There is this notion that the process of creating a photograph is somehow a trade secret to be guarded under lock and key.  Over the years I have noticed as a general rule, photographers are a very guarded group of individuals.  This is typically the cause of deep-rooted insecurities and the belief that the secret to creating a great image is found in the technical nuts and bolts, overlooking the artistic creative process.  How absurd it would be to think that the secret to Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was somehow the result of the paintbrushes and pigments he used.  No technical process or technique can create an artistic expression; this is reserved for the creative mind.

As I have mentioned before, once we recognize that the greatest asset we each possess as an artist is our personal uniqueness, not what lens to use or where we set a light stand.  This is illustrated beautifully during the times I have seen photographers shoot side by side using the exact same lighting set up, model, background, etc., and their images end up looking drastically different.

I am continually getting calls and emails asking technical questions as to how I create my images.  There is a part of me that is reluctant to point to a technique, knowing this is a small aspect of the whole process.  I have often said that I could teach someone everything I know about the technical side of lighting in 15 minutes.  But having said that, I emphasize that to apply those techniques, we need to draw from a lifetime of experiences and use our personal uniqueness to shape and stimulate the creative process.

I do not believe I have used a flash meter during an actual photo shoot in over twenty years.  No technical instrument or technical formula can take the place of the creative process.  Only the human mind is capable of making a creative choice.  This is why I pay little attention to light meters, histograms, and lighting ratios.  How do I know when an image is exposed correctly?  When it feels right. 

Can a 32 spot matrix metering tell you how to expose a black subject in a black tee-shirt on a black background?  Look at the shot I did of Timothy on the Three Edge Lighting tutorial.   Way before the introduction of digital capture, I used Polaroid to proof my exposure and composition before going to film.  During that time period, I used to say that the ability to proof you image via Polaroid had to be the single greatest tool in the process of creating an image.  Today with the introduction to digital capture, the ability to instantly proof and evaluate your image, has to be it’s single greatest benefit to the photographic process bar none.

No matter what aspect of the photographic process we are learning, from how to use strobe lights to the latest Photoshop blending techniques, it is imperative to approach the creative process more from an emotional perspective, and less from a technical process.  Choices have to be made that only you, the artist can make.

This is why during a photo shoot I may have my assistant move one of my lights three inches ten times before I get a sense that I have it right.  Not because a technical formula says so, but because the intuition that feeds my creative process tells me so.