© Mike Panic
Over the last decade photography has become more than just a hobby. It’s my passion and my job. It was ten years ago that I began to take photography seriously and turn a casual hobby into a full time job. Looking back, I’ve had some great (and not so great experiences), met amazing people and have (frequently) screamed “I love my job!” But getting to where I am now was no easy ride. In fact, like all great photographers, I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning.
Having learned the craft backwards, most of my education has come from scouring the Internet, reading everything I possibly could. My path to photography was paved in trial and error. Here are some things I wish I knew when starting out:
Assumptions
- Digital does not automatically mean easier and cheaper. I shot film until 2003 when I bought a Canon 10D and assumed my life would be a breeze. What I didn’t know was that not all my lenses would work, some had to be formatted to work with the DSLR format. Additionally, it takes a great deal of time to properly process digital files. Not to mention the cost of external drives, back-up DVDs and constantly updating computers and software. It all makes dropping film off at a lab seem simple by comparison.
Falsities
- Light meters aren’t old-school. It wasn’t until last year that I bought my first light meter. Everyone told me once I started shooting digital that I could just use the LCD on the back of my camera to review images and that light meters were a thing of the past. How wrong they were. The LCD might be a quick and easy way to test exposure basics, but a hand-held light meter gives a more accurate reading, not to mention it can sync up with multiple studio strobes, saving a great deal of trial and error in the studio.
Misinformation
- “Don’t worry, you can always fix it in post-production.” Digital photography isn’t about being a lazy photographer, I learned this the hard way by over-shooting and then wasting hours in post-production. I want to be a quality photographer, not a photo surgeon. Taking the time to properly expose and compose one shot is far more rewarding than trying to fix twenty almosts.
Advice
- I wish someone told me how to deal with clients, on a multitude of different levels. Photography can be an odd business since it’s both a service and product that you provide and for most professionals, they don’t have a storefront. Clients call at all hours of the day and night, some can be nasty or just down right needy. A photographer must be able to deal with all sorts of people, and easily adapt to different personality types.
One of the intriguing things about photography is that trends are constantly changing, composition and ways to modify light are near infinite that it makes the idea of “mastering photography” laughable. Photography requires constant learning, questioning and trial and error. I’m lucky enough to enjoy all of it. If anything, I’ve learned that being humble and asking questions is a necessity in this hobby and industry.
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