On Learning Photography

There are probably hundreds of thousands of blog posts about learning photography, so let me put up the disclaimer that this is just another one on that heap of that pile. Let me also say that there are likely far more talented photographers that have written similar articles to this. This will not be a technical post, or talk about gear but just a few simple statements and suggestions based off what I see very often.

The first thing I think that is worth mentioning is this, a paragraph out of a very good book

 "In my opinion there are two efficient ways to learn: apprentice yourself to a top professional or teach yourself. The Problem with photography is that everyone does it, believe he/she does it well (and would do it better if only he/she could buy a better camera or take more time off) so this individual produces bad pictures because he/she is doing everything wrong but passes on bad advice out of ignorance. The problem with receiving bad advice is that you do not realize that the advice is bad when you are a beginner, and the bad habits become ingrained and very, very difficult to remove. My advice is: learn from the best or teach yourself. And do not bother at all if you not have an exaggerated sense of curiosity." (On Being A Photographer: Bill Jay & David Hurn)


Now,  this quote is entirely true EXCEPT that there are plenty of ways to learn efficiently thanks to the internet and the new business model of photography which has lead leading industry photographers to also teach the craft as it is extremely saturated. Some of these videos are even free, and readily available on YouTube. I suggest finding leading photographers in what your interested in doing and seeking out any available information they've put out, and pick up their photography books and study their compositions. These simple things aside from learning about the technical aspects of photography to get good exposures and editing photos will help you tremendously.

Now what this quote from the book says essentially is the blind leading the blind is a bad thing, and this is extremely true, and I actually was apart of a local group where everyone gave pats on the back to each other, suggested poor technique and generally never got better. Luckily, I caught myself and moved on and my work has gotten better dramatically since leaving this atmosphere.  The thing here was, I used them as a crutch for my insecurities of being out in public with a camera up against my face. Dodging humans when I actually took pictures, and dodging my photos from the public's eye outside this group and anonymous posting on the internet.

See the thing is, family and friends are rarely going to tell you your work is bad, either they want to spare your feelings or they have no clue what is good and what is bad. Granted, what is good and bad is subjective to a point, but generally speaking it should be fairly obvious.

Look at your images from one, two, three months ago, maybe even a year. Are they better? Figure out why they're better.  Look at your newer images, try and see what you can improve.  Have a little bit of a backbone and join a critic group that gives pros and cons to each image, take what they're saying with a grain of salt, but keep it in the back of the mind and see if the same suggestions repeat. Make friends with another photographer who will help you see that your horizon isn't straight, or that you missed a sensor dust spot on the image that needs to be removed.