DEVELOPING CONFIDENCE AS A PHOTOGRAPHER:

SOME PHOTOGRAPHERS JUST SEEM TO BE BORN WITH CONFIDENCE, TAKE GREAT PHOTOS ALL THE TIME (OR DO THEY?).  OTHERS SPEND A LOT OF MONEY BUYING ALL THIS EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT, THINKING THAT THIS EQUIPMENT WILL MAKE THEM THE PERFECT PHOTOGRAPHER, AND IT DOESN’T.  THEN, THOSE PHOTOGRAPHERS SPEND ALL THEIR TIME AT THE COMPUTER TRYING TO TWEAK THEIR PHOTOS INTO SOMETHING THAT MAY LOOK GOOD.  THE MORE THEY TWEAK, THE LESS HAPPY THEY ARE.  

IF YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE PHOTOGRAPHERS, AND YOU ARE THINKING THAT IT’S TIME TO SELL YOUR EQUIPMENT AND DO SOMETHING ELSE, THEN WAIT, YOU JUST NEED A LITTLE GUIDANCE AND HELP TO GET YOU OUT OF THAT RUT, AND INTO TAKING PICTURES THAT YOU CAN BE PROUD OF.   LET’S SEE IF WE CAN HELP YOU HERE:

 

KEEP IN MIND, WE ARE ALL LEARNING IN THIS HOBBY, OR PROFESSION.  I DON’T THINK THAT EVEN THE MOST ADVANCED PHOTOGRAPHER  DOESN’T LEARN SOMETHING FROM HIS OWN PHOTOGRAPHY, OR FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF ANOTHER PHOTOGRAPHER.  IF YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST GRAB A CAMERA AND START TAKING PERFECT PHOTOS, THEN YOU MISSED SOMETHING.  THERE IS A REASON WHY SOME PHOTOS LOOK GREAT AND WHY OTHERS DO NOT.  

ONE THING THAT PEOPLE MISS THE FIRST TIME THEY GET A CAMERA IS THAT THEY REALLY DON’T TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN WHAT THEIR OWN CAMERA CAN DO FOR THEM.  LIKE THE EXAMPLE ABOVE.  WHEN YOU FIRST TAKE A PHOTO AND IT COMES OUT LIKE THE TOP PHOTO, AND YOU WONDER WHY?  DO YOU KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT YOUR CAMERA TO KNOW HOW TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM SO THAT YOU CAN FIX IT?   THAT IS WHY YOU MUST LEARN EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR CAMERA.  EVERYTHING !!!   DON’T JUST LEARN HOW TO OVERIDE THE AUTOMATIC, LEARN HOW TO SHOOT MANUALLY, LEARN HOW TO USE THE ISO CORRECTLY, LEARN ALL ABOUT THE DEPTH OF FIELDS AND WHAT YOU CAN DO BY CHANGING APERTURES, AND ALSO, WHAT HAPPENS BY CHANGING SHUTTER SPEEDS, AND WHY YOU SHOULD LEARN TO DO THAT.  ONCE YOU TOTALLY UNDERSTAND THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF YOUR CAMERA, THEN YOU WILL DEVELOP AN IMMENSE CONFIDENCE OF YOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC SKILLS.  SOMETIMES IT IS IN THE NATURE OF PEOPLE, TO NOT READ THEIR OWNERS MANUALS.  OH, BUT YOU WILL MISS SO MUCH IF YOU DON’T.  

TO ME, OWNERS MANUALS ARE BORING…. BUT, I KNOW I WILL MISS SOMETHING ABOUT THE CAMERA IF I DON’T READ THROUGH IT.  WITH MY NEWEST CAMERA, I REALLY DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WELL ABOUT HISTOGRAPHS UNTIL I READ THROUGH THE OWNERS MANUAL.  (NOW I GOT YOUR CURIOSITY, DON’T I?)  

JOIN A PHOTO CLUB:

AN INTERESTING IDEA TO JOIN A CAMERA CLUB, OR PHOTO CLUB.  WHY?  BECAUSE THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE IN THE CLUB WHO HAS ALWAYS HAD A CAMERA ABOUT 100 YEARS LONGER THAN ANYONE (SLIGHT EXAGERATION), AND KNOWS ALL ABOUT CAMERAS AND USES WEIRD TECHNIQUES TO WIN PHOTO COMPETITIONS, AND IS SUCCESSFUL AT HIS PHOTOS AND THEY ARE ALWAYS AMAZING.  BUT, IS WILLING TO SHARE HOW HE DID IT, AND WHAT IT TOOK TO DO IT, AND HE WILL SHOW YOU HIS EQUIPMENT THAT COST 100k AND ON AND ON.  IT IS FUN TO SEE:  

PUTTING ALL FUN ASIDE, THESE PHOTOGRAPHERS KNOW A LOT, AND ARE WILLING TO HELP YOU.  PLUS YOU WILL BE AMONG OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO ARE LIKE YOU, WANTING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY, AND WANT TO GET GOOD CRITIQUES FROM GOOD PHOTOGRAPHERS.  THAT IS PART OF THE CAMERA CLUB.   THOSE PHOTOS THAT ARE ENTERED INTO COMPETITION ARE JUDGED, AND CRITIQUED.  AND YOUR PHOTO IS NOT THE ONLY ONE BEING CRITIQUED, SO YOU CAN LEARN FROM THESE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHERS.   IT IS WORTH THE LEARNING CURVE.  

LET ME TELL YOU THAT THOSE PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO MAKE A LIVING TAKING PHOTOS FOR THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE, DIDN’T MAKE IT IN THEIR FIRST YEAR OF PHOTOGRAPHY.  IT TAKES YEARS AND YEARS OF STUDY, AND PRACTICE AND LEARNING FROM THE BEST.  IF YOU ARE NOT STUDYING WINNING PHOTOS, THEN YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON HOW TO BECOME BETTER.  GO TO PHOTO EXHIBITS,  STATE FAIRS, LOOK ONLINE OR SOMEPLACE WHERE YOU WILL SEE WINNING PHOTOS AND SEE WHY  THOSE PHOTOS ARE PICKED AS WINNERS, AND THEN YOU MUST LEARN AND STUDY HOW YOU COULD DO THE SAME.  BUT, THEN YOU ALSO NEED TO LEARN HOW TO BE YOUR OWN PHOTOGRAPHER, AND NOT COPY WHAT THEY DO, JUST LEARN HOW TO DO IT.    NO ONE LIKES SOME ONE WHO PLAGIARISES THEIR WORK.  SO YOU MUST LEARN TO BE CREATIVE AS YOU LEARN YOUR SKILL AS WELL.  BECOME UNIQUE AS YOU DO THIS, AND YOU WILL BE THE PHOTOGRAPHER YOU WANT TO BE. 

A FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHER ONCE SAID:

• “Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.”
  — Don McCullin