last minute the client opted for his stock imagery instead and left him with two completely open weeks. (His rock solid contract guaranteed his full payment either way). So, with clients and friends thinking he was gone he suddenly had a chunk of time to explore his Berkeley area home with a whole new head. The results were something he talked about as extremely valuable.

With a large fracture coming up this weekend (more later) I should have an array of ideas fleshed out after this single minded endeavor.

Find your fracture.

Copyright 21st Century Style

Our workflow, like most of you I hope, intrinsically features images for copyright submission at the US Copyright Office within Library of Congress. This is a simple process that the government has put at our disposal for protection of unique works. I view this as a two fold dealing: ONE, as a great step for creators of media or art (musicians, writers, performers, etc) to protect our livelihood. Secondly, it's a great offering for our clients as it protects their interests and is a definite step we can offer in our in house processing.

The Copyright Office, along with various photography groups such as ASMP, has been working on electronic registration for some time. Recently, I was selected as a beta tester for this system and am now in the process of putting it through the paces. I'll keep you informed as to how it works but in the meantime don't hesitate to chime in with ideas. With electronic registration possible soon there's absolutely no excuse not to have this step in your workflow. In our workflow within Lightroom it's a single button click via our presets that my assistant initates.

Also received an email update from the Copyright Alliance. The CA is a non-profit that promotes copyright protection and growth across fields. They've put together a comprehensive site with materials and articles covering FAQ's, intellectual property rights, orphan works, industry practices and more.

For more information in general on copyright issues or how to register your work try the US Copyright Office via the Visual Arts link or find tutorials like this ASMP one. I'll touch on my specific workflow in another post but definitely get your lo-rez jpgs copyright bound.