In going back through some of the things that I advise new photographers on, I realized there were a few things that I suggested not to be concerned abut, a whole list actually. So herewith, some of the things that you can put out of your head.
Equipment. A big one here, because it’s one of the most common misconceptions. While there is no doubt that better equipment can assist you in your pursuits, the key word there is ‘assist’; it will not make the images for you, and will not vastly improve what you’re doing now. It’s very easy to believe that something you’re struggling with will magically go away with a new camera, lens, or doodad – I’ve done this countless times myself – but the bare truth is, it might give you an edge, it might makes things slightly easier for you in certain circumstances, but that’s all. Far too many people buy the latest and greatest, thinking they’ll get professional results by doing so, and find out after dropping all that money that this just isn’t so. Meanwhile, if you have the desire to accomplish something, you’ll often find a way to make it work.
I think the biggest exception to this is, sharp lenses. There’s really no workaround for them. However, this does not always translate to spending a lot of money, and there are some hidden gems out there that perform quite well without requiring huge expense. Bear in mind that the difference between that top-of-the-line example and the ‘consumer’ example, in terms of quality, is perhaps ten percent, probably less. In terms of cost, however, it’s rarely less than a 50% increase, usually many times that.
That said, composition is what makes the images worthwhile, and all that takes is a little effort.
Criticism. Not everyone likes the same thing, and you can’t please everybody. Never take a bad critique as anything more than a single data point, one out of seven billion possible, and realize that people have bad days, people have specific biases, and people can simply be jackasses. The same, meanwhile, can hold true for positive reviews, especially from people that we know and that don’t want to ‘hurt our feelings’ or whatever. A broad consensus can indicate more, but these are actually very hard to accomplish – we usually only have the opportunity to hear a few opinions.
The best critiques are the detailed ones that review how different elements work, and how they struck the viewer – sometimes we hear something that never occurred to us or that we didn’t notice ourselves. Still only a single data point, but with reasons and thought behind them, a little more valuable.
Developing a style. This will develop all on its own, no active input from us. There tends to be too much emphasis on being unique, known for only one approach or technique, and it’s exceptionally rare that we can make this work, while very easy to fall into poor productivity, or poor products, in trying. Your interests, perhaps influenced by the works of those that you like, will guide you towards your own style; do what you like, and your niche will be determined by that.
It’s not even necessary to have a niche. It depends on what you intend to get from your photography, which may only be, “I like doing this so here we are.” Not everything has to be income-producing, a misleading aspect of our culture anymore. But even if that’s the way we go, income usually comes from doing what others want, and that often isn’t something unique or specialized. In such cases, being limited to only one style may limit our prospects.
Compositional rules. There are no such thing – they’re rough guidelines, nothing more, and too often based on averages, which isn’t what we want our images to be. It’s good to understand elements, and how one aspect might work better in a given situation than another. It’s good to understand lighting and contrast and spacing, to the point that these are automatic when you’re framing a shot. But there’s no magic formula, and no perfect shot. Most especially, we can bog ourselves down in over-analyzing the frame to the point that a) we never feel that it’s acceptable, and/or b) that we take far too long or miss some crucial timing. When we’re unsure, we can always take a few just to try them out, and remember that cropping is an option as well.
All these functions and options and switches. While some of them may be useful to our pursuits, once we understand them, some (perhaps most) of them may have no application whatsoever to us. Bear in mind that, all photographers up to roughly fifty years ago had just four options total: shutter speed, aperture, focus, and ISO, this last being much more limited than now and not switchable without changing film. Every image that you find, that old or older, was done without special functions – many without even a light meter. Feel free to look up in the manual what any function/setting/button does, and if it seems to be gobbledegook, ignore it.
But, it’s not a bad idea to revisit these from time to time, to discover that now, with your greater knowledge or difference in approach, you have a use for one or two.
Know, too, that the claims of manufacturers for the functionality or value of such options is very often exaggerated. Even trying them out (focus modes are a good example) may not tell you much, since their functionality too often depends on conditions and may require a lot of testing to determine where their edge lies.
Not enough of what I take is good. You should know that, even among working professionals, the ‘keeper’ rates are not terribly high, usually varying between 33 and 50% – that means they throw out more than half of their images right off the bat. And curiously, these numbers won’t actually change as we go along, since as our abilities improve, our standards get higher. It’s next to impossible to take good pictures every time, so we shouldn’t even consider this as a goal, much less a measuring stick. Look at the bad pics to determine what went wrong, and then move on – it’s these little embarrassments that serve as the best learning experiences anyway.
At the same time, we can also be too harsh on ourselves. We may be looking at the images of some highly-published photographer as our goal, but everyone else is comparing them to their own pics, or their friends’, often taken with a phone camera. Don’t get me wrong; it’s always good to be improving, and you’ll look back on what you took a few years ago and shudder, but don’t put too much weight on still getting bad pics. It’s part of the process, and if it was easy, everyone would be doing it and there would be no challenge nor interest.
Listen, I hate missing a shot that I believe I should have gotten, especially when it’s 90% likely that I’ll never have that opportunity again. But then, I have images that I never dreamed I’d get, of subjects that I never had on my radar in the first place. It’s important not to be too narrow in our focus.
Advice. We can get all Schrodinger and wonder how we can take my advice on not worrying about advice if we like, but this is more like, “Use your own judgment.” No one’s advice can possibly apply to everyone, and photography is an extremely broad genre. Sometimes what we hear from someone is specific to their experiences, or even exactly the opposite of what they did and struggled with, which doesn’t automatically make the converse better. We have to follow our own paths, and examine advice with a critical eye. Sometimes it’s very good, and something that we never realized. Sometimes it’s not at all what we should be doing. And this applies no matter what level of professional or successful person we meet – there is no ‘right’ way to tackle most of photography.
What should we be worried about? Nothing, really – photography isn’t worth stress. But I can list a few things that we should put effort into, the ones that help improve things.
Sharp focus. We should always take the time to ensure that the point that we really want sharp, is.
Exposure. It’s too easy to get something that’s off a little too much, so we should pay attention to conditions and contrast, and make adjustments or bracket exposures as needed.
Basic settings. Are we in the mode that we want to be in? Are there any settings still remaining from the last session, that we really don’t want for this one? A once-over on the settings as soon as we take the camera from the bag is always a good idea.
Composition. Not by ‘the rules,’ but by our own eye. Create a story, show the scene, give enough context, or position ourselves to show off the subject best. Those, by themselves, will often override many compositional guidelines.
Timing. We should always be ready for that moment in time when things are ‘right,’ when we get that expression or behavior or conditions from the surroundings – whatever.
Remain safe. For us, and our equipment. Don’t bet that something won’t happen this time because it hasn’t before – losing that bet can be costly, way out of proportion to the inconvenience of doing things carefully. Our equipment is expensive, and so are we. Keep them all intact.
Trust instinct. We know what we like to see from images, so we can create much the same, almost automatically. Don’t overthink anything – let it flow instead.
Have fun. Enough said.