To Make Great Photos You Need To Push Yourself

Shocking as it might be - you need to push yourself if you want to make great photos. What does that mean? It means taking chances, taking risks, and failing big time. In addition, you can say that you want to make great photos but then forget to push yourself in the moment. That happens. However, if you ever are going to make great photos then start by pushing yourself.

Improve Your Photography By Pushing Yourself

Things rarely change when we play it safe. So, to improve your photos you need to start to push yourself. What does it mean to push yourself? First, you need to experiment. Next, you need to accept that most experiments will fail. Finally, you must learn from failures and successes then repeat.

Your Photography Experiments

First, you need to have a basic understanding of what you're doing. Then, you can begin to experiment. If you're struggling with exposure, focus, or any other camera issues, get those sorted first. Then begin experimenting.

Start Experimenting

Here is how to start experimenting. Ask yourself, what if I did this. Then, do it. For example, what if I set my shutter speed to 1/8th of a second? What happens then? Did you hold the camera still did you move the camera deliberately? What happens if you did?

What happens if I put my subject directly in front of the sun so they're backlit? Now, what happens if I underexpose them? Alternatively, what happens if I over expose them?

Failure Is A Tool

Find out what will happen when you try different things. Of course, you will fail. That will happen a lot. In fact, if you don't have an idea of what might happen your failure rate is going to be very high. However, you might stumble upon something truly unique. Alternatively, you'll waste time. Ultimately though, failures teach us more than success.

My Big Lesson on Failure

I used to ski a lot. As a teen I went skiing with some friends and their friends. One of their friends was talking about a big crash she had. I felt a bit smug and told everyone that I hadn't fallen in years. Crash replied that, "If you're not falling and crashing then you're not learning anything new."

Obviously there isn't anything really wrong with not learning new things. In fact, being comfortable is enjoyable. However, she was right. I wasn't learning or improving. As a result, I began to push myself. My skiing did improve. In addition, I've never forgotten that advice.

Learning Photography Through Failure

Learn photography for free by failing. I'm serious. It will take longer than it would hiring a teacher. However, you truly can teach yourself photography simply by experimenting. Even if you didn't know that shutter speed is the amount of time the exposure is being made for you could figure that out through trial and error. Experiment. Then either write down or remember what you did. I promise that you'll eventually figure out everything you need to know.

That said, experimentation isn't just for self-learning. In fact, I encourage everyone to experiment with photography. My own students improve greatly when they push themselves and experiment. Additionally, even professional photographers like myself improve when we ask ourselves - what if.

What if

What if is the key question. Find out what happens after "what if." It will change your life or at least your photography skills. So, if you're ready to make the best photos you possibly can then start asking yourself what if and see what happens. Push yourself and your photography will improve.

Read my article explaining what an event photographer does.