I have taken some time to reflect on the many lessons I have learned throughout my photography journey and landed on what I feel are the most important lessons I’ve learned so far. The purpose of me writing this blog is to share my experiences with these lessons and how I implemented them into my photography. I hope by doing so I can inspire others to reflect on their own photography or even learn a thing or two from what I have to share. Photography is a very personal creative pursuit and because of that these lessons can be used in many different ways with many different results depending on who learns them. So without dragging this intro on for too long, let's get into the most important lessons I’ve learned so far.
Lesson #1 - Manage Your Expectations
If someone were to take anything away from this blog post I would want it to come from this lesson. Learning to manage my expectations when I go out photographing has been the most important lesson I have learned thus far. Early on in my photographic journey I had very high expectations when I went out with the camera. I expected great light, amazing conditions, and unique subjects. I expected to take dozens of incredible photographs every time I went on a shoot. As a result, I placed unneeded pressure on myself to fulfill these expectations which usually ended in frustration and disappointment.
Obviously I had my expectations way, way too high but this is very common for beginner photographers. You go online, see the most incredible photos from hundreds of amazing photographers, and think to yourself, “these photographers must always shoot photos like this”. Then you quickly expect the same results from yourself. Well, frankly this train of thought couldn’t be any more incorrect. If you have photographed for any longer than a few weeks you will know 9 times out of 10 things just don’t go your way, especially when you primarily shoot nature. Learning to deal with this fact, and managing your expectations to realistic levels will far greater improve your creativity and open doors to taking photos you may never have even thought to take. These unrealistic expectations can act as blinders for your creativity. They stop you from freely thinking and developing creative thoughts because you’re so caught up in taking “the photo” you’re expecting to take. But if you’re able to manage those expectations, you will allow yourself to open up to different creative thoughts and start to take photos you otherwise would’ve never taken.
Over the last year the benefits of learning to manage my expectations have really been hammered home for me. I no longer expect to take an amazing photo every time I’m out with the camera, and I’m alright with that. My only expectation is that I have an enjoyable and peaceful time out in nature. Without the added pressure of high exceptions to take multiple jaw-dropping photos, I’m now able to explore different techniques and shoot subjects that I normally wouldn’t have given a second look.
Now when I’m out with my camera I’m open to all kinds of styles of photography and different kinds of subjects. Over the last year I have really taken an interest in taking more abstract photos, mainly using the technique called ICM (Intentional Camera Movement). I discussed in my Retrospective of 2019 blog post how ICM photography was my biggest photographic discovery of 2019. Without letting go of my high expectations from a few years ago and not adopting more realistic expectations, I probably wouldn’t have even given ICM photography a chance. So, how does this translate into the real world, well let me tell a quick story from a weekend trip up to the North East side of Michigan.
View from the sand bluff
It is a beautiful August weekend in Northern Michigan and I’m enjoying some camping and photography. The weather is great, the scenery is beautiful, and I’m having a wonderful time. It was my last night of the short trip and so far I have not taken a photo I’m even close to being happy with. My plan for that last night was to hike up to a sand dune bluff that overlooked the Au sable River. The view on top of this bluff is just simply beautiful. I tried shooting on top of this bluff at sunrise and I determined it may be better to come back at sunset because the scene should get some side light from the setting sun. I returned to the bluff about an hour before sunset and conditions just weren’t right. Most of the clouds in the sky were gone and the light wasn’t hitting the landscape like I had thought it would. It was beautiful to look at but I wasn’t feeling terribly inspired by the scene. Honestly, I began feeling a little bit frustrated that I was going to walk away from this weekend without a good photo. Shortly after this frustration hit I quickly remembered I should have no reason to be frustrated, I should not expect to walk away from every trip I take with a great photo.
“A Path Less Traveled” from my Abstract gallery
So after getting my expectations back in check I remembered there is a short hiking trail off the side of the bluff that takes you winding through a nice patch of forest. As I slowly walked down the trail and took in the beauty of the forest I began to experience feelings of calmness and peacefulness and my frustration had drifted away. While wandering around I was noticing a lot of nice patterns in the trees and began to feel inspired by the landscape around me. After a little bit I decided I should try to do some ICM photography and I figured I could use those patterns as my subjects. I took out my camera and began shooting away. I was really enjoying experimenting and being carelessly creative with my camera. No expectations, no pressure, just simple enjoyment from being creative. After a while it began to get too dark in the forest to continue shooting so I hiked back to the overlook on the bluff to enjoy the last bit of sunset.
