People are often looking for that one piece of photography advice – the silver bullet that will catapult them to the next level. “What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?” or “What’s the one piece of advice you would give?”
First off, there’s no silver bullet. No one thing I can tell you to do that will turn you into Ansel Adams overnight. But here are two things I wish someone had drilled into me long before I worked them out for myself.
1. Not all advice is created equal
Be careful who you take advice from. Bad advice can really hold you back if you follow it too rigidly. When someone tells you what to do or what not to do, look at their work and ask yourself if this is someone you should listen to. Is it of a style and standard you aspire to?
Over the last few years, I’ve heard and been given a lot of advice that would have been detrimental to my journey if I had followed it.
I’ve been told that nothing kills creativity quite like only shooting one genre. I shouldn’t expect to get better if I am not experimenting outside my comfort zone. I get where this is coming from, but I’ve improved by doing the opposite – finding my niche and focusing on it like a laser. I’m rather fond of the quote by golfer Gary Player: “The more I practice, the luckier I get”.
A lot of people think histograms are extremely important. Maybe they are if you’re a landscape photographer and trying to shoot through dark filters, but much of my best work would make anyone obsessed with histograms have a conniption. Expose to the left? Expose to the right? Definitely take control of your exposure, but use that control to do what best serves the story YOU want to tell.
Another favourite is “gear doesn’t matter – the best camera is the one that’s in your hand!” The only thing I’ll say about that is I’ve never heard anyone say it who isn’t shooting with the latest high end gear.
Some say wildlife photography isn’t any good unless the composition includes the animal’s habitat. I straight up disagree. Almost all my images are taken with long lenses and it doesn’t seem to hold me back from producing work that’s been praised by people whose opinions I respect. The most important thing is to capture a perspective they haven’t seen before. There’s no reason why that can’t be in the form of a tight portrait.
My absolute favourite terrible piece of advice is “don’t photograph birds – everyone else is doing it, you’ll never stand out!” I’m so glad I’ve ignored that on multiple occasions.
And that brings me to my second piece of advice. Assuming you’ve looked at my work and decided that I’m qualified to give any further advice, here it is:
2. Don’t let anyone tell you not to do what you love.
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