When talking about innovation in photography, we often hear a lot of nonsense answers, such as upgrading equipment, hiring more staff, trying to find a niche, etc. This is not advice. bad, and I give that advice too. However, it is so general and popular that it has lost its meaning. Here are some real tips on how to become a better photographer.
Patience
This is not a sprint; this is a marathon, an Iron Man challenge if you will. You need to have stamina and passion if you want to be a photographer. Naturally, you may be wondering, how do I know? After all, I’m only in my twenties, so that’s an expected question. The point is, at this age, there are many easier paths than artistic fashion photography. While there are people my age who do it as a hobby, very few consider themselves full-time. Photography is my 24/7 job that I make a living from. There were times when giving up seemed the more logical and easier option. I even tried ditching it for a few months in 2021. I soon realized that my passion for the craft ran deep and that it was something that simply couldn’t be forgotten or beaten.
Becoming an artist or photographer is not a get-rich-quick scheme. If you’re my age and reading this, brace yourself for sleepless nights, baked beans on bread, and dry months. No sane person would choose that, and the only thing that will get you through these stages is patience and passion for what you do. Stay in it for a long time. I know people who started after me and gave up, saying there was nothing in it.
Lighting skills
One thing that is often overlooked by many photographers is the need for lighting skills. It’s pretty hard to understand lighting and I’m not going to lie, the more I delve into this, the less I know. Quite ironic, but I still notice that my light is getting better and better. This correlates with the group of clients you can get and the budget. A photographer who knows how to set up a softbox will have a hard time as soon as a client asks for brighter, left-shifting shadows and harder, denser, and more contrasting facial light.
Lighting is an art; Much of your style is your lighting and editing. Importantly, for authentic editing, you need authentic lighting. It’s quite difficult to take a captured image and edit it to look like something in your style. Not impossible, but difficult. Getting to know as many adjustments as possible, renting one to see how they work, and looking beyond the softbox is a daunting task that every photographer must go through in order to understand how it works. light. While it sounds like the skills required to use a flash, it’s not. I shot some of my work in a location with no extra light. The ability to position your subject at the right angle to sunlight is another important skill. Landscape photographers will know very well how important time of day and weather conditions (hence light) are to the look of their work.
accuracy
It’s hard to be original. It is often said that everything has been done before and we just repeat it now. While I agree with this statement to some extent, it should still be emphasized that originality is true to yourself. Another confusing concept, so let’s break it down. True work is not something that is visually different from what people do. It goes much deeper than that. It’s about your aesthetics and the way you work. Two photographers can shoot the same model in the same scene, but will inevitably achieve slightly different results. This is much more personal; it’s not about the technique you use.
Most photographers are familiar with things like softboxes etc and use them from time to time. There are also a lot of tutorials on lighting etc. However, each photographer finds their own way to use the same equipment. Another factor worth considering is your approach to photography. I take a very objective approach and work with my subjects from an aesthetic point of view, expecting models to be more like the actors and subjects of my artwork. Others may want to take a more personal approach and try to capture real feelings and emotions. Neither is better or worse; they are simply different approaches we take that build authenticity around our work.
Soft skills
Soft skills are something I’m working on at the moment, so it’s worth touching them up as it’s something that’s rarely taught. Soft skills are almost as important as your technical ability. Few photographers can do that without being a good communicator, likable as well as memorable. Don’t get lost and develop a fake personality that fits everything; those are the others.
In an industry where your opinion and opinion on everything is important, you have to have one. Subtly, intelligently growing to be a likable, memorable person with an opinion, sometimes a contrarian opinion, is also what I’m working on. Speaking of likability, when I interviewed Rankin, he said he burned more bridges than he should have done in his early days. Burning bridges is sometimes unavoidable; however, you will probably need that bridge later. Should leave good terms.
good education
Photography education is all over the place these days. There is so much random information on the internet that comes from people who barely know what they’re talking about. One option is to go to a photography school and get a degree in the profession. While you’ll get better information, one thing that will likely be missing from the curriculum is business skills, vital to being a profitable freelancer. I’m talking about everything from how to set up your company to how to file your taxes to how to market yourself. Just being an artist is good enough if you have other sources of income, but it won’t cut it if you’re looking to upgrade your photography business. Most of the time, we learn by doing or having a mentor. A good education can also come from video courses, such as those sold at Fstoppers. Filmed by leading industry experts, they provide essential and insightful insight into this difficult industry.
Stop thinking
Besides technical knowledge, here are some important skills that will help you advance your photography career. If you’ve ever wondered why someone with worse work gets more clients, it could be one of those things. I would like to end by saying that patience is a virtue. Combine it with perseverance, and you are sure to become a successful photographer.
