Chapter Eleven. Ten Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me
When I First Started Out in Photography
SHUTTER SPEED: 1/8000 SEC F-STOP: F/2.8 ISO: 160 FOCAL LENGTH: 400MM | PHOTOGRAPHER: SCOTT KELBY
So, why don’t pro photographers tell you about these things when you’re “on the way up”? It’s actually very simple, but you need to know the back story to understand how, historically, this has all worked. For as long as I can remember, there has been a “Secret Society of Photographers Who Have Taken a Blood Oath to Never Share Their Hard-Earned Secrets with Outsiders” (known as the SSOPWHTABOTNSTH-ESWO, for short), and this cartel of working pros (supposedly funded by an “unofficial” government agency, or Pentax) controls the flow of information, much like the ICANN controls the distribution of top-level web domains. Anyway, the sacred brothers (as they’re called) of the SSOPWHTABOTNSTH-ESWO controlled the flow of photographic techniques for many years by only sharing them with other sacred brothers during a ritualistic “sharing of the mastery” ceremony held once at year in a hidden cave (which some claim is in Dunwoody, Georgia, just outside Atlanta). Anyway, what finally broke this chain of religious-like secrecy was actually a clerical error—a typo, if you will. When they were updating their official letterhead and business cards back in 2006, an intern working on the design apparently typed in their name as “SSOPWHTABOTTH-ESWO,” accidentally leaving off two critical letters, “NS,” which was the “Never Share” part of their name. As things tend to go in secret societies like this, the members felt this was actually an edict from the governing body (the Parliamentary Order of Professionals, a group which regular members are forbidden to ever refer to by their acronym), and so members began to share these once secret techniques openly and freely, and that’s how we got to where we are today. Or, it could be that those pros are just afraid that if other people learn this stuff they’ll wind up losing wedding jobs to them. It’s hard to say.
#1: Buying a More Expensive Camera Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Better Photos
If you bought a new DSLR camera in the past year or two, even an entry-level model, it already takes better quality photos right out of the box than the high-end pro models did just a few years ago. The quality of the sensors in today’s entry-level digital cameras is truly amazing and, whether it’s a Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax, etc., they all make great quality photos. For example, if you went out at dawn to a beautiful landscape location, set up a tripod, and took 10 shots with an entry-level camera, like the Canon Rebel T4i (I found a body online for $499), then took the same shots, in the same location, with the high-end Canon 5D Mark III (around $2,600), printed all 20 images, and mixed them up, you wouldn’t be able to tell which camera took which images. They’d be that close in quality. So, if they both take such great shots, why would anyone ever need a high-end pro camera? Well, it’s not because they take better photos; it’s because they have more features. It’s kinda like buying a car. You can buy a Toyota Camry from around $22,000 up to around $30,000. They’re all Camrys (great cars), but you buy the $30K model because it has more features—heated seats, a back-up camera, a bigger engine, a security system, more speakers, and so on. But, when you’re on the highway going 60 mph, the results are the same. So, how can you get better photos out of the camera you already have? Learn your camera inside and out—all the features, all the menus, and what all the buttons do. That way, using your camera becomes automatic and you can stop worrying about all the buttons and dials and start focusing on making great pictures, which is really about two things: what you aim your camera at and how you aim it.
#2: You Need to Sharpen After the Fact
There are lots of things you can do to help really sharpen photos, and obviously I thought it was so important that I started this book with a whole chapter just about sharpness. But, if there is one single trick that really takes a sharp shot to one that’s tack sharp, it’s sharpening after the fact on your computer. It doesn’t matter whether you use Photoshop, Photoshop Elements (the “light” version of Photoshop that really isn’t very light), Apple’s Aperture, or Adobe’s Lightroom, you need to sharpen every single photo to get the look the pros have. Think about this: with all the money we spend on tripods, and cable releases, and really sharp lenses, the reality is that as long as the shot is pretty sharp coming out of the camera, the $99 you spend on a program like Photoshop Elements will have the most impact on you getting a truly sharp photo (heck, I just did a quick Google search and found Elements for $65—that’s a small price to pay to have all your photos from here on out jump to the next level of sharpness). By the way, whether you buy Photoshop Elements for $65 or the full version of Photoshop for around $700, the sharpen filter we use, called the Unsharp Mask filter, works exactly the same in both. To use it, go under the Filter menu, under Sharpen, and choose Unsharp Mask. Back on page 18 in Chapter 1, I gave you the settings I use day-in, day-out for people, cityscapes, urban photography, or travel, general everyday use, super-sharpening (for sports photos, landscapes, stuff with lots of details), and for images I’ve already made smaller and lower resolution, so I can post them on the web. Try them out and see if this sharpening doesn’t make as big of a, or bigger, difference than all the rest.
