Pixiq

How To Work Really Hard At Photography And Still Suck At It!

Trust me.  There's no shortage in various ways you can spin your wheels at this whole "learning photography" thing.

Never Show Your Photographs To Anyone

Here's a great idea: Take tons of pictures.  Edit them.  Run them through your post processing workflow. Never show them to anyone. Not on the Internet. Not in the real world. Not to your grandma. Never.

You're bound to get better at your craft if you do this.

NOT!

The truth is that we all need a little feedback. It doesn't have to be a real critique, although I highly recommend getting those whenever you can, but you do need some sort of feedback. Do your images really say what you think, or intended them, to say?  Why work so hard at this and not show anyone?

Print something.  Hang it on your wall.  Post it on Flickr.  Share it with the world!

You leave yourself no benchmarks to grade your progress otherwise. You are your worst critic. Especially if you're a generous one!

Read Only "Expert Photographer" Blogs, Articles, and Books

Only the "experts" know what they're talking about and everything they say is the cold hard truth. They're never wrong and they'll never guide you in the wrong direction. Who cares about the wisdom of the crowds and who cares about what some newbie on a blog that nobody reads says about his process?

Actually, I care.  In fact, I care a lot about the wisdom of the crowds and I especially care about what new photographers are experimenting with in photography.  Hint: The new/young photographers won't stay new or young for long.

Keeping tabs on trends in photography is a great way to stay inspired and to get new ideas.  This isn't about "stealing" someone else's idea.  This is about learning from other people's successes and their failures.

Read photography blogs and articles by photographers of all levels and niches and you'll start to incorporate some of that inspiration, excitement, and wisdom into your own craft.

Leave Your Camera On Auto

I love technology. It does all sorts of things for me in my everyday life so that I don't have to think about it. So it would make sense that you could just leave your camera on Auto all the time and you wouldn't have to think about your photography.  Besides, if you take "enough" photos on Auto mode some of them are bound to turn out okay, right?

Well...that's true.  You won't have to think much about your photography if you leave your camera on Auto, but then again, no one will likely think much about your photography either.  So there's that.

In order to get your photography to a higher level you really do have to tap into the semi-auto and manual modes.  They make you think about light and how different shutter speeds and different apertures affect the image.

Try out Aperture Priority for a while and see what it does for your photography.

Buy A New and More Expensive Camera Because It'll Make Better Pictures

This one actually came from one of my twitter followers.  I asked on Twitter what photographers do to work hard and not actually get better.

@JReznickPhoto (Jon Reznick) replied with "Buying equipment you don't have a need for as if it'll improve your technique."

I couldn't agree more.

There are tons of photographers who lust after the latest and greatest camera or lens (I've been guilty) and think that this new gear will somehow help thrust them to the "next level".  It doesn't work that way.

There are tons of great photographers out there that still shoot with cameras that are years, even decades, old and they are producing wonderful work.  It's not about what you have in your hands, it's about what you have between your ears.

Spend Too Much Time Mastering Photoshop

This one came from @SydWeedon (Shutter Priority) "Spending too much time learning tricks in post processing software & not enough time making photographs = no progress."

Again, I agree.

While post processing is certainly an integral part of the digital photography experience it shouldn't be the main focus.  Besides, there's only so much you can do with a bad photograph to dress it up.

If you find you're having to spend much more time learning how to fix a bad photo than learning how to take a great photograph you're spinning your wheels.

Take time to get your workflow down to a minimum and your photo taking to a maximum.  Because everyone knows you have to shoot more to be a better photographer!

Photographs:

/doh by striatic

23:365 They said that she was a work of Art; but she would never believe them. [explored!!] by ♥mattie?

Reading A Guide to Exposure by Damien Franco

The New Toy by Arieseffects

Your Turn: What are some things photographers (or you) do that make you work harder but don't actually help you get better?