Sidebar: 19 Mistakes

For those of you who don't have a sidebar:
www.photographytalk.com/photography-arti...hotographer-can-make

Listening to this advice maybe your biggest mistake.

1) You can call yourself whatever you want whenever you want, just don't start a business or promote yourself as a 'studio' a week after buying any camera.  The only person you'll be fooling is yourself as the proof will be in the images.

2) Shoot all the wide angle, mid-range or telephoto you want. There will always be a nay sayer around so toughen up the skin and decide whether you're taking photos for you or for them.  There is a fine line here, you need to hear the reactions of others and consider them but you don't have to take them as gospel.

3) You absolutely must learn and understand the art of composition. Unfortunately only a handful of people can name any other composition 'rule' besides the dreaded 'rule of thirds' and those are the photographers of the bunch.

4) Hmm, you know, whether I'm standing up or laying down, I'm still shooting at eye level...   But generally speaking you should be aware of other POVs and their effects on the finished image.

5) The way to really learn light is to shoot it.  Don't wait, shoot it and own it.  Take lessons from the masters but make your own statement which will change as your understanding changes.

6) If you don't want to address an issue, why do you include it? If you want to be an artist don't expect to be accepted by the rank and file camera owners.

7) Wrong workshops?  You mean wrong because the author doesn't agree? Or the majority of other camera owners don't agree?  Again, grow a thick skin and judge for yourself. You'll soon be able to decide on a programs relative merit to yourself.

Instead of 'using black and white wrong' the author should be talking about not showing bad work and knowing the difference.  Again, this is strongly decided based on majority consensus so take it with a grain of salt.

9) This like saying that Eric Clapton shouldn't be playing the blues because he is just imitating those before him.  But, as he says, "I can try as hard as I want to be like BB King yet my individual style will always come through."  Same with photography so don't worry about it.

10) I'm really kind of stuck on this one. I'm trying to imagine how I can rely on my equipment too much, I mean that's why I bought it. This whole worry about equipment thing is way overblown. I am one of the very few working photographers using a Canon T2i but it serves my purposes and meets my requirements. There is no practical difference to me between the T2i and the 5D Mark III, except price.  I wouldn't walk around the corner for 4MP or a full size sensor.

11) Or you could rent.

12) The author is right on with this one.

13) Again, a judgement point. What is excessive? Listen but don't let it dictate.  If the forum people had their way, we would all shoot the same way.

14) Or, you could research the situation and learn from it, never be afraid of a challenge. That's the quickest path to self destruction. Perhaps you could partner with another photographer? Of course there are situations you should walk away from but they would need to be pretty extreme for me to do that.

15) Free opens a lot of doors. When I started building my portfolio I offered free photography and submission to trade journals. Four free jobs later I had a decent portfolio, four letters of recommendations from the clients and while none of the photos were publish, I gained a lot of insight from the editors responses. To me the unpaid effort was well worth the effort. A second situation finds me doing free work on a continuing basis today as a volunteer which puts my work under the noses of the organization's membership, the cream of the local social crop.

16) So, deliver crap just to deliver, I don't think so. I will always shoot what I came to shoot, regardless of the weather but if it's not what I want, I'll be back tomorrow. My clients hire me based on my portfolio, at least the first time, and they are expecting that level of return on their investment. If weather might play a role, then this has to be addressed in the planning phase by letting them know you won't accept anything less.

17) It is vitally important to get outside opinions, BUT it is just as vital to get qualified opinions.  It can also help to compare your work to what's being published in your area of interest.

18) There's NEVER too much gear.

19) Well, OK, but don't hesitate to go to the mattresses.

Vee may haff a age gap here . . .

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Kelly