Megan Holley, a lifelong friend, asked me a question in response to an article I wrote about photography and business:
“Try making images that you love. Work hard on them. Learn all you can.”
That’s exactly what i want to do!! Couldn’t have said it better myself. Tips on where to learn all i can??
Great question, Megan! The good news is that there are tons of places to learn about photography. The bad news is that it’ll likely cost you a whole lot of time. I’ll go through a few of my favorites here:
- Experience: It sounds trite, but the only way to make better pictures is to make a ton of them. Every time you make a picture and evaluate it, you’re adding to the database in your head that tells you what works. In this regards, sometimes failure is more important than success. But you can’t fail if you won’t try new things.
- Books: I have a few comprehensive photography manuals. This is one of my favorites: bit.ly/bX7JH9. At $112 it’s pretty pricey, but knowledge always has a cost.
- Other people: Join or create a group on meetup.com. I looked around you area and found a group in Modesto, but if that’s too far away, you could always start your own group. I don’t care what Jean-Paul Sartre said, other people can be very helpful!
- Seminars: It seems like everyone is getting into the training game these days, and Shinn Photo is no exception. Our first Summer Camera Camp was this last weekend, and we had a great time learning about out cameras and how to use them.
- Blogs: You’re reading a blog now, but there are much better blogs for learning photography. (Unless you want me to post instructional info. If so, leave a comment to let me know, and I’ll get right on that!) Scott Kelby, the president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, published a great blog about photography over at scottkelby.com. Scott’s Wednesday guest blog posts are full of variety and good material. Joe McNally tells stories from his teaching and very long shooting career over at joemcnally.com/blog. If there’s a cool/dangerous thing to be done with a camera in hand, Joe’s done it and likely has scars to prove it. He’s a highly entertaining writer. Chase Jarvis, one of my favorite photographers, blogs about creativity at chasejarvis.com/blog. Blogs are great for news information and periodic pieces, but they’re not a great format for comprehensive instruction.
- Webinars: Webinars, or online video courses, are great for learning about a particular aspect of photography. Lynda.com has some inspirational courses featuring several photographers. One of my favorites is a series on Douglas Kirkland, an iconic photographer. Lynda.com allows you to watch a few movies for free, then you have to pay for a subscription. I pay for one, and use it heavily. I highly recommend the service for learning about software. Kelbytraining.com has a similar offering for a similar price. Chase Jarvis is trying something interesting at CreativeLIVE. He’s offering free video training for anyone who tunes in live, and the ability to buy the courses to watch at your own leisure.
Other resources abound, including: YouTube, Community College courses, week-long seminars (I’d like to go to one of these soon), craftandvision.com, and more.
Let me know if this help, Megan (or anyone else)! Or leave a comment below with your favorite photography resources. I have a ton to learn and a passion for becoming a great photographer, and I welcome your thoughts!
- Andrew
One Comment
Thanks for the great insight! I’ve really been wanting to grow as a photographer, but all the information out there is so overwhelming. Seeing your (and other photographer’s) pictures just makes me want to improve all the more.
I’d love to start taking Senior Portraits of some of my students as a side job and to get me rolling. I doubt I’d ever go professional, but I’d love for my photos to look professional. Editing is huge, and there are so many things you can do with software these days. But if the picture doesn’t have “it” to start with, editing can only take you so far.
I’m excited to check out all those sites you talked about! I thought about going to MJC for photo night classes, but I’d have to start at the beginning, and I’m not particularly interested in retaking my high school photo class. I’ve also registered for that Meet Up in Modesto, but have never attended one.
I’ve seen your Summer Camera Camp advertised somewhere once before. I have no doubt in your skills and abilities, but I do wonder how much I can really take away in such a short time and for the cost of it all. I guess it could be my starting off point! Please email me when you have another one, and I will think about attending.
Thanks again for the response! It is so encouraging!!