As artists and photographers, we want to be good at what we do. It's often the one place on our lives where we have complete control.

But that drive for excellence can trap us in a comfort zone that limits our creativity. I guess you could say that this is a paradox. On one hand, we improve by repetition. On the other, we resist altering a successful formula.

I'm thinking of this after our class presentation Tuesday night at the close of the Fall Photography Workshop. I loved the pictures presented by each participant. As a whole, they were technically solid and showed real vision. Yet I knew (from looking over their shoulders during lab) that there were more daring images that were never shared.

Why? Well, we all know the answer. It's because we want to project photos that we believe represent our best work. Of course. I am both the pot and the kettle on this matter.

So here's what I propose. We start a shoot with what we know. We work in that comfort zone of perfected technique. But, once those shots have been recorded, we spend another few minutes trying a completely different approach.

If we did that every time, I believe that we would grow as artists. We could step out of our comfort zones with minimal risk, yet reap the rewards of doing so.

Something to think about the next time we pick up our cameras.

-Derrick