It’s Your Life, Modify as Needed
Geese take flight at Boyd Pond early one fall morning November 2021
Hello Friend,
Like my photography, I try to be consistent with my workouts. But other obligations get in the way sometimes. Or, just as likely,an injury happens and forces me to slowdown or even stop my workouts. During Covid we converted our garage into a home gym. Though, we had been doing mostly workouts at home before that, this made it easier to get in our workouts. And that time gave us the opportunity to find new people online that we could workout with. It’s also when I started doing yoga to deal with my back issues that kept coming up.
One of the common factors of all the ladies we follow, is they are very encouraging to people to modify any move they are demonstrating. They are doing this to help people to work with where they are at, to improve at their own pace, and to not be overly critical of themselves if they can’t do something exactly like the instructor or even the person next to them. (Yes, I only workout with women. Mostly because my wife finds them, and I very much like them and their workouts.) Someone might think it’s “cheating” to make those modifications. Is it really cheating if we are working with the bodies we have in whatever condition they are in at that moment? I found that when I tell myself to do it exactly like I’ve seen everyone else, I’m more likely to get hurt and have a setback. Though, when I do modify as needed, and maybe push a little each time, I feel better at the end and start seeing real progress over time.
A little blue heron checks out the edge of Boyd Pond July 2025
What modifications might I be talking about? Let’s use pushups as an example. A while back my thumb was bit by a neighbor’s dog. As part of my recovery, the doctor said not to put weight on my hand and thumb. When he and my PT finally gave the OK to put weight on it, they wanted me to only do pushups on my knees – or “girly pushups.” (I use that term because I know people don’t like it – I don’t like it.) But it was something that would go through my head as I started doing them again. They were surprisingly tougher than I thought they would be. By taking things slow and gradually building up my strength again, I was able to start doing toe pushups. Yeah.
Why am I bringing this up in a blog about photography and creativity? Because, I think most of us look around at other photographers and artists and think those other people are better because they have the better gear, they get to go to better/more interesting places and they are just better than us. And if we didn’t have the limitations we had, we, too, could be that much better, cooler, and more accomplished.
A flock of geese enjoy the fall colors when they landed in the Carolina Bay December 2024
Though, from listening to podcasts and reading articles about “successful” people, I noticed right away that even those we say have it all often had said – and still say -- they could be better if they didn’t have their limitations. That they too are looking around and thinking, they could be better if have they had better gear, they got to go to better/more interesting places, and they were as good as those they saw around them. Do you see a pattern here? Are we looking at everything in our lives as “limitations?” Maybe we could start looking at the way we live and modifying as needed.
Is new gear really the answer? Is getting away from where you live the only way to take better photos? Is being “elsewhere” the best wayto be more creative? And how is trying to live your life like how you think someone else does make you better? Heck, it’s more likely they aren’t even living the life we see of them online.
We also get on ourselves when we see someone else making amazing images, and we think we want to be just like them. We might be saying “I won’t ever get that good”. Or “I can’t get something like that.” Maybe the other word to add to our vocabulary is “Yet.” When working out, there are many moves I can’t make, or a weight I can’t lift. But I keep trying to tell myself, “I am not able to do that, yet.” This helps clear my mind to work with where I am at in that moment. Pushing myself a little bit each time will get me a little closer to that goal. Though, to be honest, I might not ever get to that goal. Yet might not ever arrive. Yet is a way to lower the temperature on my own expectations.
Ducks make their way across a steaming Boyd Pond on a cold morning December 2024
Let’s look at some “modifications” that might help us go from “can’t” to “yet”. Maybe you are being drawn to bird photography, but there aren’t any places near you that have the really cool birds like eagles and osprey. And you are really thinking you need that 100-500 mm with the teleconverter and the body with the fast motor drive to get anything good.
To start, maybe look for places closer by that might have any types of birds. All areas around the world have some native species you can check into and learn about. If you don’t think you have a long enough lens to get those dramatic, tight shots, maybe start by making more “environmental portraits” of them. I even just learned about a genre called “small in frame wildlife”. (Thus, most of the photos in this post.) By looking around and learning more about their habitats, you will get better at understanding their behaviors.
To better practice the reflexes needed to get action shots of birds or other wildlife, maybe check into photographing some of the local sports near you. Ones like football, soccer or hockey at any level have a lot of action to force you to keep the camera moving. I started photographing polo to get quicker and more comfortable at using my gear and sharpening my reflexes – even as a landscape photographer this is helpful.
Patrick Krohn
February 2026
Polo action at New Bridge Polo Field April 2025
After a few months or even years, you might realize you have a growing body of work that shows off your skills and what you have learned. Hopefully, you’ll have started to better discover the world closer to you and what it has to offer. You might realize you don’t need to jet off to some far of land to get something worthwhile. And as far as gear, when you start looking closer at what you have accomplished with what you do have, you will have a better idea how new gear might – or might not – fill in a gap you are seeing. For me, I did get a 100-400 for polo, though I use it a lot when doing landscape as well. And yes, I am looking to up that to a faster 100-500, but still asking myself those questions of if I really need it. Or are their modifications I can make to use what I do have?
So, maybe we can all take a step back when we see what others are up to, and hopefully tamp down that little bit of jealousy. Sitting around comparing and complaining won’t get us anywhere. By actively modifying what we have where we are, we can actually develop the skills to become better in our own way. Hopefully it won’t be long before you are changing “I can’t” to “I’m working on it, though I’m not there, yet” to even “I’m happy with the way I’m doing it.”
Thank you and keep creating what you do.