This is a list of my Top 5 Top 10 Lists. “What-choo talking about, Mr. Nice?” Well, I like to think of myself as a free thinker. A wild brain. Loosey-goosey en la cabasa. You follow? No? Hmm. Okay. Sometimes I can get a bit scatter brained and forget things. So a long time ago I started keeping lists.

I used to keep them in little spiral bound notebooks that I never left home without. Keeping the ever changing lists organized didn’t really work out so well. I frequently couldn’t find something I could have sworn was in there somewhere. More than a decade ago I got my first digital notebook of sorts, a Palm Pilot 500. Remember those? I’ve upgraded to the latest incarnation many, many, okay, maybe too many times over the years, but I’ll never go back to linier paper. Now my lists are each a separate document and those are all in a specific folder on what is now also my phone. Nice!

As a list keeper, I’ve discovered there are certain lists that really help me in the art and craft of photography. This. Is. That. List. (Sounds so important when I put a “.” after each word, right?) What are you waiting for? Drive on over to the lists and put it in park.

Race Car Driver cir. 1912

1. Ideas: Maybe you can, but I can’t see inside anybody’s head without cracking it open first. That’s just way too messy in the current economy. However, if you ask me what one of the most important, maybe the most important, elements to being a successful photographer or creative artist of any ilk, I’d have to say it’s the idea. Let’s face it; ideas are a slippery little lizard. Not one of those lizards with the million little suction cups on its feet that can be found in the wild climbing up the giant sheets of glass that are scattered about the rainforest for no good reason, either. But I digress. Whether it sneaks up on me and wiggles into my pocket in search of melted chocolate or catapults from the canopy above, squealing out a high pitched shriek and smacks me in the face with its naughty bits, when an idea beguiles me I don’t want to lose it. So my most important list is a list of ideas. This could be anything from a lose concept all the way up to a fully formed sketch with specific lighting details. It doesn’t matter. Once it’s on the list I have trapped the little bugger and I can feed it until it is big enough to kick my ass and move away to college.

2. Inspiration: Closely related to list number one, list number two is a list of artists that inspire me. These could be photographers, writers, musicians, performers, sculptors, painters, etc. Doesn’t matter how they express their ideas, if the way they do it sparks my juices, or peeks my curiosity, they are on the list. In some ways this list is more important than list number one, at least in the way that if your idea list hasn’t changed in a while, it’s time to start spending some time with the work from the folks on list number two.

3. Face to Face: No matter how many times you see someone’s photographs, read their books, hear tails of their escapades, or watch interviews with the person, it is just not the same as meeting them face to face. That is why I keep a list of people I want to meet in person. This list usually has a name or two from list number two but more than anything my people in person list is made up of people I admire, people that inspire me not artistically but personally. I may never meet some of the names on the list, but I’m putting it out there into the universe just the same. Since I started this list many years ago I’ve managed to meet six of the folks and it looks like a meeting with Mr. Number Seven is set to happen at some point this summer. Nice! So far each experience has been even better than I’d hoped and I feel all the richer for it. Who are the current top 6 of the top 10 on this 1 of my top 5 top 10 lists? Humanitarian (or animalitarian) Cesar Millan, author Robert Kiyosaki, director Paul T. Anderson, photographer Chase Jarvis, writer / Wired editor / blogger Chris Anderson, and politician – you may have heard of him – Barak Obama (What? Doesn’t hurt to ask.) Yes, it’s all dudes. There are women on the list, too. It just so happens at the moment they didn’t make the top ten.

4. Movies, Books, and Music: Do you have any idea how many brilliant, fascinating, and inspiring movies, books, and albums are released every year around the world? At least three. I like to keep the ones that look good to me in a list, so on the rare occasion that I have some free time I am not left alone in silence for even a moment. That way the voices in my head are kept to a dull roar and I don’t accidentally make any sort of meaningful connection with the living.

5. Gear: Yes, I’ve mentioned it a time or two. As much as I feel like it’s the idea that counts whether it’s photography, business, or sex, I love gear. When I see a new piece of gear or think of a project that makes a good excuse to by more gear, I make sure to add it to the list of gear to get. Some of that gear has been on the list for years and will remain there instead of in my basement as it should. Other items hit the list with such steam that I don’t have time to wipe the fog from my eyeballs before the package arrives at my doorstep. Okay, this isn’t really the most important list, maybe it shouldn’t even be in the top five. What the heck, I’m leaving it in!

There are more lists, of course, but these are the ones that see the most traffic over here at camp Nice. That’s why I’m sharing them. Isn’t sharing nice?

I think it’s important to keep these lists liquid. Let them grow and change. Reorder the individual items from time to time. Start new lists. Etc. I try not to obsess over the lists, but also never let them slip too far from the front of my brain. But that’s just me. What sort of lists do you keep that help you creatively? Let us know in the comments below.

Nice!

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