As I was reading the recent dPS article – 21 Readers Tell What they Wish They’d Known about Photography, it dawned on me that a handful of pros have already talked to us regarding what they wish they’d known. Here is a compilation of their answers.
Q. Is there anything you wish you knew when you started photographing?
A.
Sriram Guruswamy (Style – Potrait)
I never had the luxury of a mentor or of a formal training. My Photography style is totally self-taught and it took years to get evolved. I realized late that photography is not just about capturing something that is already beautiful.
There is a bigger dimension to it as being an honest perspective into those real moments of truth depicted in an aesthetic way.
Fabien Bravin (Style – Macro)
He he… On my side, there is nothing that comes to my mind right now. But, I think my wife wish she knew, when I began photography, that macro was a kind of drug and that you can become quickly addicted to.
Richard Gastwirt (Style – Stage Show)
If I didn’t learn by trial and error, the lessons probably wouldn’t have stuck. So I’m not sure that if there’s anything I wish I knew. But it took me a while to realize that the histogram was more important than my exposure needle and that cameras aren’t very intelligent and their metering isn’t suited to concert photography.
James Brandon (Style – HDR)
In the beginning, I wish I had surrounded myself with other photographers. I’m currently a part of a local photography group through meetup.com and it is awesome. I think a new and aspiring photographer should surround themselves with other photographers to learn from them and grow.
Mukul Soman (Style – Street)
I wish I knew how to anticipate a moment and wait for it, before taking that photograph at the right time.
Phalgun P (Style – Wedding)
Yes! There is one thing which I came across very late. It is the podcast series of the photographer Brooks Jenson called Lenswork. Each of them is just three minutes long and it leaves you thinking at the end. I wish I’d started listening to his podcasts before.
Enjo Mathew (Style – Visual Art)
I am painfully self taught, so yes, there are a lot of things I now know, that I wish I knew back then. I have never gone for any formal photography classes nor have I gone to anyone to formally train me. I just had the will and a lot of patience to discover things around me on my own.
Nidhin G Poothully (Style – Wildlife)
I usually travel to the jungles in Karnataka as they are nearer since I stay in Bangalore. In my earlier days, I used to get excited a lot while seeing a bird or a mammal. I have tried to capture them in my camera as soon as possible. I used to chase them away as they see the sudden flurry of my activities. Now I know that I need more patience to get the click without causing the least disturbance to the subject.
In all wildlife encounters, there are a thousand possibilities to take a bad photo and there are only one or two opportunities to take a good photo. A nature photographer learns to be ready for that perfect moment. This needs years of patience and practice.
Jyothy Karat (Style – Photo Documentary)
Ayyo! I can’t think of anything specific at the moment.
When you are starting out and learning the photography basics in the Academy, you will be flooded with the works of other master photographers. They are the references that will inspire you.
The study on the history of a painting or an object of art can also have a profound influence on your photography style.
That’s something I could have started earlier. Nowadays I am reading a lot on these subjects.
