在英國的時候一直聽到 你必須選一個領域專業, 找出你的獨特特點”. 顯然的你不可以同時當一個商業, 旅遊, 美食, 時尚及其他跨領域的攝影師, 你只可以當一種領域的攝影師? 不可否認的是, 我可以了解像紐約, 巴黎, 倫敦等這些大城市, 這樣的分類可能是因為實在有太多攝影師了. 我在倫敦的時候專心於編輯的肖像, 也探索了一下時尚攝影. 這樣的專心對我來說還蠻有幫助的, 因為我覺得我在肖像攝影這一塊變得蠻強的. 當然我也同時努力在美食與產品攝影, 但大多數的時間還是花在我很喜歡與享受的肖像攝影中.

In the U.K. I heard it said time and time again, "you have to specialise, find your niche". Apparently you can't be a commercial photographer, travel photographer, food photographer, fashion photographer, etc etc, you can only be one kind of photographer. There is no denying that certainly in London, and I expect other major photographic hubs such as New Your and Paris this may be the case due to the concentration of photographers. While I was in London I focused on editorial portraiture and dabbled with fashion, it worked for me and my portrait game became strong as a result of the practice and focus. I did make some effort with food photography and also shooting some product, but mostly concentrated on portraiture which I enjoy a great deal anyway so it was fun.

雖然自己有一個攝影領域專業及特點, 但是我是一個喜歡多元化的人, 也是一個會對自己作品及我的團隊要求頗高的人. 每一張我的作品我都是用當下最大的能力與資源, 拍出最好的作品. 這種雞蛋裡挑骨頭及不斷從錯誤中學習的個性, 讓我能將技巧運用到不同的攝影領域.  領域多元化提供的新鮮度, 也讓我對工作有動力, 維持我的圖像製作靈感來源.

However I do like to diversify and had varied my subjects alongside my chosen "niche". I don't accept half measures from myself, or my team, everything I shoot, I shoot to the best of my ability, no matter what it is. Pushing to see faults, learn and correct them through a range of subjects has undoubtedly enabled me to take knowledge from one discipline and apply it to another. It also keeps me interested and driven in my work, feeling fresh and sustaining my inspiration in image making.

我來台灣後第一次回英國時, 我見了英國衛報的攝影總編Roger Tooth. Roger 說他認為攝影師可以多元化一點的時候, 我就好像聽到背景有人唱哈勒路亞交響樂那種心情. 他的認同對我來說好像是提供我去探索, 學習, 及發展的通行證. 攝影師不就是應該一直不斷進步, 拍出更好的作品, 不然幹嘛繼續拍下去?

The first time I returned to the UK after moving to Taiwan I had a meeting with Roger Tooth (head of photography at the Guardian). It was music to my ears when he said that photographers can be more versatile, it was like a green light to explore, learn and develop myself further. We, as photographers should always be reaching to be better and produce better images, if we don't do this then why continue?

我在每個目前接觸到的領域都很用心, 努力. 這樣的努力讓我有機會接到不同領域工作的case. 你可能也讀到先前我幫英國國家地理雜誌旅遊者的文章. 我真的蠻喜歡出國家地理雜誌的case, 因為在這類工作中會接觸到各類的攝影, 例街道, 景觀, 肖像, 時尚及美食攝影.

I work hard to be the best I can be across all the disciplines of photography I work in. This is paying off with work coming from a multitude of sources and across a range of genres. Regular readers will know about my Nat Geo Traveller assignments which I really enjoy. Travel can encompass all areas, street work, landscapes, portraiture, fashion and food...

所以我的意思是說, 我認為只要你夠努力, 當跨/各領域的專家是絕對沒問題的. 很遺憾的是我常常看到很多攝影師在還未花夠多的時間及心力時就從一個領域跳到另一個領域, 再跳到另一個領域. 我覺得他們是不是跟著流行在找自己的攝影個性, 然後很多時候就一昧的copy 其他攝影師的風格. 我不是說參考其他攝影師的風格不好還是怎樣, 但是要記得的是當一個攝影者/, 最重要的是要讓你想要從圖片表達的聲音被聽到, 及發展個人獨特攝影風格. 這個獨特風格就是要不管你在拍哪一種作品, 都能夠讓人明顯感受到的一種說不出的感覺. 專心練習讓自己不只是能夠拍攝此作品, 且能一直不斷的拍出好品質的作品, 會帶給你在專業及個人上很大的回報.

