Who You Take Photography Advice From Matters

Whenever we pick up a new hobby we tend to seek out other people who are into the same thing all be it a little further down the line & a little more advanced. The reason we do it is for both educational purposes as well as a source of inspiration. The downside however is that if we pick the wrong person to follow and seek advice from, we may end up going down the wrong path, only to have to re-trace our steps further down the line when we figure out who we should really follow. Oh and by the way this is not to say that we person we chose to follow is incorrect or providing poor advice, as you will learn later in this blog. 

In this blog I am going to explain how to make sure that you pick the right person to follow, seek advice from and use as a source of inspiration. Finally please keep in mind that this blog is aimed at those of you who just wish to peruse photography on a hobby and personal projects level. This is not aimed at anyone who seeks to do it on a commercial or client level. 

3 Types Of Photographers

Before delving into who to follow or listen to, we need to have a quick chat about who is actually out there. If we take the online Instagram / Hobby / YouTube photography community, we can generally split photographers into 3 different groups. 

Technical focus

The first group will have a stronger technical focus on the craft. Typically they are the people who lean more towards the gear and the technical side of photography. They will know exactly at what f stop their lens is sharpest, they will have precise shutter speeds calculated based on their focal length and they will know how to extract 100% of the features their camera has to offer. They will usually produce the most technically perfect images that are pin sharp throughout and consist of multiple exposures all blended together into what is a stunning photo you can hang on your wall. Finally they will spend hours researching every bit of gear and they will be using nothing but the best and latest camera and lenses to produce their work. If I wanted some concrete advice on how to get the sharpest possible image, what the best bit of gear is or how to blend multiple exposures in photoshop, these will be the people i will seek out. This group typically makes up around 40% of the online photography pie. 

Art focus 

The second group will have a stronger creative & art focus on photography. Typically these are the people who lean more towards powerful storytelling and a more philosophical approach to the craft. They will read and collect many photo books, they will study famous photographers from the past and they will not be afraid to experiment with different concepts or ideas. They will typically work at a slower pace and in a very thoughtful manner. Every photo they create has to have some meaning behind it. To this group, gear truly doesn’t matter and you will find many film and street photographers in this category. The photos they produce, must be powerful and the fact that edge sharpness is a little off because it was on a vintage lens actually adds to the image. If i wanted solid advice on storytelling, sequencing images for books or zines, creating some kind of an emotion with my images and moving the viewer, then these are the people i will listen to and note down every word they say. This group also typically makes up another 40%. 

Experience focus 

And the final 20% and the group where I feel I belong to has a stronger experience focus on photography. To put it simply, to me the most important part of photography is the experience of being out with a camera and taking photos. It is all the places that a camera will take me and all the people that I will meet through photography that matter. It is the early sunrise missions to get that amazing light. It is the rainy days when you and a couple mates are hiding on coffee shops drying the camera out. It is the road trips, quickly pulling over to grab a wicked scene. It is the hikes and city breaks. And it is the late nights in the hotel importing all your images to see what you got while having a beer. Although I have a small technical focus, it is purely there to make sure that photography does not get in my way. This means, small and light cameras & lenses. It means simplifying my workflow. It means having a camera that is fun to use and is reliable both on a functional level as well as the features such as reliable auto focus. There is an element of the creative side because i want to be able to tell a story of my experience. So even though i am not fussed about pushing my creativity to the limit and I am about as philosophical as a tea spoon, I do value the story telling and evoking an emotion from the viewer. At the end of the day it is enjoyment and experience above all else…. So don’t expect to find me doing studio product photography any time soon. 

Who To Take Advice From

You can probably now tell where I am going with this so i will just say it… If you are a strong creative photographer, then listening to someone ramble on about why you need 43 stops of dynamic range and the latest photoshop focus stacking plug in is probably a waste of your time. In the same sense if all you want is a 200 megapixel city scape with light trails, then listening to someone bang on about how Fan Ho made them feel about their self portraits during lockdown is probably not gonna be of much use to you. In the same way if you ever watched one of my videos where I talk about a camera or lens and wondered why I didn’t shoot a brick wall and then zoom in to 1000% to show you edge distortion but instead talked about what it is like it hike or travel with the gear, you now also understand why. Once you have figured out who you are, what you value and what brings you the most joy and fulfilment, then seek out photographers who are aligned to you. I wouldn’t necessarily say discard the others, because you can still pick up a few bits here and there, but on the whole being very selective with who you follow and take advice from will pay dividends in the future. 

How I Pick Who To Follow

When I look for who to follow, i will typically just look at 2 things independent of each other.First of all I will look at the person. Do I like them and their attitude. Do I respect their views and reasoning. Do I feel like they have good intentions. To me this is very important as I will struggle to follow anyone regardless of the quality of their work if they are a knob. I speak from experience having previously met one or two very prominent street photographers in person to then immediately unfollow and lose all my respect for them because they were opinionated, arrogant, rude and generally unpleasant. 

The second criteria is of course their work. By their work i mean both photography and anything else such as YouTube videos, courses, workshops and so on. Does their work resonate with me, inspire me or educate me is the main question i ask myself. If I look at their photos, do they make me want to immediately visit a similar place and see what i can create. Does their work make me question how i go about my photography or does it open my eyes to a new approach or angle. Finally, combining the previous two points, is this someone I can look up to? If the answer to these is yes, then it is definitely someone I would consider following and taking advice from. 

To summarise, there are many different people out there all on different paths, so choosing who you take advice from can be tricky and certainly time consuming. However picking out the right people to follow and look up to can prove very beneficial in your own journey with this hobby. I hope this blog has helped you out a little and thanks for your time reading.