Photography School

Photography school - photography tips they don't teach in photography school (7-9)

7. It’s okay to imitate good photography (during and after photography school)

I remember when I was back in photography school, it was a bozo no-no to copy another photographer’s ideas or photos.  If you did this and was caught, everyone thought less of you.  Looking back, I think that was a big mistake.  In fact, if I were a photography school professor, I’d insist that student photographers copy photos they liked, as closely as humanly possible.  I can’t think of a better way to learn photography, than try to imitate another photo. Even now, one of the toughest things I get hired to do is to imitate another photo, sometimes my own photo...  It’s difficult to replicate another photo even if you’re the original photographer!  Copying is tough to do.  And when you’re attempting to copy something you really like, you’re bound to learn something in the process. 

You’ll give it a try and your photo won’t look right.  At that point, you’ll be forced to analyze the differences and compare your work with the original shot, and then you’ll have to figure out what the difference is between the two shots.

  If you can come to the right conclusions and actually figure out the reasons for the difference, you’ll have learned something. If the original shot is better than your first attempt at emulation, andyou can figure out why, you’ll begin to learn the subtleties that make the difference in, not only the photo, but possibly in your career.  Maybe it’s his lighting, the pose of model, maybe the background.  Whatever it is, you’ll begin to understand “why” the one shot is successful and the other isn’t. It’s those understandings that make a photographer better.  It’s knowledge.

I’m not saying that you'll always want to copy stuff. I’m saying that it’s a great way to learn, and that’s what photography school is all about, learning.  In fact, it’s probably the best way to learn.

If you use copying as a learning tool, you’ll eventually be able to understand more and more about photography and eventually, you’ll discover things that weren’t even related to the initial image.  In photography, as well as in other things in life, one thing leads to another.  You may learn a new technique that you can apply to another photographic problem you you'll run into.  One thing leads to another…  Take the information you learned on one shot and apply it to another. Wa-la! You’re doing something original.   Before you know it, the fact that you were copying has long been forgotten and you're onto taking the next step.  The key to photography school is to learn.  Learn as much as you can, and as fast as you can.  That’s the whole point .  Just do it!  (Hey that’s a pretty cool statement, I may use it as my own…:+)

8. Photographs are good for one (or more) of four reasons 

Have you ever looked at a photo you liked, and tried to figure out why you thought it was such a good photo?  If you haven’t, you need to find another profession.  It’s our job as photographers, to figure out why a photo looks good and then be able to apply that knowledge to make our own good photographs.  Well, I’ve spent some time pondering this concept, and I’ve come up with this conclusion and I’d be curious to know if you agree with me or not.

After examining a gazillion photos, I’ve come to the conclusion that a great photo has to have at least one of four qualities to make it “special”.  Of course, a good photo can have more than one of these qualities, and it usually does.  In fact, the more of these four qualities a photo has, the better the photo usually is.

1 – The moment.  We’ve all seen photos that capture a particular moment in time that is just so special, that it makes the photo great.  You know the ones… The bullet going through the guy’s head, the people falling out of the building, the kitten kissing the Doberman’s nose, the space shuttle exploding.  All of those types of photos are “good” because the photographer was able, or lucky enough, to choose just the right moment to press the shutter.

2 – The composition.  You can have good photos without good composition, but it’s tough, but there are those photos that depend totally on composition to make them great.  Usually they’re some type of pattern shot or maybe the composition is so weird that the shot is interesting because of the bad composition.  In this reason for good pictures, I include unusual crops of common things.  Tightly cropped faces or naked bodies, come to mind, but there are many other kinds of photos that are dependant primarily on composition for its quality

3 – The subject matter.  Subject matter is one thing that makes a photo appealing to some viewers.  If you have a picture of your favorite actor, a girlfriend, or even a distant family member, that photo may become one of your favorite photos ever, just because of the subject matter. 

4 – The Lighting.  I find that I tend to like photos with dramatic lighting.  And that’s a good thing, because out of all the four reasons that I’ve mentioned, lighting is the one quality that the photographer can depend on finding or creating.

As a commercial photographer, we’re usually assigned to shoot certain things and we don’t get a whole lot of choice as to what we shoot and don’t shoot.  I’ve been able to make good pictures of pieces of dead animals, so subject matter can’t be a concern.  You need to be able to make good photos of boring things, on demand. 

The composition too, is often something out of our control.  Many times we are required to work to a layout, leaving room for type and inset photos.  This can cause havoc with photographic composition so if you believe that great composition is a must for a good photo, then we commercial photographers would rarely be able to create anything considered quality photography.

When you’re taking a picture of a gear, the moment is really an issue.  I’ve not saying that I don’t admire the photographer that can consistently capture a photo at just the right moment.  Just the opposite is true.  I wish I had that skill.   I wish I had all the skills listed here.  But the point I’m trying to make is that lighting is very important and it’s a contributing factor with most good photos.  I’ve seen boring subjects, poorly composed photos, and inanimate objects beautifully photographed with great lighting.  If you know how to light, you can be a very good photographer.  You’ll be able to consistently get good usable photos for your clients and you will rarely be in want to projects to work on.  To me, if I had only one dominate skill as a commercial photographer, I’d want that skill to be the ability to see, recognize, and create quality lighting.  Of course, if you’re going to pray for God to give you skills, go for the whole shooting match!  Those are the ones that really make it big!

9. The art students in photography school may end up being your clients some day, so be nice to them.

Did you know that 67.3% of Graphic Designers and Art Directors end up living in the same city that they went to art school in?  Did you also know that 98.231% of all statistics are made up on the spot?  Anyway…  The point here is that there is a really good chance that, if you go to an Art / Photography school like an Art Institute, your schoolmates may end up being potential customers some day.  I have several clients that I met in Art / Photography School.  They may look a little weird with their green hair and nose rings, but keep in mind that creativity sometimes takes unusual avenues to vent.  

If you haven’t put 2 + 2 together yet, it may be a good idea for you to be nice to these people in the hallway of your photography school You may go as far as to commenting on how much you like the color green, or something like that… Visual communication majors hire photographers.  It’s that simple. And, if you’ve never been in a high-end advertising agency, green hair is not all that uncommon of a sight.

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