As growing photographers, it's all too easy for us to fool ourselves and to fall into a rut.
We carry our cameras around, we take a few photos, and we tell ourselves that we are practicing and getting better over time.
But when we look at our photos from this year, they look a lot like those from last year. And the year before that. And the year before that.
The problem is, we've quietly lied to ourselves.
It's comfortable to pretend that by simply carrying a camera and taking shots we are growing and improving as photographers.
Unfortunately it's just not true.
I can look back at long periods in my own photo history (it's very easy with it all in Lightroom) and see absolutely no growth for many years.
The Growth Spurts
But then there are leaps, sudden spikes where my photography takes a jump upward, and never falls back to its former level.
What caused these growth spurts?
I've been looking into this question lately, because I want to keep growing.
And the answer is not surprising, but it is very important to explicitly identify and remember:
I grew as a photographer when I put in the work of doing specific exercises.
These exercises typically came in two forms:
1) I read a photography book, and then did an exercise recommended by the author. This meant going out in the field to practice a new way of seeing, or a new way of shooting. I have sometimes printed out a cheat sheet, or an example, or a table, or other aid. And then I put in the hard work to automate this skill or knowledge by repetition in the field.
2) I took an online course and then tried to reproduce the other photographer's work. This usually began with my becoming highly inspired: "I'd like to take a photo like that! And now I think I see how to do it. I'm going to try it!" This is my favorite kind of inspiration and it has led to the most growth for me over the years.
When I look back at the long stretches of dull stagnation in my photography career, those dull periods were the times when I was not explicitly practicing a new technique.
I want to put and end to that stagnation.
So I have resolved, in 2020 (which still sounds impossibly futuristic to me) to find new techniques more often—whether from books or from other teachers—and to go practice them.
And I'm going to invite you to join me.
I already have something lined up that I'm very excited about and which I'm going to share with you in a week or two. I'm going to invite you to participate in a challenge with me based on a photography technique that I'd like to master.
More on that coming soon.
Meanwhile, I'd like to invite you to stretch yourself by picking up one of my favorite photography books, choosing an exercise from it, and going out to practice.
Here are a few of my favorite books for inspiration (each link is to my blog review of the book).
50 Portraits by Gregory Heisler
The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman
Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson
Learning to See Creatively by Bryan Peterson
Road to Seeing by Dan Winters
And of course, I have several courses of my own that might help inspire you. If there are any that you'd like, that you don't already own, here are some links to save you 30% off the price:
Lightroom Made Easy — 30% Off
Photoshop Basics for Photographers — 30% Off
Successful Event Photography — 30% Off
Pro Portraits with Off-Camera Flash — 30% Off
Advanced Off-Camera Flash Photography — 30% Off
Please don't fall into the trap that I fall into so easily: Just reading a book, or watching a course, and thinking that you're learning from it.
Nothing happens until you go out with your camera in your hands and do something uncomfortable that you've never done before.
That's where the magic happens.
Stay tuned for new project from me coming next week.
Meanwhile, grab a book and try something new.
Happy shooting,
Phil Steele