Ten More Ways (To Improve Your Craft)

In The Craft by David23 Comments

Several years ago I wrote a short book called TEN. Ten Ways to Improve Your Craft Without Buying Gear. It was wildly popular, in part I think because it’s easy to wrap our brains around doing ten things rather than a hundred. It’s manageable. Also because the word “eleven” is hard to say for some people. The sequel was called TEN MORE. Hit the link at the end of this post to get the new PDF which combines both books. But assuming you’ve read those and were hungry for more, and were just now wondering what ten pieces of unsolicited advice I might now give for any photographer who cares to listen, here goes:

One. It’s all about the human experience, not the technique. That’s why we pay attention to composition and light and emotion. Make it alive. That takes craft, to be sure, but mostly it takes taste, and courage, and vision, and those things take time. So put in the hours. Learn from others. Study other photographers who make work that, to you, is alive.

Two. Ultimately you will hear a lot of voices, but you have to figure out which ones you want to listen to. Listen. Learn. Then be willing to go in another direction if that’s where your curiosity and your instinct lead you. If you want to create something unique, something authentic, you need to learn to ignore everybody but learn from them too. That’s also a balance that comes with time.

Three. Photography is easier than we all make it seem. The magazines and books want to keep you on the hook for more and more advice, the next great secret, the next top tricks. Learn to expose well. Learn to focus. Study composition like your life depends on it. Now go make photographs. You will learn more from cutting the apron strings and experimenting on your own, and you’ll find your voice faster.

Four. Think in bodies of work. A series of 3 to begin, perhaps. Then 10. 20. A strong body of unified work is much harder than a dozen single images that are all over the map. This approach will force you to think deeper.

Five. Make some work, serious work, great work, work that everyone should experience. But don’t share it for a year. Build it. Live with it. Play with the sequence. But don’t put it out there for a year. It’ll do you good to incubate it without hearing the voices of others.

“Don’t chase the shot. Chase the magic. “

Six. Work with tighter constraints. This year I know several photographers going back to their roots and working mostly in black and white. It’s a return to line and form, to tone and moments, without the seduction of colour. I’ve sworn off tripods and long exposures for a while. And I have specific projects I’m already creating tight constraints for. This will force you into more creative thinking.

Seven. Don’t chase the shot. Chase the magic. Chase the experience. Life is too short and even the best photograph you make this year is likely to be eclipsed by something you make next year. So put your time first into great experiences, the photographs will come out of those and they’ll be stronger for being rooted in something you really care about.

“If you want to create something unique, something authentic, you need to learn to ignore everybody but learn from them too.”

Eight. Learn what it takes to make a great story. Too many photographers lean on cheap gimmicks and nudge the saturation slider in hopes that just a little more visual sugar will make the image a little more delicious. And in so-doing we kill our taste buds. It’s great for a quick hit but it leaves us empty. Understand the elements of story and how you might use those to strengthen your work.

Nine. Print your work. You don’t need another lens as much as you need to print your work, hold it in your hands, and live with it. Printing will make you a better photographer, and it will help you fall in love with the photograph more than the gear with which we make them.

“Make this year the year you put your soul, as vulnerably, as unfettered as it can be, into your work, and your life.”

Ten. Study the Masters. Once a week, or once a month, pick a new photographer – find one – ask your friends who they love – and study them. Read about their life, study their work. What was important about it at the time? Why does it succeed for you? Why does it not? How did they use visual language and composition? What can you learn from the way they thought? You can do this for free online, but if you can, budget for a book each month – a book of photographs. At the end of the year you’ll have 12 books full of magic, inspiration, and better lessons you’ll find in those magazines promising tips and tricks.

This is a beautiful, powerful craft. It has such possibility. We need it now more than ever. And now more than ever we need to approach it with heart and soul and the will to walk away from being dilettantes and dabblers. It’s too good, too beautiful, for such a trivial approach from those who claim to love it. There is so much more to it than getting edge to edge sharpness or great bokeh. We can want so much more from our images than that they be free from chromatic aberration or that they get good likes on Instagram. Make this year the year you put your soul, as vulnerably, as unfettered as it can be, into your work, and your life. Most of all, do it with love. Be an amateur – a lover – in every frame you make, every print you sign, every body of work you conceive.

And don’t you dare use f*cking white vignettes.

For the Love of the Photograph,
David.

