© Julie Waterhouse
The Mission
My goal for Ultimate Photo Tips is to help you, my readers, feel happier and more fulfilled. Wow! That sounds like a lofty ideal. How do I plan to achieve it? That’s easy! 🙂
Being creative makes you happier, and being happy makes you more creative. It’s the perfect positive feedback cycle! Also, being good at something helps you enjoy it more, and feel more fulfilled when you do it. If I can help you to become a better and more creative photographer, then I will achieve my goal of making you feel happier and more fulfilled.
Do You Fear That You Are Not Creative Enough?
Everyone has the potential to be creative! If I can do it, so can you!
Many people tell me that they don’t think they are creative. Often those people come from technical or scientific backgrounds where logic and analytical thinking are emphasized, often (sadly) at the expense of creativity.
Good news! Creativity comes from the heart! It’s about translating how you feel into a photograph that communicates to your viewers.
More good news (written to appeal to you technically-trained folk! :-)! Research shows that the conventional wisdom of left-brain logic versus right-brain creativity is flawed. Creativity, and in fact, all activities, integrate both left and right brain thinking.
So take heart! You won’t find a more analytical thinker than me! After nearly 25 years of education and working in a highly technical field, I felt sapped of my creativity. It was, however, still inside me, and just needed re-awakening. Photography has helped me to get back in touch with my creativity — and my happiness.
What is creativity? Creativity encompasses both vision and execution. This means that photographic creativity has two parts: the art and the craft. You must first be inspired with a great idea, but then you must also translate that idea into a final image so that it can be understood by your viewer.
I firmly believe that both the technical AND the "artistic" aspects of creativity can be learned through training and practice. Here on Ultimate Photo Tips, I want to provide articles, images, exercises, and challenges that will both inspire and teach creativity so that you can master the skills necessary to take great images, reach your full creative potential, and become happier and more fulfilled!
About Julie
© Peter Ainley
Julie Waterhouse is the author and photographer behind the Ultimate Photo Tips website. Julie is a fine art photographer and photography instructor. She resides in Markham, Ontario, Canada, just a short drive from the local farmland and woods she loves to photograph.
Her current work is focused on two themes. The first is Ontario farmland. She grew up in a rural area outside Ottawa, and feels very much at home in that environment. She has recently combined this subject matter with her new interest in night photography. The second theme is macro photography of natural subjects, with a special passion for flowers. This reflects the love of details that pervades all aspects of her life. Julie has created a beautiful book that pairs her flower images with inspirational quotes.
She is passionate about photography, and loves to teach workshops, coach one-on-one, and share her passion in any way she can. This website was born out of a desire to reach even more budding photographers.
She has taken photographic courses and workshops from Freeman Patterson, Tony Sweet, Richard Martin, John Paul Caponigro, and Lance Keimig. Julie’s photography has won numerous awards, and her prints have been exhibited internationally.
Connect with Julie!
Ultimate Photo Tips on Facebook
Julie Waterhouse Photography on Facebook
Julie on Twitter (@juliewaterhouse)
Julie on Pinterest
Julie on LinkedIn
Julie on Google+
Julie’s 365 Project on Flickr
