Capturing birds on camera | Statesman Journal | statesmanjournal.com

This article is about my former boss in a group of editors and community relations planners, Lew Ligocki, and his wife, Marti. Since their retirement, they've run a photography business in Salem, Ore.

I like Marti's concluding quotation in the article:

If there’s any regret on the path they’ve taken, it’s that they should have been a tad less selective, Marti said.

“One of the things that we realized when we moved more into this teaching direction five years ago is we wish we’d kept more of the failures,” Marti said with a laugh. “When you only keep the good stuff, when you need an example of the failures, you don’t have it.”

Her comment reminded me of a couple of cliches. They're cliches because they're often expressed, but they're often expressed because they're so true:

• Practice makes perfect.
• We learn from our mistakes.

Those sentiments--and Marti's--apply to writing as well as photography ... creating anything! 

I use a pencil as a symbol of creativity on my websites. To me, it says, "It's OK to make mistakes. That's why pencils have erasers." When you're creating something, keep trying even if you make mistakes. Fix 'em or replace 'em, and then try again!

BTW, here are links to the Ligocki websites:

• Impeccable Images -- provides outdoor and nature photographic images for all purposes
• The Camera Discovery Company -- provide workshops and classes in photography.
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