ICM photo of the tree patterns
If it weren’t for my ability to shut down the frustration I was having and lower my expectations I probably would’ve sat on that sand bluff full of disappointment. Hiking around without any expectations allowed myself to naturally flow into being creative. Nothing forced, it simply felt right at the time. Without the side blinders of unrealistic expectations I was able to freely think about the patterns in the trees I was seeing, and without seeing those patterns I probably wouldn’t have taken out the camera. After the night was over lo and behold I actually walked away with a few photos I really liked and one I liked so much it now sits in my gallery of abstract photos.
I let this story be a reminder for myself when ever I begin to feel a little frustrated or I start to expect certain results. It reminds me to free my mind of expectations, allowing myself to be open to whatever creative thoughts I’m having. I would be doing myself a disservice by putting myself under pressure due to unrealistic expectations. I would be effectively blocking my full potential to be creative, and that could mean me missing an amazing photographic opportunity I was blind to.
Lesson #2 - Failure is your Best Friend
Let’s be honest, nobody likes to fail, but if you want to improve in photography you have to fail, and fail a lot. Embracing failure can be tough at first but once you do, it gives you the freedom to really learn from your mistakes. Failing shouldn’t always be seen as a bad thing, but instead be seen as an opportunity to improve.
Learning to fail was one of the earliest lessons I learned in photography, mostly because in my beginner years I was failing all the time. Since the beginning of my photography journey I have had this strong yearning to be constantly improving, so naturally one of the first things I realized was I had to learn from my mistakes. I embraced failure with open arms and saw every failed photo I took as something I could learn from. Truth be told, I wanted to improve so badly that I began to look forward to failing. I wanted to learn anything I could from my bad photos. After a while I slowly began to see improvement in my photography by just simply allowing myself to fail. Repeating the same mistakes over and over again slowly taught me to avoid them, and eventually the common mistakes I made were a thing of the past.
My Photo of the Month for April 2019
In April of last year I wrote my photo of the month blog post about a photo I took of two deer who I shared a very special moment with. I wrote in detail about how everything I learned about photographing deer lead up to that moment. All the knowledge I had gained, all the mistakes I made, and all the failed photos culminated in me improving my skills at photographing the very skittish animal. As a result I was able to capture a really nice photo that is special to me. I want to think if I never embraced failure, and never learned from my mistakes I would’ve failed to capture that very intimate moment.
Learning to fail is a skill I hope everyone pursuing photography or any pursuit in their life can learn. It has been instrumental in me improving as a photographer, and I plan to continue to embrace failure, and learn from my mistakes for years to come.
Lesson #3 - Don’t Search But Observe
It is easy to fall into a trap of searching for a particular subject or scene that will fulfill a photographic vision you have. You walk into a woodland searching for a twisted oak tree, or you walk along the beach looking for a lone boulder in the sand, or you hunt for an autumn tree set against a dark background. These are the exact subjects I have spent endless hours searching for while out with the camera. I have trapped myself in seeking only a very particular subject or scene many times, but what I have learned from this is you will almost never find what you’re looking for. Most of the time you’re stopping yourself from seeing subjects and scenes that don’t fit what you’re searching for. This can cause you to miss many great photographic opportunities you just weren’t open to.
Whenever I find myself doing this kind of searching, I try to remind myself to slow down, stop looking, and just observe. Being a good observer can greatly benefit your photography. By simply slowing down and observing your soundings, you will begin to notice things that normally wouldn’t catch your attention. Something I try to practice while I’m out hiking is to hike for a few minutes then just randomly stop. I stop to look in all directions, I don’t search for something, but instead I’m just taking what I see in. Most of the time I don’t notice anything interesting and I move on and stop a little bit further up the trail and repeat the process. By practicing this, it has taught me to look at the smaller details in a scene.
