DON'T COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS!
Don't follow like sheep. You may come to a dead end!
Image ©Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved.
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My stock image of this shot can be licensed via Getty Images here.
| Camera | Canon EOS 5D |
| Lens | EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM |
| Exposure | 1/50 sec; f/9; ISO 200 |
| Location | Cairngorms, Scotland |
| Post-processing | Adobe Photoshop® CC 2017, Adobe Camera Raw, Nik Silver Efexx Pro |
I have often been asked to list the most important lessons I have learned in my many years of creating photographs (the last 24 years as a professional photographer.) So, I have made my first list of some of the things that have been the most important to me. (I will add other lists, as I go along.) I would not have agreed with some of the things on this list many years ago, so your list may well be quite different.
- Don't compare yourself to other photographers.
- Love what you do.
- Experiment with different styles of photography.
- Your photographs tell more about you than about the scene.
- Don't be an equipment snob.
- Focus more at first on good composition than on technical skills.
- Think of post-processing as the digital darkroom.
- Shoot what is in your own neighborhood.
- Flip the camera and take vertical shots.
- Even great photographers are remembered for only 1 or two GREAT shots in a lifetime.
- Avoid the SVS (Standard Vacation Shots) as much as possible.
- Use cloudy and rainy days to your advantage.
- Get up early.
- Capture city shots just after sundown.
- Travel light with camera gear.
- Don't be afraid to include people in travel shots.
- Photograph architecture with the full sun on the building front.
- Experiment with all kinds of software.
- Use on-camera flash on sunny days.
- Take many photos of one thing that excites you, and edit.
- Submit images with strong concepts to stock agencies.
All I am saying is that with hindsight, these have been the most important factors for me personally as a photographer to learn. I will deal with each item on the list in separate posts, so today I am covering the first item, which I believe to the one of the most important things I have learned along the way.
Don't compare yourself to other photographers!
I will not Reason and Compare: my business is to Create. - William Blake (1757–1827)
Compare your photographs with the ones you shot last week or last year, not with the ones that other photographers are shooting.
Photography is very subjective, so you may see some photographers who have thousands of followers, but who appear to have very average work in your eyes. That is because photography is subjective! You may also see some photographers who have way above average work (in your eyes), but they are struggling to achieve a few hundred followers. Photography is very subjective.
Social media has been largely responsible for our feelings of inadequacy in photography. We see an abundance of over-saturated and over-vignetted images and believe that we have to emulate that work in order for our work to be considered good. If all you ever want to do with your work is show it on social media as eye-candy, then OK. If you have sights on selling those images as large prints though, beware! There may be so much banding and color fringing in your work, that the largest print you may be able to sell is an 8x10!
We see the Follows and Upvotes and believe that we have to copy those styles in order to be successful. Not so. What we need to do is be true to ourselves, and that may involve styles that are way different from the ones that we see flooding our Steemit Feeds.
Years before social media became central to our lives, I learned from old photography pros that we should not be looking at the photography of others to give us inspiration. Instead, we should be spending time in art galleries studying the work of the old masters. What made their work successful? Was it the composition, lighting, subject matter, or all of that? When you do visit an art gallery, you are at once reminded that there are many, many styles of painting that are considered good! Not all paintings are in dark or vibrant colors. Not all paintings are what you might call good, but others may think they are exquisite!
So, in your own opinion (the one that really counts), are your photographs better now than they once were? If so, just imagine what you will be thinking next year, or the year after! Keep up the good work and don't compare yourself to other photographers!
Excellent and valuable advice. Thanks
You are welcome. Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks @pixresteemer!
Great advice! I could not agree with you more.
Thanks for stopping by this account! :-) I hope to make it more active in the coming weeks now!
Thank you for sharing the valuable lesson's that you have learned. :)
You are welcome! 😊
Solid advice I used to fall to n the trap of comparing with others at the start and it was demotivating to say the least
Now I just look back and try to keep improving
Ha, yes! we just have to be ourselves. :-) Thanks for stopping by!
Always a pleasure to visit
Well, I'm glad to have you, Stay for a cup of tea? LOL!
Right on point & very solid advice
It's simple, but powerful I think! :-)
Great advice. I can’t help feel a little disappointed when I submit an entry to a contest that has 40 or 50 winners and mine is not among them. I just remind myself that it is subjective and keep making pictures that I like.
We have to enjoy what we are doing. It's hard to do that when we are comparing ourselves to others.
I know the feeling too. :-) We are all on a level playing field and and subject to the same subjective decisions! I've had hundreds of images on book covers, and thousands in magazines over the years, but I hardly ever win a Steemit Contest. :-) Book and magazine editors make subjective choices too. LOL! What I like about entering, is that it sometimes just gives me a subject matter to write about! :-)
Today's post touches on that. :-) Happy Tuesday!
Love your post... especially the part about studying the old masters. That's great advice.
So true... Every now and then we can't help but fall into 'that' train of thought. We need you to drill that into our heads.. lol
Thank you very much! And I do agree about the social media influence and on the number of upvotes, etc Great advice!
Yes, we need to remain focused on our own creativity. :-)
Yes, someone on here told me to visit art galleries to learn composition saying it was very helpful. And here you are saying that as well. I will have to do that as well as look at books.
I can't judge my own work - so to answer your question if my photographs are better now than they once were....I really don't know. I know more but don't know if I've improved. My husband says I have improved.
I agree that art is subjective. Beauty being the eye of the beholder for sure!
Yes, photography is the same as paintings in that composition and lighting are important. Who better to learn from than the old masters? They have stood the test of time!
Perhaps you will see in time the improvements in your work. I can certainly see improvement in mine, but over a period of many, many years!
All great tips! And a good reminder not to compare yourself to others. I see so many truly great photos here every day, that it is easy to become convinced that my photos aren't good enough. I need to remember that I take pictures because I enjoy it!