#3: The Pros Take Lots of Bad Photos
You just don’t see them, because one of the traits of a real pro is that they only show their very best work. I know a lot of folks think that these pros walk up to a scene, take one amazing shot, and then walk away and do it again someplace else—every time they press the shutter button, they create yet another amazing shot. I can tell you, for certain, that’s just not how it works (if it was that way, the photographer’s workday would be all of five minutes long, right?). I’ve worked and taught alongside some of the most famous photographers in the world today and they’d be the first ones to tell you that it often takes hundreds of shots of the same subject to come away with that one amazing shot (the only one that anyone will see). But, when we shoot, we see all our shots (the good ones and bad ones), so we start to compare all our shots to the pros’ highlight reels, and it bums us out. Remember: we’re not judged as photographers by the bad shots we take; we’re judged by the ones we share. Take a cue from the pros—only share your best shots and just know that pros simply don’t nail every shot. So, don’t compare all your shots to the pros’ cream of the crop. By the way, if I shoot 200 or 300 shots and I come away with five or six really good ones in there, I’m thrilled. Sometimes I get a few more than that; sometimes I literally walk away with none, which is disappointing, but it happens. If that happens to you, don’t let it get you down—chances are that at the next shoot you’ll make up for it. One more thing: every once in a while something amazing happens right in front of us and we raise our camera, shoot, and capture something magical. It happens to both amateurs and pros and it’s called “getting lucky.” Thankfully, it happens more often than you’d think.
#4: Learn Exposure Compensation
If you take a shot and you look at it on the back of your camera and it just looks awful (it’s way too dark, way too bright, your subject is in shadows, etc.), do you know exactly which controls on your camera will fix it? If not, the next most important thing for you to learn is exposure compensation. I cover it back on page 74, but a lot of people will skip over that page because the phrase “exposure compensation” doesn’t mean anything to them at that point. I wish it had a better name, because I think it’s probably one of the most important camera techniques to learn when you’re starting out. It helps you overcome two big problems: (1) your camera’s built-in light meter is really good, but sometimes it’s wrong and you know it’s wrong, but you’re not sure how to fix it; and (2) it helps you retain the detail in your photos, primarily in the brightest parts of your image. If you and I were out shooting and you asked me what one thing you needed to understand about your camera itself to really take better shots, learning exposure compensation would be it. Learning this is what will turn more of your messed up shots into prints you’ll want to hang on your wall. Turn to page 74 right now and learn it. You can always come back to this chapter later (yes, it’s that important).
#5: Don’t Worry About Manual Mode
Good news: you can be a great photographer, and make amazing images, and live a long, happy life all without ever having to learn to shoot in manual mode. I know a lot of new photographers worry that the reason their photos don’t look like they want them to is because they’re not shooting in manual mode. But, trust me, manual mode isn’t some magical mode that transforms everyday photos into gallery pieces—it’s just another shooting mode on your camera like the rest. And, ultimately, what makes magical photos is, say it with me, “what you aim your camera at and how you aim it.” It’s not which mode you shoot in. I think the reason some of us get sucked into thinking it’s the magical unicorn of modes is that you’ll sometimes read in an online forum some photographer bragging that he “only shoots in manual mode” (like he’s earned some special honor). But, again, trust me, it’s just another exposure mode on your camera, so you can scratch that one off your worry list. Now, I don’t want you to think that I’m saying you shouldn’t learn manual mode, or that manual mode is bad (I actually recommend it for shooting in a photo studio with strobes), but I don’t want you to think it’s this big hill that one day you’re going to have to climb to get to photography nirvana. In the list of things we have to worry about in our quest to become better photographers, you can move this one way, way down your list.
#6: Today You Should Probably Shoot Wide
Where do most of our images wind up being seen today? On the web, right? I mean, we still make some prints from time to time (you do make prints, right?), but really, in today’s world, you’d have to admit that for most of us, the web is where most folks will see our images. If that’s the case for you, then I hope you take this advice I got a few years ago: shoot wide. By wide I mean shoot horizontal (landscape) shots rather than tall, vertical shots. Here are two reasons why: (1) The bigger your images appear, the more impact they have, right? Right! So, when you shoot tall shots and put them on the web, they usually wind up looking like small thumbnails because that’s the way most websites, portfolio sites, and social media sites are designed. Your image will have a lot of empty space on either side of it, and in the middle, there’s your little picture. However, if you shoot wide, you’ll be able to make your images much larger on the web and they’ll have that much more impact. (2) It’s usually much easier to crop a wide image so it looks like a tall image, than it is to try to crop a tall image so it looks like a wide image (give it a try and you’ll instantly see what I mean). So, I know there’s an old saying that goes, “When do you shoot a tall image? Right after you’ve shot a wide version of it,” but there’s a reason that’s an “old” saying. It used to apply because all our images used to be prints, and they all had the same impact because you could just rotate the print. Today, things have changed and we need to change our thinking (and our shooting strategy), too!
