Advice For Young Shooters

Cal Powell emailed me this week. He teaches journalism at First Presbyterian Day School in Macon. He is about to lead a photo class for young students and asked what advice I would give to "very young, very curious students of photography."
I came up with my answer a lot faster than I thought I would.

Guess the first part of my reply would be always stay curious, always learn. That is the only way to grow as a photographer. Every assignment I shoot, I think of fifty things I could have, or should have done to make it better. And that is before I see my images in the computer, while on the way to the next assignment. I start as soon as I drop my gear in the car.





Never be satisfied with what you are doing. Make yourself be more creative, become the best you can technically. Make that image shine in photoshop




Keep a camera close always. If you think something will make a neat photo, shoot it. Don't be afraid someone else will see it and think you are crazy. You often don't know til you try. Some pictures work. others don't.

And that leads to the last bit of advice, and the most important: always remember that photography is a very personal art. Whatever you do has to be for you first. Each image a is a bit of you. Don't shoot your pictures for someone else's approval. If someone else likes what you are doing, then cool. That is just icing on the cake.



All of these photos I shot just for me, and I am glad I did.