Challenge Yourself

 

If you’re reading this blog you’re probably interested in bettering your photography.  Maybe it’s a hobby; maybe you’re feeling ready to try your hand at a career.  Whatever the reason, here’s the best advice I can give you.  Do your own 100 Learnings in a 100 Days challenge.  Unless you’re already a working professional, the best way to improve your skills is to challenge yourself.  Don’t just read my blog, take it on for yourself.  Make it 150 learnings in 100 days-- after all, you’ll be getting a bunch of them handed to you on a plate in this blog.   

How am I going about teaching myself?  Youtube is great, especially for learning techniques in Photoshop and Lightroom.  There are some great websites and blogs for improving your skills: http://strobist.blogspot.com, http://www.luminous-landscape.com/index.shtml, http://www.cambridgeincolour.com, http://www.diyphotography.net/,  http://www.slrlounge.com/,  http://gavtrain.blogspot.com/, http://www.mccordall.com/photo/  are just a few of them.  If you’re one of those people who reads a lot of photography blogs, one of the great benefits is that this process will quickly point out which ones are truly educating and improving your technique, and which are really for entertainment value.

I’m finding that I spend about an hour a day “studying” and sometimes a little more.  One of my best tools is a notebook for writing down each learning.  Get a notebook.  That's a picture of mine-- it's sturdy and attractive, built to last for years.  Otherwise you might as well not be studying at all.  And go make better images.