Dark said:
I believe that you can teach technique but you cant teach creativity. One must have an eye for photography, you cant teach that.
Actually, you can, and some actively do. Generally, they start with easy stuff like the rule of thirds (which hasn't changed since paintings in DaVince's time, then move on to leading elements, western and asian composition differences, negative space, etc.
While it helps if you "just see that way," if you don't, it's teachable.
iGary said:
Why are the majority of photographers such asshats?
Remember - you're supposed to culture the hobby...
'Cause we all want to feel special and exclusive- especially after blowing $20,000 on equipment. Don't worry though, the "creativity is in your blood and it rules uber alles" types are usually the ones who think all that learning about how to properly balance artificial light (i.e. the "I only shoot natural light!" crowd,) hyperfocal distances, proper exposure, etc. is "blocking their creativity" because "that stuff just gets in the way of my magical technique!"
The truth is that anyone who works hard at it can produce magical images. Some folks are lucky enough to produce great images without working hard at it-- but they feel they don't have to work and they don't try to improve-- they think they're already there. Then you get the "it must be a Zeiss lens!" crowd, the "My camera is the perfect camera, any lesser camera body will produce inferior work" crowd, the "I shoot handheld and induce more error than buying a $100 lens, but with $1100 lenses, so it's ok" crowd and the "It's a big heavy lens, I couldn't possibly care enough about my work to haul that thing around!" crowd.
Look at sites like dpreview, you'll see most of them can't shoot worth a darn, and they've overpaid for a camera they use as a point and shoot.
There's a little bit of all of them in every photographer- it's a question of how much you work to overcome them. I don't work nearly hard enough at overcoming it most of the time, but I'm trying. Pennance is a heavy lens and a big tripod.
Dark said:
Whoah hey, don't take shots at my goals in life. I assumed you realized that when I said that...I felt like I did posses a "diamond in the ruff" eye for photography. Ive only been into photography for less than a year and I'm producing images that I feel are quite good and so do other people. Granted I'm not amazing or anything, hence why i'm going to college further my education about photography. Im not even the one who started this thread anyway.
iGary is right. Don't be an asshat.
Don't listen to generalized naysayers, do listen very closely to honest critiques. There are lots of mediocre photogs out there- though lots of them seem to make a good living.
Here's some advice for you and the original poster:
See if you can find a local pro to assist, you'll learn more from a helpful and good pro than from most other methods. You may also get the chance to play with some gear you can't afford and learn what works well for you. You'll also earn some money- then you can start threads with "as a working pro..."
Enter some contests, perhaps even the sucky ones that want rights to the pictures, though local ones are better if they're in your area. Though only do it once you *understand* what giving away those rights means.
Look at work from people like Wesson, Adams, and all the other dead guys and gals who's work you like and a lot of those dead painters you didnt' want to learn about in history- study the use of light and shadow, composition and color.
Oh, and if you do want to work full-time in photography take marketing, it's actually useful advice.
