Take a Lot of Photographs | Blog.JimDoty.com

Henri Cartier-Bresson

If your first 10,000 photos are your worst, you want to get them out of the way as soon as possible so you can get to the good ones, right?! So take a lot of photographs!

Is that really all there is to it? Just take a lot of pictures? Well no, not really. Just pushing the shutter button a bunch of times will not automatically make you a better photographer. Sorry. It won’t hurt to take a lot of pictures and you might learn a few things while you are at it, but there is a better way to go about becoming a better photographer.

You need to think about what you are doing when you push the shutter button. And that is where photography books, articles, web sites, seminars, workshops, and classes come in. They help you know what to think about when you are pushing the shutter button.

So read a good book and go out and practice what you are reading about. Go to a workshop and then go out and practice what you learned. Read a good article and go practice what you learned. Take a good class and practice what you are learning. It is all of the new ideas and concepts and principles you discover that make the big difference when you go out, think, and then click the shutter button. Don’t be surprised if some of what you read about doesn’t work. Not every idea in every book and article is right.

Plus taking a lot of pictures allows you to try different approaches, experiment with different compositions, do some creative exposure variations, and try different kinds of light, both natural and artificial. It is a good thing to experiment. You will learn from what doesn’t work as well as what does work.

Here at this blog and at my other primary web site I share a lot of information that will help you become a better photographer. I wrote a highly rated photography book that is well worth reading. I recommend some of the very best books from some of the very best photographers/authors (see the article links below).

I talk about the workshops that I found to be the most helpful. The short version: Go to any event featuring George Lepp, Rod Planck, Bob Davis, and Art Wolfe.

I am sure Henri Cartier-Bresson knew there was more to becoming a better photographer than just pushing a shutter button 10,000 times. I suspect his classic quote has a bit of humor in it. He talks about the complexity of creating a good image:

“To take photographs means to recognize—simultaneously and within a fraction of a second—both the fact itself and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that give it meaning. It is putting one’s head, one’s eye, and one’s heart on the same axis.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Mind’s Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers

To see some of his best work go here and here.

Links

The LEARN section at my photography web site.

The Buyer’s Guide at this blog recommends the best photography books I have found in a wide variety of categories, plus recommendations for photo equipment and accessories.

Exposure Books

Tim Grey Recommends Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies.

Composition Books

Photographic Composition: The Essential Book

Advanced Photographic Composition: The Best Books

People Photography Books

Excellent “How To Photograph People” Books

Nature Photography Books

Nature Photography Books: The Three Essentials. If you only read three nature photography books, put these on your “must read” list.

My Two Favorite Introductions to Landscape Photography. If you only get two books on landscape photography, these are the books to get.

The Best “How To” Nature Photography Books

Wildlife Photography