Sponsored as official writers by the awesome SLR Lounge at WPPI, we were blessed to release to you this 5th of 10 in our series with the world famous Kevin Kubota!
Kevin Kubota WPPI 2011 | You Can’t Create in a Vacuum Unless You Want to Suck
There he was. On stage with his arms full of giveaways, he stood with a smirk as he prepared to throw over 50 mouse-pads into the audience. As people began standing up, jumping to grab one, he pelted these giveaways and even saved a special last one to rub against his chest as an extra bonus to the lucky winner. The mouse-pad flew all the way to the back. By then, he definitely had everyone’s attention.
Who is Kevin Kubota?
Named one of the Top 10 Wedding Photographers in the world by American Photo Magazine, named Nikon’s “Legend Behind the Lens”, and awarded as a PPA Photographic Craftsmen, Kevin Kubota is an icon in the wedding photography world.
After 20 years of being a professional photographer, Kevin Kubota confessed he would still wake up in the morning and ask himself, “Why am I here? What is this all about?”
In this special WPPI 2011 Platform Class, he spoke on his secrets to finding creativity: You Can’t Create in a Vaccuum Unless You Want to Suck
You can view more of Kevin Kubota’s work here.
His Platform Class
One of Kevin’s greatest talents is his ability to engage and make others laugh. This was one of the most fun classes to sit through as Kevin spoke on finding creativity.
So here’s the Path to Creativity according to Kevin Kubota:
• Find inspiration: Learn what inspires you everyday. Find something in photography about which you’re passionate so that you can feel like you’re changing the world.
• Allow for self-allowance: Let yourself be OK with being special, with being an artist.
• We all need support: Acknowledge it. Whether you’re starting out or have been in business 20 years, you need it.
• Learn how to ask for help: Be specific. Don’t overwhelm people. Ask what YOU can do to help. Be persistent. No answer is not a NO answer.
• Create accountability: One of the most powerful ways to reach a goal is to write it down. What is even more powerful than that is to write it down and share it with somebody. 2x more likely to achieve that goal.
• Actively seek feedback: Ask people what they think and shut your mouth. Don’t justify or defend. Take it all in. This is the only way to get better.
• Understand the power of validation: Everybody needs it. Accept it. Love it.
• Counter-balance: Schedule time for yourself to get completely out of work and into another creative space. Allow yourself to play. Get exercise. Take a class and feel okay about it. It doesn’t mean you’re a slacker.
• Face your fear: Adrenaline creates the right combination of chemicals in your brain to perform the perfect bed for creativity. If you’re feeling low on creativity, scare the S#^! out of yourself.
Kevin had to show an example of how this works. He asked for two volunteers after this little speech. And he promised, “This won’t hurt…per se.”
Naturally, not many raised their hand. The two volunteers that did came up nervously. As the two got on stage, he covered up their clothes with trash bags, gave them peanut butter, and a big gallon of milk.
He said to open the card in front of them that would share the instructions of what to do next.
As they opened the card, they jumped up and down for joy. They both were awarded $1000 in prizes just for volunteering for this exercise.
Then, Kevin went into the topic of business.
The Top Twelve Ideas on Marketing and Promoting Your Business…
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where can you read the rest?
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Stay tuned for more from Kenny Kim, Jules Bianchi, Jose Villa, and Susan Stripling in the coming weeks.
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