Photographers by and large are often defined by their equipment and their process. Someone once said, "I have a camera so therefore I am a Photographer". Thisoften puts us in the "Photographers" box or mindset and venturing outside of that box often brings all sorts of criticism from other "Photographers".
To reach to the next level you need to stop thinking like a "Photographer" and start thinking with your creative juices. This will allow you to express your creative vision without conforming to the traditional "photographers" mindset.
My goal is to create beautiful Photographs. A beautiful Photograph, is an
image that is both visually and emotionally inspiring. A photograph that lacks emotion in my opinion is cold and uninviting, this I feel prevents the viewer from truly enjoying the photograph.
A beautiful photograph is primarily the product of the photographer, and not the photographic equipment used. For this reason, I believe a photograph displayed as it was originally captured lacks emotion and therefore completely unsatisfying. Images of such represents the output of my Nikon rather than the expression of my imagination, creativity and emotions.
To satisfy my creativity, I work on the photographs after I have captured the images, that is when I am able to infuse into the photograph the emotional content that I experienced at the location. Here I do everything to the image I feel necessary to recreate the dramatic experience as it was seen through the eyes of my lens.
Manny Damien Suriel