This is an interesting video from landscape photographer Mark Denney. It’s a discussion on “great” photographers – specifically, great landscape photography. And why many of us will never become one. The thing is, though, that’s ok.
He also talks about the traits of the greats. Things we can apply to our photography, our approach and our mindset. Ways we can constantly push ourselves to improve and become greater, even if we may never achieve greatness.
What makes a great photographer?
Well, it’s difficult to quantify, but one thing is clear. It’s not just about the quality of their work. Of course, it needs to meet a certain standard on some level or another. But there are countless thousands of other photographers out there making work that’s just as good from a technical standpoint.
That is just one trait. Another aspect, as Mark points out, is their dedication. The relentless pursuit of improvement in one’s craft and abilities. The best photographers are constantly pushing themselves to get better.
You’re not great, but it doesn’t matter
You’re not a great photographer. If you were, you probably wouldn’t be reading articles and watching videos like these. But it’s ok that you’re not a great photographer. I’m not a great photographer, either. We don’t all need to be up there with Ansel Adams.
But that doesn’t mean we should slack, either. The pursuit of that greatness, whether we attain it or not, is what drives us as photographers. It’s what keeps us creating. It keeps us improving.
Mark offers several tips and things to ask yourself in his video. Things that can help us adopt the habits of some of the great photographers. Things that will help us on our journey.
Experimentation without the fear of failure
What makes your heart sing? Most people don’t know what truly drives their passion when it comes to photography. You have to experiment. Perhaps a specific genre isn’t your passion because you’re not very good at it yet. Afraid to push your limits?
You need to lose that fear. You don’t have to show everything you create to the world. Have the freedom to experiment and try new things without the fear of failure. Don’t feel disappointed when something doesn’t work out. Use that failure to learn and get clues to improve for the future.
Unrelenting focus on post-processing
This is going to be a contentious one. I’m not the biggest fan of post-processing. I have nothing against it and others are happy to do as they wish. I’d just prefer to do as little of it as possible myself. At least digitally.
When it comes to film, I love spending time in the darkroom. When you have your own darkroom, you kind of shoot with a final result in mind. You know that you can mess with it in the darkroom to get it where you need it.
We have that with digital, too, of course, using apps like Lightroom, Capture One and Photoshop. But the process, for me, is so much more enjoyable with film.
But whether you use a lot of post-production as a general rule or not, you need to understand it. You need to constantly be learning new techniques to provide you with more options when it comes to digital post-production. Some day, an image might rely on that technique you never use.
Become a student of composition
Composition is a wonderful thing. And like post-processing, the “rules” of composition are something you should know and understand, whether you choose to follow them or not. While called the “rules”, they’re guidelines.
Things like the rule of thirds, the golden ratio, etc. A photograph doesn’t have to conform to one of these. But the reason they’re so popular is because photographs that do conform to one of the “rules” often tend to work.
Composition is as much of an art as photography itself. You don’t have to follow the rules. However, understanding them and why they work is vital to understanding how to break them. At least, it is if you want to do it effectively.
Share what you’ve learned
This is another one that’s going to be quite contentious. Some people (still) believe that knowledge should be kept secret, worried that they’re “training up the competition”. Others, like Mark and myself, believe that knowledge should be freely shared.
I never understood the mindset of keeping principles and techniques secret. Most photography setups are easy enough to recreate from the reflections and shadows in the photographs themselves. Fully recreating a photograph becomes something of a technicality when you become proficient.
And even if you’re not, hitting up social media and the few photography forums that are still around will yield lots of educated guesses from other photographers on how it might have been lit. Basically, if they want to figure it out, they will. Nobody’s work is anything special in that regard.
But teaching the principles. The understanding, the reason why certain techniques work, that actually educates people. That helps them to become better versions of themselves. Not copies of you. Teaching somebody else will help you understand it better, too.
Why do you own a camera?
Ultimately, really improving your photography and standing out boils down to a simple question. What kind of camera owner are you?
Do you just want to be able to grab good-looking memories with an expensive camera? To produce images that inspire feelings and emotions in you and your family as they remind you of that time? There’s nothing wrong with that.
Or do you want to push yourself to bring the visions you see in your head to life? Do you want to see a scene in your mind and then be able to set that up in front of you, knowing you can create anything you want to? And evoke any emotion you desire from random viewers?
The latter is a lifelong pursuit. It’s impossible for one person to learn, do, and try everything in photography. The more we do it, the more we want to experiment, learn and pursue the ever-elusive greatness.
