[Leica] advice for photographers

[chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com (Chris Crawford)]

You should ass BUSINESS SKILLS. That, much more than lack of technical or
artistic skill, is what dooms most photographers to failure as
professionals. I'm assuming this girl didn't want to be a hobbyist, she
wouldn't have to ask about 'being a photographer someday' if that was her
goal.


-- 
Chris Crawford
Fine Art Photography
Fort Wayne, Indiana
260-424-0897

http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My portfolio

http://blog.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My latest work!



On 6/16/10 12:26 PM, "Kyle Cassidy" <kcassidy at asc.upenn.edu> wrote:

> For your consideration, input, revision & thoughts - I got an email from a
> young woman asking for advice on becoming a photographer - I posted this
> response on my blog, but I'm sure there are plenty of people here who have
> good things to add:
> 
> http://kylecassidy.livejournal.com/603763.html
> 
> A Reader Writes: I want to be a photographer someday. Any advice?
> Yes, lots.
> Photography is a mixture of Artistic Ability and Technical Skill -- the 
> magic
> of the mix isn't written in stone. The world is filled with technically
> proficient but artistically uninspired photographers, there seem to be a
> smaller number of artistically gifted but technically unsavvy artists, but
> they're out there as well. But the most successful people have a mixture of
> both -- they have an artistic vision, and they posses the technical skills 
> to
> know how to make that a reality. The technical skills are the easy part, 
> you
> can learn them from a book -- f-stops and shutter speeds and light 
> modifiers,
> etc. The difficult thing to come up with is an idea.
> 0) Possibly the most important thing of all: Find creative people and make
> them part of your world. They don't have to be photographers. They can be
> writers, or musicians, or actors or puppet makers. Have a peer group of 
> people
> who are doing things. They'll be your inspiration, your facilitators, your
> idea makers, your artistic partners. Do this for the rest of your life.
> Artists rarely survive in a vacuum.
> 1) Get a camera. It doesn't matter what kind. Eventually you'll most likely
> end up with a Digital SLR but in the meantime a point and shoot, your cell
> phone, a 1946 Brownie Box Camera, all these will work to start out.
> 2) Study photography -- this doesn't mean go to school for photography, 
> but it
> means pay attention to photographs tear photos that you like out of 
> magazines
> and keep them in a scrap book, get photography books from the library, from
> the bookstore, at yard sales. Learn what types of photography you like.
> Landscapes? People? Bands? Artificially lit? This will start to provide you
> with your visual vocabulary -- which will be important in figuring out what
> you want to photograph. Given a camera many new photographers are left 
> baffled
> as to what they ought to be taking photos of. Subscribe to photography
> magazines, fashion magazines, travel magazines.
> 3) Take photos. What is it you're interested in? Enlist friends. Take 
> trips,
> set up elaborate hoaxes, copy great works of art, copy not so great works 
> of
> art.
> 4) Make a portfolio of your 12 best photos. these can be 4x6 1 hour prints.
> Every month try and replace at least one of these with a better photo. Do 
> this
> for the rest of your life.
> 5) Evaluate your equipment. When you know specifically why what you have 
> can't
> do what you want, it's time to think about upgrading. Do this for the rest 
> of
> your life.
> 6) Find someone who will pay you to take photographs. It's always easier to
> learn on someone elses dime. It doesn't matter what the job is -- 
> assistant to
> another photographer, part time local newspaper, photographing houses for a
> Realtor, etc.
> 7) Go to school. You can learn a lot more quickly this way. Things like
> advanced lighting techniques, gallery framing, etc. can be more quickly
> figured out in an environment like this.
> 8) Show your work. It doesn't have to be in a traditional gallery, it can 
> be
> in your parents garage, or in your stairwell. Some friends and I used to 
> have
> an open-air art gallery we called "Show up and Show" where we'd meet along 
> a
> length of chain link fence, hang out photos up and stand around and talk to
> passers by.
> 9) Take lots of photos, throw out the bad ones, only ever show people your
> best. Do this for the rest of your life.
> 10) Stay busy. The opposite of busy is bored. Don't visit that place. Do 
> this
> for the rest of your life.
> Hope this helps.
> 
> 
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