Last week I revealed what I believe are the three main challenges facing photographers today:
1. Inspiration & Motivation
2. Technical Know-How
3. Marketing
Last time I looked at Inspiration & Motivation. We saw how it begins by getting out there and shooting and mentioned about how Ian’s Studio is gearing up to help you with getting inspired and motivated. This time, I want to look at the topic of….
Technical Know-How
Being inspired and motivated to shoot alone is not going to be enough. You might have the best idea in the world but if you don’t know how to make it happen then, pretty quickly inspiration and motivation will turn to frustration.
That doesn’t mean that you need to learn everything about photography before you can create great images. What it does mean is that we all need to be continually learning. Even the best and most experienced of us need to continually develop and improve our skills.
So how do we gain this knowledge? Let me start by explaining a little bit about how different people learn. If you search online you will find a lot written about “Learning Styles” some say there are three basic styles, others say as many as seven.
- It is probably best to think about four different styles:
Visual – these people like to watch someone else, or see clear diagrams explaining what is going on. Many photographers are visual learners, this is perhaps not surprising as we are working in a visible medium. - Aural – these people like to listen to someone explaining what they are trying to learn.
- Textual – these people who place an emphasis on text-based explanations, this can include just sitting and reading an explanation, but can also include those who write notes to help them learn.
- Kinaesthetic – people who learn by doing.
The reality is that we all use all of these styles to learn to a greater or lesser extent. If you have ever been to a workshop at the studio you will know that I employ all four of these teaching styles to teach photography. I explain the techniques (aural) and demonstrate by taking images and showing them on the back of the camera (visual), you are provided with printed notes (textual) which include example images and possibly lighting diagrams (visual) and finally you are encouraged to shoot (kinaesthetic).
If you are trying to learn photography it might be worthwhile discovering what type of learner you are, so that you can concentrate on the methods which will help you learn the best.
Is there any method of learning that works better than others? Most would say there isn’t – use what method works best for you. However, I would strongly argue that if you do not put into practice what you have learned then, particularly in the field of photography, then you haven’t really learned anything.
I keep teasing about the changes that will be happening at Ian’s Studio regarding how we will be helping you develop as a photographer. And I promise that I WILL make the announcement in the next newsletter. What I can tell you at this stage is that the plans include a weekly dose of “Inspiration and Enthusiasm” backed up with the technical knowledge to enable you to improve your photography. Not only that but there will be technical know-how available in ways which will help all kinds of learners – it doesn’t matter if you are a visual, aural, textual or a kinaesthetic learner. Ian’s studio will be here to help you.
To finish, I’d like to encourage to go to the comment section and tell me what kind of learner you are, and which bits of bits of photography know-how you are most keen to learn.
Ian.
My main needs at the moment are how to set the camera up for:
1) situations where the available light changes dramatically from one part of the sky to another within the same image. I found this a problem at Cosford Airshow photographing a Typhoon in flight. When I started panning to get the shot I wanted there were black storm clouds behind the palne and following its flight the sky moved from that dark colour to blue with white clouds at end of the panning. I had set the camera to auto which worked well but would like to know how to set the camera for the best combiation of exposure, shutter speed and ISO.
2) how to set the focusing points (my canon 750D has 19) when shooting landscapes to get as much of the shot in focus but also be able to capture wildlife as well when it may be hidden by branches which can become the focal point of the picture. This happened in Yellowstone National Park when photographing geysers and lakes when suddenly you wildlife (e.g. an Arctic Fox) with only seconds to capture a photo.