Photography Was Hard Until I Learned These 3 Concepts

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When I was first learning photography, I remember there were a few "unlocks" that really gave me the leg up when it came to accelerating my photography. In this video, I talk about 3 big things that you can take away to improve your photography (or any visual art really) immediately!

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Beginners guide series:

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[andystiller]

One thing I would like to add is try to review / edit your photos after a short break of maybe 1 or 2 days. That way you can look at them in a fresh way but still remember what you were trying to do.

[runliftuk]

A really cool video idea would be if you went back to the locations you had taken a “bad photo at” and physically “re-took” the photos and showed the choices you made now and why they’re better!

Thanks for the videos too, you’re amazing!

[luisarroyo]

Mastering camera settings was the first big step in my becoming a proficient photographer. The second was thinking through the relations between subject and everything else in the frame and then pressing the shutter.

[bearxshark]

Getting over my embarrassment of taking photos in public and slowing down.

[anjumanalam]

The advice to think about why we select certain images versus others and then to go to the next shoot with those learnings in mind can't be overstated. I often run through them to get the project done, but taking time to reflect can lead to minimizing those mistakes from happening again.

I'd love to hear more from you about finding your own style in photography as well. Thanks for another great video, Pat!

[FarahOnYouTube]

A video about uncovering style would be amazing if you could do that! ♡

[kevinsoney]

I like the idea of intentionality, even when you already have an idea or shoot planned. I do concert/live music photography, so the shoot or idea is already set. When I started, I just sprayed and prayed, that I got something worth editing. While it's still a fly-by-the-seat of my pants affair, I will focus a each band member until I feel I've got something worth editing. I tend to do a photo-journalistic style as I lean towards event that aren't posable and can't really set-up shots. So, as I've done more of these types of events, I have to proceed with intentionality, even though I wasn't calling it that.
Now, going forward, I know what to call it. Knowing what type of event I'm going, I can intentionally think about what types of shots should happen, I can look for them adding the intentionality.

The idea of reviewing them to learn from them is new to me. I can see how analyzing to see what worked and what didn't, can improve my photography immensely.

[VictorVargas_]

My #1 mentor, thank you for sharing your knowledge with those that are willing to learn.

[michaelmacmorran]

Brilliant stuff Pat. Direct, concise and extremely helpful. Learning how "see" as a photographer "sees" take time, effort and many, many failures. Applying the principles you outline here is a fantastic first step.

[nxu]

Pat, thanks for this. You are a great teacher.

[BGTuyau]

Though not without value for the more experienced, this is is an excellent video for photography neophytes, with a trio of essentials explained minus the bloviating all too typical of many YouTube photographers. The close analysis of what may actually be a textbook bad photo was a great idea, and FWIW, AAR [after-action review] is the standard abbreviation for what athletes do. | What advice might I add? If doing street photography, don't be lulled into inattention by what may seem slack or uninteresting circumstances. Be ready at all times —and, that said, be ready to miss a few of what might have seemed great shots. Timing is [almost] everything. Thank You ...

[terryshampoe]

My Aha moment was realizing that I can do this. I can take these incredible shots. Maybe this is a combination of all three of your points. Or perhaps the best way to say this is I developed confidence in my abilities.

[arkaefortt]

Thanks for these fantastic tips. Looking at the non-keepers is one thing I never considered. Looking forward to applying this tip especially.

[tsegaymoges]

Thanks. It was very educational. I'll use your advice, clearly presented in the three concepts.

[Crashentyre]

While I enjoy the editing process, figuring out how to get closer to the look I'm going for straight out of camera was a big workflow improvement.

Experiment with photo styles and filters (like mist filters). For a long time, I was using the "flattest" photo style possible to try and save more dynamic range, but it didn't make a huge difference. Getting closer to the final look saves a lot of time in editing.

I also took a deep dive into my best pictures and looked at my most used focal lengths (with zooms), and then got a bright prime at one of those ranges and put a mist filter on it. This is now what's on my camera at least 70% of the time.

[GregBrecker]

Hadn’t seen one of your posts in a while. Glad to come across this.
Really like your tik/tok cause and effect methods. I mentally step back and reframe most of my shots to re-express my initial feeling for taking the shot.

[DebiSenGupta]

Thanks for sharing your thought process. Very helpful

[thomasriera]

Great video and summary! Slow down and compose with intention, leverage the feedback cycle, and consume lots of photography (& visual arts) also had a huge impact on my growth. Extending the last point, hanging around other photographers is also very helpful. Some of my best growth came from me joining my local camera club. Club competitions were very feedback-oriented and allowed me to go through that exercise of what makes this image work/not work with others' pictures in addition to my own. It's great to get others' perspectives too. Shooting with other photographers can be very instructive. It's all basically immersion technique (shoot more, edit more, consume more). I recommend new (or any) photographers to look for a local photography club or consider starting one of their own.

[jjsilver]

My AHA was understanding light science. My brain changed and everything looked different. The object was not as exciting as the light. E.g. trees no longer looked like trees, the leaves were reflective surfaces.

[asyabeetle]

So valuable advice, really appreciate your perspective, seemingly trivial and obvious things really became an insight for me today, thank you❤️