PS – Want more like this? I send these articles out every two weeks to photographers around the world who want to improve their craft and explore their creativity and I’d love to include you. Tell me where to send it and I’ll send you a copy of my best-selling eBook Make Better Photographs, as well bi-weekly articles, first-glimpse monographs of my new work, and very occasional news of resources to help you keep moving forward in this craft we love.

“Each and every one of your emails inspire and motivate me to want to jump right out of my chair away from my computer and shoot for the love of it . Thank you David.” – Millie Brown

Comments

  1. this came at a good moment Especially #4 and #5. In regards to tighter constraints can you elaborate? Perhaps sticking to one particular lens, swearing off artificial lighting? @von_blackfoot IG Thank you.

  2. One of your last comments resonates with me, about doing it with love. When I first started getting into portrait photography and wedding photography, I followed how I thought it *should* be done. Whereas when I threw that all away and shot how I *loved* to shoot, my work improved dramatically.

    1. Author

      Funny how that works, isn’t it, Andy? You can almost guarantee it.

  3. Great article! I would appreciate it if you could visit 
http://www.romanlewckephotography.com
 and give some feedback, thank you!

  4. That’s a good list! make it alive. I like that. It’s that something in the best images that just make you want more. Thanks for spending the time to share with us!

  5. Thank you for writing this article! My eyes are wide open now. I’m going to print this list out and keep it on my desk! Please keep sharing your perspective.

  6. Make it alive…..that resonated a lot, thank you. And I’ll also try and not put out something for a year that I’ve worked on personally, that is an awesome concept…

  7. I’m gaining such a great amount from you and from the 26 week workshop. Much obliged to you such a great amount for growing my points of view! I truly like point #4 above and I’m taking a shot at it for the workshop. I’m having a ton of fun with it and taking in a great deal. The previous evening, I took a photograph for the venture that never had jumped out at me and I considered what amount having the limitation is starting my inventiveness. It makes me need to do a reversal to the initial few photographs I took for the set and re-do them.

  8. Author

    Thanks, Mandy! I’m so glad the Vision Collective is working for you!

  9. I’m learning so much from you and from the 26 week workshop. Thank you so much for expanding my horizons! I really like point #4 above and I’m working on a set of 12-photos for the workshop. I’m having so much fun with it and learning a lot. Last night, I took a photo for the project that never had occurred to me before and I thought of how much having the constraint is sparking my creativity. It makes me want to go back to the first few photos I took for the set and re-do them.

  10. There’s a lot to think about here, so thanks for that, David. I feel like I’m making progress on some of these, but I have much work to do on others. This is the sort of post I’d like to go back to later in the year, see how I’ve done and get that bit of inspiration you’re so good at providing to refocus and keep improving, growing, living and learning. Thanks much!

  11. Great advice David, I agree with 99.9 percent of it….

    Number 10, study the masters, I, personally would add study all master visual artists, not just the photographers to get a fabulous education in composition, color, perspective, etc.

    Also, gotta’ say, I’ve used a “f*cking white vignette” twice in my life, to good effect I believe.
    Once on this page for “Windswept.” http://www.tomkostesphotography.com/index/G000058qgc4hAoCs

    and once on this page for “Love.”

    http://www.tomkostesphotography.com/index/G0000xiVH4tveI6A

    Remember, no hard and fast “rules.” 😉

    Anyway, have a great holiday season and a great New Year!

    1. Author

      Agreed about the masters, Tom. I could have made this list into a book and that would be one area I’d love to have explored. As for the white vignettes, I suppose it’s a matter of taste but let’s just say it’s an advanced technique to be used sparingly. 🙂 A wonderful New Year to you too, my friend.

  12. Thank you for the words and photographs you’ve shared throughout this past year – they’ve been such meaningful and hopeful elements of the year for me. Best wishes for a wonderful new year!

  13. Thank you, David, for giving us a present for your birthday.

    I like your commandments very much – in fact I guess I will translate them to German for our photographers group, and then feed it to them in small portions. I already loved the TEN, but human as I am, I need the repetition and the codicil as well.

    So, Merry Christmas (ex post) and a Happy New Year to you!

  14. Hi David, Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas and a Happy Year, Ten Ways we all can imagine photographs and the way we make them. I can sense, even feel, that my photographs are going to be changing, improving? I Hope. A change in direction? I will always follow my curiosity. Thank you for your passion for this craft.
    As I always say, WONDER AS I WANDER.

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