Free advice

Free tip for today only – How to improve your photography. Answer: Take more pictures.

End of blog entry for today…

OK. This entry will not be that short but what I am trying to convey is do not do what I do/have historically done – namely, focus on only the technical aspects of the gear. A close second to that bit of advice is don’t think that getting a new piece of camera gear will suddently make our pictures look better. It might, if you can identify the specific need for the piece of gear, but generally for us non-professional photographers, getting something new will not make your pictures better.

So what am I saying here? Ignore the technical aspects? No. It is critical that you first know the basics of photography from a technical and creative standpoint, and then how to use your camera – a technical endevor that should allow you to apply that knowledge to your creative talents.

Today, there are tons of free resources for learning a plethora of topics. Between AI agents like ChatGPT, Copilot, etc., YouTube, and a good ‘ol fashioned Google search, you can curate a ton of very good content and shorten the time of your learning curve to understanding how to use your camera, and to point you in the direction towards developing a solid creative base. But here is a really bad analogy (as my wife would say) – I can watch 20 YouTube videos, chat with Copilot, and do Google searches on how to make the ultimate cheesecake – but until I start making cheesecakes, and learning from my mistakes, I really cannot improve my ability to make a good cheesecake. OK – it wasn’t that bad of an analogy was it?

I am suggesting three things:

1. Do watch YouTube videos, read your camera manual, look at images from professional photographers whom you admire. This will provide a base level of understanding and could also help you set some realistic expectations around this hobby. Define what you feel good is and run with it – and chances are that as you improve, you will continue to raise the bar.
2. Take lots of pictures.
3. After you take those pictures, review them. What do you like? What don’t you like? What worked? What didn’t work? Now go back to step 1. and learn more, then step 2. and take more pictures and then back to step 3. This is basically a feedback loop followed by the classic “Lather, Rinse, Repeat” cycle.

Keep doing this, and your photography will improve. In fact, you will probably get to a point where your knowledge, skills, and abilities will start to kick in automatically, and you won’t have to be constantly slowing down and thinking about each image you create (what f/stop, which shutter speed, which focusing mode, how do I track my dogs running, etc.)

I will leave you with one other piece of advice – every time you go out with your camera, have a defined goal/purpose for what you want to acheive and what you will photograph (basically, give yourself a photographic assignment – this will keep you focused). Even if you are just going into your backyard, set a goal (e.g., I will learn how to set the focus point correctly on my subject) and give your self an assignment (e.g., I will take pictures of the leaves on plants in our garden). Doing so will keep your photography learning focused and moving upwards.

Happy Shooting!