Third Time's a Charm

This weekend marks three years since the day that FEDEX delivered my Rebel XT to my door and thus showing me the beautiful world of photography. It has been a great three years. I've made strides in my improvement, and I've also made many, many, many mistakes. As I look back, everything I've been through has made my life definitely worth living. I've met some wonderful people that have taught me a great deal about how to take better photos; and of course, I've also run into people on the other side of the fence. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to those that have supported me since day one. Without you all, I wouldn't have had the strength to keep moving on.

Here are some things that I've learned over the past three years that may or may not help you in your own journey... these aren't in any particular order, I'm just writing them down as them come to me.

1. The only way you're really going to learn how to take photos, is by taking photos. You're not going to get better by just sitting in front of a computer looking at photos. Only by experimenting will you figure out what it takes to take a good photo.

2.  Be open to criticism, no matter how harsh it can be.  You're in this to get better, so take everything people say with an open mind and heart. Don't get defensive or hurt about what they say. Some times criticism is not helpful at all, but most of the time it is, so try and apply it the next time you go out shooting.

3. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. You're not going to take wonderful photos the first time you try something new. More ofthen than not, it won't come out as nice as you thought it would. Take what you've learned from those mistakes and keep trying. Eventually, with persistence, you'll get the shot.

4. Let your photos do the talking for you. Boasting about what equipment you have, how much you know about aperture and shutter speed means absolutely nothing if your photos look like crap. It just makes you look dumb. People will respect you through your photos. I mean, you're a photographer, right? If you wanted to talk, you should have studied to be a politician.

5. Equipment isn't everything. Just because you have the newest body or the best lenses doesn't mean they'll make your photos look any better. For example, Tony Yang can take better photos with his point and shoot camera than I can ever take with my SLR. It's all about composition and having that artistic eye. You're not going to play as good as Beethoven just because you bought the exact same piano he used, right? Also, don't get the nicest gear right away for two reasons. First, what if down the line you don't like photography anymore? Then you've just wasted all that money. Secondly, you need to figure out what the limitations are with the equipment you have. After you gain experience with shooting, you'll notice that a certain lens isn't as sharp as you want to be or it doesn't have a wide enough focal length. That's when you'll know what you need.

6. Stop comparing yourself to other photographers. Each photographer has their own style and way they see the world, so you'll never be as good as them, nor will they ever be as good as you. This is something I still struggle with.

7. Once you find out what you love to take pictures of, hone your skills in improving that. If you find that you love taking photos of people, get better at taking photos of people. Don't spread yourself too thin across all genres of photography. Not all people can be good at everything. This is the same with everything else in life. Just because you love dancing and you're really good at hip hop doesn't mean you'll be good at ballroom dancing.

8. Don't be afraid to ask questions. It is my firm belief that we're all here to help eachother out. There's hundreds of sites out there that have tips and tricks on how to do anything.... all you have to do is search for it. Go out and shoot with other fellow photographers... you can learn a great deal from them and in turn they can learn a great deal from you!

9. Don't be afraid to take risks. Sure there's that chance you will fail, but hey, that's what it's all about... learning from those failures and mistakes. You're not in it to make your photos look like everyone else's, you need to take risks and figure out ways to show people the world in ways other photographers haven't.

10. Don't forget what photography is all about and what it means to you. Letting money cloud your judgement can lead to dangerous results.

11. Always shoot for something better... never settle for less. Never be 100% happy with your photos... always think that there has to be a way to improve on them. That's how you'll get better. If you bottleneck yourself and think that you're already as good as you think you ever will be.. then that's what will happen.

12. Most importantly, have fun!

Anyway, there's probably more to that but I can't think of anything right now. I hope that I have many more years to come in this journey and I hope to keep improving. Here are some photos too .

Tam and Jeff








I love this shot

This is Stanley again, back with another update, tons more people here!  Maybe you should be here too!