You could chop your brain up into several parts - but don’t! Different parts do different things. Your left side is responsible for grammar, logic, counting. The right side prefers the intuitive, creative, fantasy. Both sides love ice cream sandwiches. Have you ever wondered which side takes control of your photography?

Well, hang on to your socks grandma, because there are more parts to a brain than just the left and right.

We’ve got the Lizard Brain. This slimy little devil was the first lump formed at the top of a spine (evolutionarily speaking). It’s responsible for action, autonomic functions like breathing, heartbeat, and possibly pooping. He’ll also take credit for ego, instinct, fighting, self protection, lust, sex, anger, and greed. He’s like the friend who is fun to go camping with, but you don’t really want to invite him over for Sunday brunch with the Queen of England.

Next came the Dog Brain. Furry and cute as can be with that little button nose, the dog brain formed on top of the lizard brain some 100 million years ago. That means it’s practically still a puppy. This part of the brain is more densely wired than the lizard brain. That means it can handle more complicated things like emotions, textured experiences, not just black and white moments, but 10 shades of gray. Loyalty? Love? No problem, the dog brain’s got your back. Personally, I’d say the dog brain is an artist’s best friend.

Well look who just walked in on his hind legs waving his banana around. It’s the Monkey Brain. The latest addition to the brain cake in our skull will not only take credit for things like thinking, language and consciousness, but he’ll also write up a contract to make sure you credit him for it. The monkey brain brings in his bag of tricks; music (yea!), math (okay, math can be cool), politics, and deception (sometimes the same thing). Although the monkey brain is essential to the human experience be careful not to use it all on its own.

I’m not picking favorites here. In my opinion no one part of the brain is better than the others as a whole. It’s just that some people seem to rely on one part of their brain more than the others. I’ve been known to use my monkey way too much at times.

What does this have to do with photography? Well, here’s a photo idea passed through the three different parts of the brain so you can see what I’m talking about.

Lizard Brain: Take picture of woman with big boobs.

Dog Brain: Take photograph of woman connecting emotionally with a long lost friend.

Monkey Brain: Document woman figuring out how to cheat on her husband’s taxes.

Put them all together and you get a photo of a woman with big boobs cheating on her husband with her long lost friend. Okay, maybe the lizard brain won that time. But you get the point.

When you are working on your photography, try thinking about which part of the brain your ideas come from or end up. Shake it up from time to time. Heck, try using all three at once. It may get you out of a rut or even expand your current vision. And put down that banana!

This article was written by my monkey brain. At least I think it was.

Nice!

Del.icio.us | Technorati | Stumble it! | Digg