I realized a few days ago that my photos are full of my slight obsessive compulsive disorder and and make too obvious my perfectionistic tendencies and need to control. They all seem very planned and thought out in terms of subject and composition. And while it sounds like it would be, its not even something i do intentionally! For the most part i shoot without thinking about those things. It seems that even my instincts are OCD! that when i shoot from the heart, it ends up looking like i shoot from the head. and though how much that reflects me as a person is an interesting topic for another blog post, what i realized is that i want to get better at improving. Andy made the perfect analogy to a musician who learns his instrument, scales, and technique to a skilled level, but who is not yet in the stage of improvisation. In order to improv, a musician has to know all the basics and technical aspects inside and out, and to take it to the next level, he then plays with the all those elements, restructures structure if you will. [On a side note, isn't Andy a genius? Its a really great personality and I love how he really understands what I was talking about and where I'm at with my photography as indicated by this analogy!]
So when I went to put this into play at the bar the other night, I got some magical results, which I'll be rolling out here and on my flickr stream. I'm looking forward to more improv experiments, though maybe I shouldn't call them that, right? Too much head, not enough soul!
I think I do the same thing, Cara, and I am struggling to get beyond it myself. Even if I can shoot in a relaxed way, then my own curating of my photos becomes rigid. If these are you fighting the OCD, you've had some great results!
I know exactly what you mean Cara. Sometimes its best to "let go" and just take pictures. As you said, a solid foundation of knowledge and experience needs to be behind that sort of creative freedom for best results, so comparing it to a skilled musician expressing him/herself through improvisation seems very fitting. Kinda like a Jazz solo. The best ones aren't rehearsed... they're freely expressed on the spot. Great writeup, and wonderful images =)