Abstract from the frozen lake
This past January I used this skill to take an abstract photo off the shore of a lake at one of my favorite local photography locations. Conditions were looking promising for me to attempt some black and white minimalist photography with the islands full of trees out on the lake. There was some fog and mist hanging about providing some nice atmosphere and I wanted to take a photo of a particular island once the mist made its way over to it. As I waited for the mist to move over to the island I took sometime to observe my surroundings. I noticed the gray sky, the dark bark on the trees, and the patterns on the frozen lake. I was particularly interested in these patterns that had formed on top of the ice. It looked like the wind had created small snow drifts which formed nice lines of contrasting color compared to the ice. After a while the mist had dissipated and the atmosphere in the scene was gone. This gave me the opportunity to shoot the patterns out on the ice. I used my 200-500mm lens to compress the patterns as much as I could to the point they created lines that streak across the photo. I like the way this photo turned out, I enjoy the repeating patterns created by the mini snow drifts, and love the cold feeling I get from all the blue tones. It’s not my favorite photo in the world but I’m really glad I took the time to take it.
That morning out by the lake served as a reminder for me to continue practicing my observation skills. It is a lot more enjoyable to walk about in nature carelessly taking in the sights and sounds then it is going on a search for something that might not even exist. The results from this approach feel more organic and creative and allow for a more peaceful experience in nature.
Lesson #4 - Shoot for You, Nobody Else
It can be difficult these days not to care about what others think of your photos. Posting photos on social media rules supreme as the best way to share your photography and it allows for almost instant feedback in the form of likes and comments. It may seem harmless at first but posting your photos on social media can have devastating effects on your photography if you’re not careful. You can get wrapped up in the purist of likes and nice comments and before you know it you’re allowing it to influence the way you take photos. You begin to shoot photos for the approval and acceptance of an audience. You take photos for others, and not yourself. I know this because two years ago it happened to me. One day I decided to create an Instagram page for my photos so I could share them with the world. Up until that point the only place I was posting my photos publicly was Flickr, which if you don’t know doesn’t get much traffic these days. So I wasn’t really putting my photos too far out into the world and I wanted to change that.
I knew going into starting my Instagram account that it would be dangerous to get caught up in the likes, comments, and approval from others. So I decided I was only going to post a single photo every week to limit the amount of time and energy I spent on the app. I figured by limiting my time on the app it would give me a better chance of not getting caught up in the like race. For the first few months things were going good, I didn’t notice any influence on my photography and I was genuinely enjoying sharing my photos. Some more time passed and about 6-7 months into having my Instagram account I started to notice little thoughts I was having when out with the camera. Before taking a photo these small thoughts would pop into my head and I would begin to ask myself questions. How will this look on Instagram? Will people like this photo? Will this photo stand out on people’s feeds? These thoughts didn’t worry me too much at first because I was conscious of them and I made an effort to not act on them. But over time I started to realize that subconsciously they were having an impact on my photography. I was slowly moving away from shooting small subtle scenes to trying to capture more bright and vibrant sunrises and sunsets. I was shooting more vertical photos so they better formatted on Instagram, and I almost completely stopped shooting panoramas. This change in my photography proved to me that I was beginning to shoot photos for other people and not myself. After this, I knew I needed to make a drastic change.
It was almost a year after creating my Instagram account that these thoughts began to really influence my photography. I decided it was for the best that I stopped posting photos on Instagram. I still had the desire to share my work, but I wanted that desire to not come at the cost of me seeking approval from others. So I kept my account up with my already existing photos but deleted the app. It stayed this way for a couple of months until I noticed myself re-downloading the app to check up on my account. I would think to myself, “maybe someone messaged me and I need to respond”, or “what if what one of my photos got a lot of attention”. After these thoughts began to appear I knew I had to end my Instagram account for good.
This kicked off my pursuit of creating my website. It was the first website I had ever made so it took some time for me to land on a style and format I liked. After about a month of tinkering around my website was finally done and ready for the world to see. At this point my Instagram account was still up, so I made one last post about the creation of my website, and about a month later I deleted the account altogether.
My decision to delete my account and walk away from posting my photos on social media as a whole was the best thing I have ever done for my photography. I no longer get those intrusive thoughts about what others will think, and it leaves me to think clearly and creatively when taking photos. I’m now able to focus on the scenes, subjects, and styles of photography that I enjoy. I now take photos for myself, and nobody else.
