This will help push you forward in an almost irrational way.

Passion: You have to have passion about the subject and want to stay with it for a long period of time.

I’ve outlined Steve’s five key elements for creating a self-published book: While I was researching this article, I had the pleasure of talking with Steve on the phone. Steve’s five key elements for creating a book from your personal project If not, at least she had preserved special memories for her family. In the end, Steve suggested she photograph her family’s farm and create a coffee-table book to give as a gift to family members at Christmas. She talked about things that have changed on the farm over the years and what things on the farm reminded her most of her father. After a few questions, Jill revealed she took over her family’s farm from her father. During the Q&A portion, a woman named Jill asked, “How do you find inspiring things to photograph, I don’t have anything interesting in my life?”īeing the exceptional teacher he is, Steve asked her questions to help her find the answer. He suggested we start by photographing interesting things we do in our daily lives. When he returned, he compiled his images into the book, “Abandoned America.”Īfter I taught my class, I attended a lecture Steve was giving on starting a personal project. With a mission in mind and a clear purpose, Steve traveled from coast to coast capturing images from bygone eras. They are the human-made objects and structures that have outlived their functions, becoming part of the abandoned periphery.” They are pieces of our history - they are the incidentals of our collective American genealogy. “Hidden among our present were the vestiges of days long forgotten. Steve’s personal project: “Abandoned America” Steve’s path would have made his father proud, if he’d lived to see it. His fathers advice: Don’t do it! But Steve’s mind was made up and he traded his law degree for a camera. Instead, his father asked him if he was crazy. Steve was hoping for an enthusiastic approval. Gottlieb, Steve revealed his plans to leave law and become a photographer. On a long walk with his father, well-known jazz photographer, author and writer William P. He laughed and said his father thought so too. I asked him if he was crazy, leaving law for photography. I learned from our chats that Steve has a successful career as a commercial photographer but it is his ability to limit himself and focus on personal projects that gained him notoriety. What started out with a cup of coffee around the breakfast table, ended with a wealth of knowledge from a man who stepped down from being a lawyer to pursue his passion for photography. The founder, Steve Gottlieb, and his wife, Anne, graciously offered me to stay in their home. I taught a workshop at the Horizon Summit in Delaware a few years ago.

Teach yourself visually lightroom 4