51 Things Photography Has Taught Me

On Lightstalking  Jason D. Little has a list of 51 (I know why 51) things he has learned about photography, here are the first 10

1. Don’t think about taking the photo, just take it.
2. Learn the rules. Understand the rules. Break the rules.
3. Spend more time taking photos than money acquiring new gear with which to take those photos.
4. You will never know it all; be open to the wisdom and experiences of others.
5. Print your photos — your favorites, at least. And print them big.
6. Get it right in camera rather than trying to compensate for poor technique in post. But…
7. Don’t be ashamed to use post-processing. All photos are “processed” in one way or another.
8. Challenge yourself. Step out of your comfort zone.
9. Be your own worst critic.
10. Technical perfection is often overrated.
11. see the other 41 here

On another note here are some pictures by Jay Maisel

rather good don’t you think

10 Ways to Change Lives Through Photography

This article by Jason D. Little on Lightstalking  is aimed at an American audience, we have them too on our blog, lots of readers in the US, however the ideas put forward can be used in any country. Not everything we do has to generate income or even be considered a beautiful picture, we have the skills to make memorable images and putting that skill to good use is a valuable asset we have. Thinking about how you can volunteer for a worthy cause or even just something you are interested in that would benefit from your skills can give you a massive boost and help others. I think the most important thing we can do on this earth is help others, you don’t need religion to be a good person, and we can do that through our photography.

I had the most fun one time shooting a calendar pro bono for a delivery company that wanted to do a “Calendar Girls” calendar using their drivers doing deliveries around Oxford

Every photographer has his or her own reason — or reasons — for why they engage in this particular art form. For some, it may be a hobby that provides a distraction from the stresses of life; for others, perhaps photography just represents a piece to the puzzle of a diverse visual arts skill set. And because there are so many motivating factors behind why people do photography, there are sure to be nearly as many different ways of how people use photography — whether it’s to maintain a visual record of your family tree or to document a nation’s civil war or to share images of the day’s most mundane occurrences with friends online.

No matter how potentially disparate each one of us may be from another in terms of our background in and particular use of photography, I think one thing we can all agree on is that photography constitutes an opportunity to do something good for someone else, to bring needed attention to a worthy cause, to possibly change a life.

Here are a few ideas to help spark your photo-related philanthropy. READ THE ARTICLE HERE