
The Newbie Photographer’s Survival Guide - sethkravitz
https://phlearn.com/magazine/the-newbie-photographers-survival-guide/
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ereyes01
I really like the content, as it's all about the artistry of photography. Too
often so much photography content is about gear, which always does scratch an
itch I must admit, and does matter a little bit, but is highly context-
sensitive to the mission you have in taking photos.

I'm still a noob in photography, but one of the most helpful things in my
learning has been youtube videos where other people's photo submissions are
critiqued in a constructive manner. Nothing has taught me more about the
possibilities of composition in different scenarios, and it has inspired lots
of creativity in my own shots and techniques. My favorite Youtube channel for
this is Tony and Chelsea
([https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDkJEEIifDzR_2K2p9tnwYQ](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDkJEEIifDzR_2K2p9tnwYQ))
... they do a weekly show every Thursday where they critique photo
submissions- their feedback is great and they go through lots of high quality
photos.

Other noteworthy channels:

Matt Granger
([https://www.youtube.com/user/thatnikonguy](https://www.youtube.com/user/thatnikonguy))...
has lots of content on gear, but his videos about lighting and portraiture
technique have really helped me with taking pictures of people.

Mike Browne
([https://www.youtube.com/user/photoexposed](https://www.youtube.com/user/photoexposed))...
Great instruction on the basics of photography, as well as great advice about
composing interesting shots (my favorite: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT-
hh0wQ-GI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT-hh0wQ-GI))

Thomas Heaton
([https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfhW84xfA6gEc4hDK90rR1Q](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfhW84xfA6gEc4hDK90rR1Q))...
One of the best at explaining the creative mindset and struggle of
photography. He specializes in landscapes.

~~~
petepete
Some other good channels:

aows:
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDvq7BPaphEIhBlyDN19rvQ](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDvq7BPaphEIhBlyDN19rvQ)

Gary Gough:
[https://www.youtube.com/user/redfivestudios](https://www.youtube.com/user/redfivestudios)

Rob Blight:
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6apPoUi2QPN4X_ZPZdz7iQ](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6apPoUi2QPN4X_ZPZdz7iQ)

Steve Perry:
[https://www.youtube.com/user/backcountrygallery](https://www.youtube.com/user/backcountrygallery)

Mark Smith:
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyGYUrC2IvaHWoX6dwEsrMA](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyGYUrC2IvaHWoX6dwEsrMA)

Mango Street:
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5bp5_6h-ZxkBz6S_33ZUVg](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5bp5_6h-ZxkBz6S_33ZUVg)

All are more focused (see what I did there?) on photography rather than gear.

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StavrosK
What I've realized about photography is that it's all but pointless. Virtually
every single person on earth is a photographer, there's so much supply of
great content that it's unlikely that anyone will ever give a damn about your
photos.

So, just do what you like. Express yourself, shoot what you like, when you
like it, and don't worry too much about the rest. Maybe I'm too pessimistic
(or just bad), but I've relinquished any hope of ever getting any kind of
audience.

~~~
Swizec
How do you define "any kind of audience"? It's very easy to get hundreds and
even thousands of followers on instagram.

Can you get into galleries? Eh that's really really hard you're right.

~~~
StavrosK
> It's very easy to get hundreds and even thousands of followers on instagram.

How? I post new photos every few days and my follower count actually goes
down. I get a bunch of accounts following me automatically and unfollowing me
after a few days, just to get me to follow them back.

Maybe my photos are terrible, but I don't _think_ so?
[https://www.instagram.com/stavroskorok/](https://www.instagram.com/stavroskorok/)

~~~
scott_s
I like your pictures. (I'm not a photographer, just someone who can look at
some stuff and say "I like that" and not necessarily know why.)

But I find some of your comments odd. Such as: "Another shot of the lighthouse
in Chania." Well, yes, it's a picture, so I can _see_ that it's a lighthouse,
and it's obviously a shot. The only information in that sentence, then is
"Chania," but where is that? From the tags, I guess it's Greece, so maybe the
comment should just be "Chania, Greece." If the lighthouse has a proper name,
then that would be better.

Another example: "Here's a boat." That doesn't have any information. Where is
the boat? What kind of boat? Who is on it? What are they doing? You don't need
to say any of this, but some context would help tell a story. The problem with
"Here's a boat" is that it is completely reductionist. I get that maybe you're
going for self-aware deprecation, but when presenting your art, that does not
come off clever. It comes off unconfident.

~~~
dillutedfixer
This.

Tell a story with the photo. There are millions and millions of photos out
there, but only YOU have your viewpoint. Only YOU have your intellect and
knowledge. Tell a story, it will be unique and people might like it.

Also, Instagram is not the measure of success. I know a few photographers who
are good, even excellent, and have more Instagram followers than Sebastião
Salgado, who in my opinion is the best photographer walking the earth right
now.

------
platz
You can know everything, and have all the right gear - but if you aren't
interesting, or don't do interesting things, or don't find interesting people,
you probably won't take good photos.

The hardest part about photography is what your photo is _about_. What is it
saying, which can be different from the literal image, like how what a
painting is about is often not exactly what is literally depicted

~~~
neilv
Regarding "about", if you're doing photojournalism, there's a simple idea that
I found tremendously helpful (as an amateur student): _your image should tell
a story_.

There's a lot of technical stuff you need to internalize, and some visual
sense, but, at the end of the day, your main goal is not something that looks
appealing above the fold on the front page, but that communicates some
important essence of the story.

~~~
platz
Right, that makes perfect sense for photojournalsim; of course you also can
have non-representational things such as abstract photography; whether you
want to use the word 'story' for that too I'll leave as an exercise for the
reader.

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Tomte
> You are shooting in RAW, right?

No. I'm really bad at photo editing and try to invest my time in learning
photo composition instead of editing. I feel that for me the results will be
better.

~~~
petepete
Unless you have a tiny SD card there's not much to lose by shooting in both.
If you get a shot you love but it's just a tiny bit under or over exposed,
with a JPEG you're out of luck.

I don't really do any 'heavy' editing, but slight exposure adjustments,
straightening and selective sharpening can turn an ok photo into a very good
one.

~~~
rnotaro
Exactly! I shot in RAW when possible and most often do minor adjustment
directly on Adobe Lightroom Mobile. It's free and powerful and takes about 2
minutes to do.

You can even re-apply your edit setting of one picture to a whole set.

Before: [https://i.imgur.com/c6SRXQQ.png](https://i.imgur.com/c6SRXQQ.png)
After: [https://i.imgur.com/B6q1h82.png](https://i.imgur.com/B6q1h82.png)

Editing pictures is definitely one of the most useful skill I've learned from
my last relationship.

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z3t4
Light create shadow, not the other way around. So remember to use shadows, erm
I mean light, to bring your objects to life.

