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Lesson Info
17. Learning Taste
Lessons
Taking the Jump with Forrest Mankins
06:28 2Workshop Intro with Alex
02:15 3Tea with Mankins
05:47 4Failure
01:52 5Burnout
02:13 6Creating Concepts
02:55 7Planning
02:15 8Finding People to Shoot With
04:49Working with Talent
05:08 10Building A Team
01:17 11Shooting With A Team
08:48 12Film vs. Digital
05:26 13Editing - Referencing Film
23:03 14Editing - Finishing A Concept
03:12 15Presets
02:37 16$500 Challenge - Lake Five
04:41 17Learning Taste
04:08 18$500 Challenge - Land Cruiser
05:14 19Q&A with Alex
30:54Lesson Info
Learning Taste
How do we learn taste? And this is a tough one. I think, first of all, it's time put in. There's something about experience that seasons us and gives us insight to draw from. But, it's not just time though, and I bet we all know someone who's been doing an activity for a while and quite frankly, they stink at it. Think about playing an instrument, cooking, driving, et cetera. So that tells me that time put in by itself is not a guarantee or an indicator of taste and skill, which is what most people call talent. So look at the photos you took in the first day, week, or month you owned your camera, and do you still like them as much as you did then? Have you taken better photos since? So it's not just time that gives us taste, but time spent informed by outside influences and reflection. Once we begin an activity, I think the way we intake that is heightened, comparing our personal experience and skill level to date with people who have dedicated their lives to a craft. And this starts t...
his gap that I mentioned between taste and skill level. And as we spend more time thinking about what it is we truly want to make and what we can't stand not to make, I think that heightens our vision and actually challenges us to create what we're feeling. I think the most valuable thing I can give you in this lesson is to recognize that all of our experiences in life inform everything else we do. So, exploring other photographers' work, paintings, movies, festivals, travel, just life itself. Those are the things that give us a creative bearing, but where we want to go with it comes from inside. I think it's kinda crazy when I hear other musicians or photographers say they try not to listen to other bands or look at other people's work. We really do bring something unique to the table ourselves when we put in the time and effort, and I think our vision and value is honed far more effectively when we have more experiences to draw from. Taste, to me, has a much better name, and that is discernment. And I bet that a lot of you watching this already know how to create good photos. You've likely shot a lot and done some identifying of your own on what works and what doesn't work. And that's a great place to be, but it does come with its own challenges because a lot of us learned really quickly and then hit this wall. So a lot of times, we've got the technical skill down because honestly, that's relatively simple, but since we were completely focused on that at first, now that our head's above water, we don't know which way to swim. Keeping our taste above our current skill level makes us picky, and I think that being picky is a really good thing to be. Let's say you have an incredible concept. You plan for it, you do everything right, and after the shoot, you don't have that one image that's the thing you were picturing. A picky person says no way. I'm gonna do this again until I get it right, and I'm not gonna dilute my vision with happenstance. I've got this. And we can be picky about a lot of things. The frames we pick and don't pick being the most visible, but we also need to be picky about the ingredients we use. Let me talk a little bit about that. Do you feel like your subject truly gets where you're trying to go? Do they seem like a good fit? Is your wardrobe selection really right? Are the props good? What expression did you want when you envisioned the shoot? Did you actually think about it? You should be able to see it, otherwise, we're gonna have an even easier time just accepting good enough. This is how we evolve our portfolios. We should be planning these images, designing these images, and putting all of our creative energy into bringing them into fruition.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Mathieu Cladidier
A lot of philosophical insights but not much of practical tips to use! I love Forrest Mankins photos and youtube channel. I signed up for his workshop to get a bit more of an insider perception, which he delivered in his own style and which is great. However, at the end of the workshop, I have a hard time to really feel like it worth it. Maybe I was expecting too much of technical, really hands on tips. The whole thing is good overall, don't get me wrong but not as much useful as expected.
Matt Steindl
Creating a Moment Overall, this workshop had a ton of great insight into Forrest's process before and after creating an image. I learned a lot and really enjoyed the points he touched on with working with models and teams. I never had a workshop go into these sort of important details that forgotten at times. I wish the workshop had more "in the field" video content as it tended to get a bit cumbersome watching Forrest talk at the camera over and over again but regardless I definitely learned a lot and would purchase this workshop again in heartbeat.
Viellieb
Student Work
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