The Single Most Important Lesson I Learned While Honing The Craft Of Photography
It's simpler than you think.
Not all lessons are created equal.
Some lessons we learn are small. They are little reminders along the way of what truly matters.
Other lessons are giant. They fundamentally change the course of our entire lives.
In 15 years of capturing photo moments for photography clients and myself, here's the ultimate lesson I learned in how to make better photos:
Practice the craft and create daily
And here's why:
There is a famous anecdote of why quantity matters more than perfection. Jerry Uelsmann, a film photography professor at the University of Florida, split his students into two groups.
Group 1 is the "quantity group" who were graded at the end of their semester, based on the number of photos they produced. The higher the quantity, the higher the grade.
Group 2 is the "quality group" who only needed to submit 1 photo and would get an A for a near perfect photo.
It turned out, at the end of the semester, the best quality photos actually came from the Group 1.
Surprising?
Actually no.
Group 1 was busy honing their skills (lighting, composition, camera settings etc.) every day.
While Group 2 was busy obsessing over how to create the "1 perfect photo" they ended up producing 1 subpar photo at the end of the semester.
Practicing and creating a lot of photos actually taught the Group 1 students how to create quality work.
Repetitions Matter.
Getting in more reps and consistently creating work means you get better at your craft much faster.
I try my best to make at least a photo a day—whether it’s with my Fujifilm X-T 5 Camera or my phone camera.
What’s your biggest tip to get better at taking photos?