I think there is such a big multitude of parameters in photography that
one can learn some new aspects even after many years of experience.
I am sure that even world-renown photographers can learn some new
techniques in the areas of photography (genres) that they haven't worked
in.
So, if a photographer feels he/she has hit a plateau, I would offer a
challenge of getting into a new photography genre. Mastering it up would
probably provide some useful insights for other photographic activities.
E.g. for the people who are experts of working with studio lights, -
offer trying to do a low-light photography of dancers or photography of
stage artists (musicians, dancers, actors) in ambient and better yet
dynamic light.
People who are experts in landscape photography, should try, e.g.
"posed" portraits in studio settings.
And so on, - the multitude of areas is very large.
I remember that when I started photographing dancers some 13+ years ago,
that was a considerable challenge that was very different from most things
I've been photographing before. Even coming to photographing tango from
swing dances brought some new challenges. (You know this, so, you will
likely understand what I am trying to say here.)
When I started photographing ice skating a bit over a year ago, - I felt I
had to figure out some new area. The experience in dance photography was
helpful: after all, the ice-skaters also dance to music, but they do it
differently. While (more than half of the time) the light is not as low as
in the dance avenues we both are familiar with, - the speed is much
higher, and the area skaters cover is much larger, and the quality of
light could be better - so some new challenges related to the optimal
exposure arise in a new way. (And when the performance is of the
theatrical "spot-light" type, - i.e. with the dark arena and 2-3
spot-lights on the ice-skater(s), it becomes even more challenging.)
What's interesting is that after a few--months break between the events, I
feel that I've forgotten some things that I've learned before, sometimes
getting "D'oh!" moments.
So, the advice would be - trying new genres outside of one's "comfort
zone".
Igor
Larry Colen Sat, 05 May 2018 10:01:16 -0700 wrote:
On that other timesuck, someone once asked what advice you’d give to
dancers that have 1-3 years of experience. People could most benefit from
different advice at different stages of their learning process. What
advice would you give to people at different stages of learning
photography?
Just the concept of “new can have many shades of meaning:
New to photography, or new to taking their photography seriously.
New to digital photography.
New to taking photos with a DSLR, rather than a camera.
The next step seems to be having learned the basics of manual controls and
processing raw files.
After that, is often studio lighting.
What about the photographer who has worked for many years and feels that
their growth as a photographer has hit a plateau?
What advice would you give someone at any of these stages (or any others
that come to mind) of their photography? What important things did you
learn along the way that really helped?
--
Larry Colen
l...@red4est.com
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