Photography is art.
But unlike so many other forms of art, there are rules, procedures, and other variables that often constitute what makes a “good” picture. Pablo Picasso could draw a few squiggly lines on a piece of notebook paper, hung in a gallery and people would debate for days what the painting means to them.
Meanwhile a crappy photograph is just that: a crappy photograph. Granted, I doubt we’ll be seeing any paint by numbers hung at the Whitney Museum of Art for example, but despite photography being an art, it does comes with some caveats with regard to how “good” it is that is not found in other areas of creative arts.
It as much less expensive these days for people to acquire a decent SLR and starting shooting pictures than it was 10-15 years ago. Instead of film we now have SD or CF cards and instead of having to visit a lab, we have our computers and software to process our shots. This has produced a bunch of new photographers into the landscape. It has also produced a bunch of really bad photographers into the landscape taking bad pictures they think are excellent.
Advice for newbie photographers is all over the place. Books, websites, forums, online classes, DVD’s, etc. are all available and much of it relatively inexpensive for people to learn the craft of photography. Along those lines however are suggestions, tips or advice that is quite common. Some of that advice new photographers can do without. Better yet, the advice needs to be turned on its head and presented better to give new photographers a better chance at improving their craft. Here are three examples:
1. Shoot All The Time
“Shoot a lot!, “Take your camera with you everywhere you go!” fit within this overall theme of “shooting all the time.” If people listened to this advice, we’d have nothing but millions of lousy photographs being uploaded all over the interwebs. Shooting all the time and bringing your camera everywhere is not going to improve your photography skills. It’s going to produce mundane snapshots for the most part. Sure, you might shoot something very compelling at some point, but chances are it will be by accident.
I am not saying you shouldn’t be out there shooting. You should. You have to in order to improve your craft. But you should shoot with purpose. Create assignments for yourself. Think of specific projects that you can go out and photograph. Do a photography walk somewhere specific. The point is to be intentional with your photography. Snapping photos all the time for the sake of doing so is not going to help you improve.
2. Gear Doesn’t Matter
This is such a crock. If it were true, the pros who spout this pearl of wisdom wouldn’t be saying it while owning tens of thousands of dollars of top of the line gear. There is a reason why pros use top gear. Usually that gear is more suitable to the work they are doing. Concert photographers need gear that provides optimal conditions for shooting in low light. Commercial photographers need stobes that are powerful enough to allow them control light when shooting outdoors. Nature photographers need gear that is resistant to extreme weather. In these and other scenarios gear certainly does matter.
The advice should be framed this way: “Don’t allow the limitations of your gear to hinder your creativity.” Pros can tell amateurs “Gear doesn’t matter” all day long. In the end, all they’re going to see is the pro using high end gear and think, “I need to get that stuff.” Pros need to emphasize people can still be creative without spending at ton of money but they also need to explain how that is accomplished. Chase Jarvis is one pro that knows this. Here is a video he made where he stressed how people can be creative with both video and still photography using low end gear and top of the line gear. Check it out:
3. Your Passion Is All That Matters
No, that is not all that matters. I have started to work on my CSS and HTML skills as well as learning as much about PHP as possible so I can work on my WordPress based blogs and know what I am doing. I am passionate about it. But I seriously doubt Tom, Jared or John is going to hand me the reigns on the next release of Standard Theme simply because I am “passionate” about writing code and design. Passion is important. But But improving your skills is more important. The good thing is, there are so many resources for new photographers to learn. Here are three I recommend:
- Periodicals – Specifically, Popular Photography, Digital Photo and American Photo magazine are all great. If you’re a landscape photographer, I would add Outdoor Photographer to the list.
- Books – Rebel Without A Crew by Robert Rodriguez – This is not a photography book, but one that will help you unleash that creativity within you. Read as Rodriguez does what he can with minimal equipment, relying on creativity. Within The Frame – by David DuChemin – “Gear is good. Vision is better.” That is a sound piece of wisdom. This book will teach somewhat about technique but more about vision and how to apply that to your work, regardless of gear.
- Web – Sign up for a month of Kelby Training. At $24.95, you can watch a bunch of videos that can help with your photography, your post production and even your camera gear. You can continue to subscribe but I like the fact they don’t lock you into anything.
John Meadows says
Interesting post! I think we need to be a bit more nuanced in regard to #1. Having your camera with you all the time is not the same as shooting all the time, and even if one shoots all the time, the real issue is people who feel they need to upload/share every single picture they take, instead of being selective.
JayCaruso says
Thanks for the comment John. I think you underscored my point about being intentional with our photography. And believe most advanced photographers are with me us on that it’s just they need to — like you said — be more nuanced with their advice and not just fall into the “Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!” mode of thinking.
Manasvi says
Thanks for the advice! 🙂
It is really “annoying” when people upload soo many pictures at a time!
Andrew says
I’m not all that convinced with the reasoning behind number 1. You say that you shouldn’t take your camera everywhere because you end up uploading all your pics, even the really mundane ones.
I personally would want to carry my camera everywhere, because I miss the great shots when I don’t have it, but never find any when I do carry it, but assuming you do take your camera every where, I think when it comes to publishing them, you should be more selective about what you publish rather than how many you take.
I just took over 2000 photos in a 2 week period, there is no chance I will ever upload all 2000 of them, and even then I would probably only share those that are really special.