#7: Nothing Has Impact Like a Print
If you want to really make an impression on people, make a print. I know it sounds simple, but a printed piece, especially today, is one of the most powerful, impactful things you can do for your photography, and the bigger the print, the more powerful the impact (I personally think the impact size starts at 13x19", but if you can go bigger, like 17x22", it really adds impact. This is a case where bigger is better). So, why do prints have such an impact these days? (1) Prints are real. The rest of the time we’re looking at images inside a glass screen on a computer. We can’t hold them. We can’t touch them. They’re “inside” a box of some sort. When you make a print, your image is no longer a bunch of 1s and 0s and a bunch of digital code. It’s real. (2) When you make a print, watch the person’s hands right after you hand them the print. They start feeling the paper. Touch is one of our five senses, and when you add touch to your visual sense, your image connects with the viewer on a different level. (3) There is a certain legitimacy to having prints of your work. It says something about you, about how serious you take your work, and it’s an investment in your photographic journey. (4) Prints open doors. If you want to shoot in a particular location (let’s say it’s a restaurant interior), and you take a large print in to show the restaurant owner the type of work you do, my guess is they’ll welcome you to shoot in their restaurant. It tacitly says, “I’m legit—it’s okay to let me do this.” Believe me, it works wonders. Lastly, (5) prints make an amazing gift. Think of it this way: How much impact does it have when you email an image to a friend? Now, make a nice print, sign it, roll it in a tube, and mail it to them the old fashioned way. You’ll be amazed at the reaction you get. There’s power in the print. Try it once, and you’ll see.
#8: Ignore Your Histogram
I know that headline above just made someone’s head explode, but remember, these are things I’d tell a personal friend (and things I wish somebody had told me), and one of those things would be to ignore the histogram on the back of your camera. I know that people desperately want a tangible, technical measure of the age-old question, “Is this a good photo?” But, I can promise you the answer isn’t found there. I remember being one of the guest speakers at a photography workshop and, during my presentation, the subject of histograms came up. Standing in the back of the room were some of the other instructors (literally, some of the best in the business—Joe McNally, Vincent Versace, Laurie Excell, and Moose Peterson). I mentioned I didn’t use histograms, and then I asked those famous photography instructors if they ever used the histogram on the back of their camera. They yelled back: “Nope,” “Never,” “Not me,” and “Not a chance!” What is it that these pros know that so many people arguing endlessly on the web don’t know? They know that great photos don’t come from looking at a graph. They know that great photos aren’t about the technical stuff (even though so many photographers desperately wish that it was, because people can learn technical stuff—it’s much harder to develop an “eye” and a heart for photography). Getting a good exposure with today’s digital cameras just isn’t that hard. In fact, it’s simple, because today’s cameras are so advanced that you almost have to work hard to get a bad exposure. So, stop worrying about the graph and start worrying about what you aim your camera at, and how you aim it. That’s where great photos come from.
#9: Figure Out What Type of Photographer You Are
You should try shooting all sorts of stuff—from food to landscapes, from portraits to sports, from products to travel, and everything in between. When you’re just starting out, shoot everything! And once you’ve done that, sit down and figure out what kind of photographer you really want to be and work on that. The first step is to take a good look at the stuff you’ve been shooting and ask yourself, “Which one of these do I seem to have a knack for?” Or, “Which shots have people told me I have a knack for?” Chances are there is something you shot that you particularly felt you had a knack for—you just kind of knew what to do. Okay, that’s step one (and it might be more than one thing—you might feel like you have a knack for travel, sports, and natural light portraits, and that’s okay). The next step is to ask yourself, “Which one of these do I really enjoy shooting?” This is really important, because this is what you should be focusing on. There’s no sense in getting really good at product photography when what you really want to be is a natural light portrait photographer. But, few photographers, even more experienced ones, really sit down and think this through—they just shoot what comes their way. And, while they may wind up being competent at shooting a lot of different things, I’m guessing being competent isn’t your goal (it’s like getting a C+ in class). Finding out who you are as a photographer allows you to focus your learning, your energy, and your time in the right direction. When you start to get good at what you really enjoy, this is when the magic happens.
