On social media for photographers (and how I use it)

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Social media is probably the most powerful tool creators have to show their work today. There's nothing even close to its reach and convenience.

But with great power comes great responsibility, and social media apps come with plenty of dangers we should be aware of.

I personally try to focus as much as I can on the platforms I do control (my website and newsletter), and use social media as a tool to get new eyes to see my work, keep people updated, and to let everyone know where else they can find me. Relying solely on social media is a trap, it's not under your control, and it's not under your own terms.

I also schedule my posting on social media, so I don't have to open the apps to share my work. I don't even need to have the apps, since I do all of this from my computer.

Perseverance makes the photographer

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It took me 4 days to make these images. Four days going to the same spot, hoping to find the right conditions. Until it finally happened. But as I was taking the photos, a car stopped by, someone stepped out with a camera, took a couple of shots, and left. Just like that, they got the same image it had taken me several days to make.

Anyone can get lucky - I have gotten lucky more times than I can count. Luck plays a very important role in photography, especially in outdoor photography where very few things are under our control.

Photographers must seek that luck, though. We have to put ourselves in situations where luck has no option but to find us. Perseverance will give us a better chance to get lucky.

Sponsored by my wife (and by you!)

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Making money with photography isn't easy. It takes a long time and a lot of hard work to even make a few $$$, but it's totally worth it if you love the process. And I do.

Starting today, I want to offer the option to those of you who can afford it to support me even further. I opened a Patreon page where you can choose one of the different tiers. Your contribution will allows me to keep doing this that I love so much.

https://www.patreon.com/adrianvila

Camera gear I carry on my daily walks

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I love walking, and I love photography. So, of course, a big part of my photography is done during my daily walks.

The camera gear I carry with me has changed quite a bit over the years, as I try to find the balance between flexibility, versatility, convenience, image quality, and low light performance. In this video, I talk about my current gear.

You can find a more exhaustive list of the camera gear I use for photography and video here: my camera gear.

Why photography can't be mastered

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To master something is to:

  1. gain control of; overcome

Photography is rarely under your control, unless you are shooting in a studio. Ask any landscape photographer, street photographer or journalist. No, you are always at the mercy of the elements.

  1. acquire complete knowledge or skill in (a subject, technique, or art)

While there's some knowledge and skills involved in photography, knowing how to use a camera or how to print doesn't make you a good photographer.

In fact, technology has made photography much more accesible, exposing what has always been the most important part of this art: seeing.

 
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No, I don't think photography can be mastered.

You can master your camera, or the printing process. But not the art. That is inside you, it's the way you see the world. You can't master yourself.

Take a look at the early work of the "masters" of photography. Yes, their images evolved over time, but their vision was always there. You won't find a point where they "became" a master.

I believe photography is a lifelong journey, there's no finish line. There's no "I've made it" in sight. No 10,000 hours.

No mastering. Just practice.

Leave room to reframe your photographs

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One of the things I noticed when I switched from 120 medium format film back to digital, was the extra step I had to take with every single one of my photographs. I had to crop them to square. Digital sensors are usually rectangles, 3:2 ratio, so I was capturing more of the scene than I really needed.

At first, I thought that was a waste of my time and of space. After all, after cropping the RAW files to a square, a third of the "negative" was going unused. That could add up quickly, especially if you shoot a lot of images like I do.

Anyway, over time, I started to see how useful that information to the left and the right of what I had seen in the field could be. It allowed me to reframe images where I could have done better, or to discover slightly different compositions from the one I had seen in location.

I liked it so much that I wanted to do the same on the top and bottom of the frame. So every time I was about to take a photo, I'd take a step back to capture a little bit more of the scene.