So I suppose what I am saying is that I think it is possible to shoot at a high level across the different disciplines of photography if you put enough effort into it. Unfortunately what I see most times is "photographers" flitting from one to the next without spending enough time on any to become proficient. I feel they are trying to look for their photographic identity by jumping on a trend. More often than not they end up copying other and better photographers work badly. There is nothing wrong in taking cues from other photographers work, at the end of the day though, as a photographer it is your voice you need to get heard, and your style you need to develop. It needs to speak through all of your work, whatever subject you are making a photograph of. Concentrating long enough and practising hard enough to become not just proficient, but able to produce good, consistent and high quality work will bring great rewards, personally and professionally. Consistently trusting in myself and my communicative ability, my style, I believe does show within all my work. This is now reflected and confirmed by the diversity of work I get to enjoy shooting.

我愛圖像創作. 我現在也開始跨到時尚小電影的製作. 現在每天幾乎都在學習新的軟體及技術. 這是一個我蠻喜歡的挑戰. 當你創造出你與你團隊都引以為傲的作品時, 真的是非常開心的. 我也希望我的作品能夠為其他人帶來欣悅與啟發.

I love image making, I am starting to expand even further and moving towards creating fashion film. I am learning new software and fresh techniques almost daily. It is a great challenge which I simply enjoy so much. There is a wonderful feeling of producing something that you can feel proud of, that your team can feel proud of and that all of you enjoyed creating. I hope that my work brings pleasure to others too, and some inspiration. 

我的計畫是從不停止推動自己, 一直嘗試, 開發圖片製作新的邊境. 回到文章開始提到你只可以當一種攝影師, 其實這也有一點道理, 因為那就是你只可以當最好的攝影師. 如果你要當跨領域的攝影師, 確保你花相同的心力練習. 對自己嚴苛及誠實, 也聽取別人的意見, 用中立的角度分析, 而不是只聽你想聽的.

My plan is to never stop pushing myself, to always try and stay fresh and explore the boundaries of image making. And finally to go back to the start of this blog, I have to say there is some truth saying you can only be one kind of photographer, that is the best photographer you can be. If you want to shoot multiple genres, then practice them all equally hard and with the exact same mind set. Be honest with yourself, be your biggest critic. Listen to others also, it may not be what you want to hear, but take it on board and try to be objective.

最近我拍了蠻多商業, 時尚及肖像. 我想這三個是我最享受創意製作及與團隊工作的領域.

Nowadays I am shooting mainly commercial, fashion and portraiture, I think these are the areas I get most creative pleasure from working in and I definitely have the most fulfilment working with people and a team.

國家地理旅遊雜誌的case很有趣, 如果以後有機會我也會繼續接這類型的case. 我愛在不熟悉與自己居住的國家冒險. 對了, 這提醒到我還要寫一篇去年幫國家地理雜誌在台灣環島的文章. 我會在未來的兩三篇文章寫到這篇13天機車環台灣旅遊日記的.

My travel work with Nat Geo Traveller is fun for me and I will continue to do that as and when the opportunities present themselves, I do love an adventure in a foreign land, or even around the one I live in. That reminds me that I have not yet relayed the story of my epic thirteen day scooter tour of Taiwan last year, I will write that for you in a couple of blogs time. 

下一篇文章我會寫完我在中國的旅遊任務. 希望你喜歡這篇文章, 也了解我說不管你做甚麼, 都要讓自己做到最好的出發點, 工作或是興趣. 

Next time I will finish up on my China assignment, for now though I hope that you enjoyed this, get where I am coming from regarding reaching to produce your best work and aim to do the same yourselves, no matter what you do for a living or a hobby.

 

每到文章結尾,我都想對你們說聲感謝,感謝你們能看到這裏,請幫忙分享我的文章,留下你的感想或者疑問。

如果你需要一個攝影師,請隨時聯繫我,我很希望世界各地的你與我聯繫,我很樂意與你們一起聊聊任何工作的事情。你們可以通過網站聯繫我:www.duncanlongden.photography/

愛你們呦! 
Until then, check out my WebsiteInstagram , TumblrTwitter and Linkedin. Remember to LIKE COMMENT and FOLLOW.

Feel free to get in touch, if you have any questions, bookings, assignments etcetera, I am always interested to hear from you (contact me).

Love to all...

 

 

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