#10: Do What It Takes to Get the Photos You Want
Look, somebody has to tell you this (I wish it wasn’t me, but since we’re here together, here goes): great photos aren’t around your house. One day, they might be, but chances are, you’re going to have to venture out, perhaps quite far, to make the type of photos you want to make. For example, if you decide you want to take great landscape photos, chances are (unless you live in Page, Arizona, or Moab, Utah), you’re not going to be able to make great landscape photos in the city where you live. You’re going to have to go someplace where great landscape photos are made. I know that takes time and it costs money, but if you want amazing landscape photos, you’d better start by standing in front of an amazing landscape, preferably at dawn. That’s the other part. If you do spend the money and make the trip, don’t sleep in and shoot at 9:00 a.m. You need to be in place, ready to shoot, at least 30 minutes before sunrise—more like 4:45 a.m. This is what I mean when I say, “Do what it takes to get the photos you want.” When you see amazing landscape photos, someone did just that. They paid for the trip. They learned the settings. They bought (borrowed, or rented) the right equipment. They got up at dawn (maybe two mornings in a row at the same location. Maybe more). They did what it took to get the type of shot they wanted. But shouldn’t you practice a lot before you make that trip? That trip is the practice (and this won’t be your only practice trip). If you want to shoot people, find interesting looking or extremely photogenic people, and then either learn to light them or find amazing light. If great photos were easy, everybody would have them. Making great photos takes more than a great camera. Do whatever it takes to make the shot or you’ll wind up with a lifetime of shots you’re disappointed with.
#11: You Need a Portfolio
You’re probably thinking, “Wait, this is #11. I thought you said there would be just 10 things?” I know, but 11 things just sounds kind of weenie, so consider this one a bonus thing. Okay, back to the portfolio. It doesn’t matter if you have an online one or a printed portfolio. The most important part at this point is that you have one. Why is this so important? It’s because you probably have literally thousands of photos on your computer, so what you really have is a big pile of photos that doesn’t really tell you much, besides that you’ve taken a bunch of photos. The reason you need a portfolio of your best work is so you know where you are, right now, as a photographer. When you compile your best photos, you’ll get a real sense for where you are on your journey and only then can you decide what you need to learn or do next. Okay, so how many photos should be in your portfolio? Start with just 24 of your best photos and compile them into a portfolio. I don’t mean put them in folder on your computer—you need to post them somewhere online (yes, you have to post them). You don’t have to pay a bunch, as there are lots of places to get an online portfolio for free or next to nothing (try 500px.com or www.squarespace.com, which are both very cool and affordable). If you don’t think you can narrow things down to just 24 images, ask another photographer who you feel can give you an unbiased opinion to help. If you’re serious about growing as a photographer, this is an important step (a bigger one than it sounds).
#12: Stop Reading Books About Photography
Now you’re thinking, “Really? There’s a number 12?” Well, this was going to be a blank page, because of the way books are printed, so I thought I’d toss in another bonus one, and although the headline sounds kind of negative (well, certainly from my book publisher’s point of view), it actually isn’t. But, let’s switch gears for a moment. Have you ever read Golf Digest magazine? Terrific magazine, full of great articles on everything from how to improve your swing to “bunker shots made simple.” I always learn a thing or two reading Golf Digest, which is great because I love golf. I’m just not very good at it. When I play a round with my brother Jeff, I don’t score very well. I do hit a few nice drives, sink a nice putt or two, and every once in a while I even make a simple bunker shot. I’ve taken golf lessons, I have a pretty decent set of clubs, and thanks to Golf Digest, I pretty much know what to do, which is why it’s so frustrating that when I play a round, I don’t do nearly as well as I should. But, at least I know why. I don’t practice. Taking lessons, reading Golf Digest, and watching the Golf Channel teach me about golf, but it’s not practice. I need to take what I’ve read, watched, and been taught, and actually go practice those techniques. I need to hit the driving range regularly. I need to practice my short game. And, I need to practice actually getting out of bunkers (and not just reading about how to do it). Photography is the same way. If you want to get better, reading will pretty much show you what to do, but that’s not doing it. That’s reading about it. You need to practice. You need to shoot regularly with the single intent of practicing the things you’ve read about. I really do appreciate that you bought this book, and I hope it gives you some great ideas about what to work on, but now put down the book. It’s practice time.