Lesson #5 - Shoot no Matter the Conditions
It’s the night before I plan on getting up for sunrise to go out on a shoot. I check the weather and it shows gray skies and a small chance of rain, not ideal conditions to go take photos in. At this point it would be easy to decide to forgo getting up for sunrise (since there won’t really be one), sleep in, and go shooting another day. In the past I would’ve slept in and waited for another day to shoot when conditions were better, but now I will go out no matter what. Over time I have learned the pros of shooting when conditions aren’t good far outway the cons. Letting the weather stop you from shooting can have a lasting impact on your photography. It will stop you from being fully creative and trap you in dangerous loop of high expectations. You will miss out on photographic opportunities you didn’t even know existed.
This lesson ties some of the other topics I have spoken about in this blog post together. Since good weather conditions can make or break a certain kind of photo, many photographers will wait until they get the perfect conditions that suit their photographic needs. I’m not saying it’s wrong to hope for certain kinds of conditions, because I hope for good conditions too, but to allow them to control whether or not you go shooting can be destructive for your creativity. If a weather forecast of gray skies stops you from getting out to take photos, you have to begin to ask the question why. Why is it that a bad weather forecast is deterring you from shooting? Is it because your expectations are too high? Are you afraid to take a chance and fail at taking a good photo? Will these conditions not be good enough for Instagram? You will see that the topics I brought up earlier can come into play when deciding if certain conditions stop you from shooting.
In my case early on when I let bad conditions stop me from shooting it was because I had too high of expectations. If a weather forecast didn’t match or exceed what my expectations were I just simply didn’t go out with the camera. I wasn’t allowing myself to open up to the creative possibility of less than ideal shooting conditions.
Intimate photo of a leaf taken on a gray, overcast morning
Now that I have my expectations down to a realistic level, I use the weather forecast as a factor in my decision on which location I want to go to on a shoot and not in my decision of whether I want to go out at all. I use the weather forecast as a guide for the kinds of photos that I could take on a shoot. For example, if I’m greeted with a weather forecast for gray, overcast sky’s I’m more then likely going to stick to focusing on taking abstract and intimate photos. Due to previous hikes and trips to certain locations I know exactly where I need to go to optimize my chances of taking these kinds of photos in those particular conditions.
I know what you’re thinking, what if the weather forecast is wrong (which is the case most of the time). Well, you just got to learn to roll with the punches. If I wake up at sunrise to find the exact opposite of the conditions from the forecast, I simply go to one of my favorite locations and wander around, observing my surroundings. Is there a high chance I don’t find anything to shoot? Yes, a very good chance, but you don’t know if you don’t try. So what if I don’t walk away with any photos to show for my time out with the camera, that shouldn’t be my focus. Instead of focusing on what I didn’t achieve, I focus on what I did achieve. I may have hiked a new trail and was able to learn if the area is good for photography or not, I may have experienced an amazing wildlife encounter, or maybe I simply had a peaceful time in nature. It is very, very rare that I regret going out with my camera, I’m always so thankful I made the decision to get out. Conversely, whenever I opt to stay home and shoot another day, I always regret it.
I now use those feelings of regret I had felt in the past to fuel my motivation to get out with the camera even when conditions are far less than ideal. I learned over time that it is almost always worth it to get out with the camera even if you don’t take any photo at all. There is always something to see, experience, and learn, you just have to be open to it. Don’t let bad conditions stop you from improving as a photographer, the weather isn’t going to wait around for you, so why wait around for the weather?
In Conclusion
A recurring theme from all of these lessons I have learned is they helped bring out my full creative potential. Since implementing what I have learned from these lessons, I feel I’m being more creative than ever. I no longer have blinders on to scenes and subjects that don’t meet unrealistic expectations, I’m not afraid to take a chance and fail at taking a photo, I don’t go out searching for a subject that may not have even exist, I no longer take photos for the approval of others, and I don’t let a bad weather forecast deter me from getting out with the camera. By following these lessons I have learned, I’m now able to open up to photographic possibilities I may not have even known existed. Allowing myself to be fully creative and be open to many different kinds of photos, has made me a better photographer.
These were my experiences with these lessons, I know others may have different experiences and different opinions on these matters, but I hope that anyone reading this blog post can use it to inspire themselves to reflect on their own photography. Take some time to look back at what lessons you have learned throughout your own phonographic journey. Think about the photos and experiences from learning those lessons, and try to find new ways to implement them into your photography.
I hope I never stop learning lessons in photography, because if I do it means I’m no longer improving and that is the opposite of what I want. I want to continue to grow and improve my photography for years to come. I want to look back five years from now and reflect again on what I’ve learned, and see how much of a difference a few lessons learned can make.