Henri Cartier Breson once said, “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst”. Did he literally mean that ? No. But what he essentially tried to say is that, the more you practice, the more you improve your images. nothing can replace hard work and regular practice. You ought to be serious about what you do – whether its photography or anything else, whether you are a professional or amateur.
So, my three P’s of photography are clearly 1) PRACTICE 2) PRACTICE 3) PRACTICE
- PRACTICE to develop REFLEX
How did you come to Photography ? Was it a childhood passion or a hobby ? Was it a coincidence, or inspiration from someone? Did you have the creative and artistic bent of mind ? Whatever the genesis is, we have to remember that, at the end of the day we are talking of an art. You certainly need some creativity in mind. Photography is not about a camera, it is the man behind the camera who creates the photograph. He is eventually the author of the photograph. You will see a photograph being recognised by the photographer, and vice versa, and not the camera company or its model ! However, having the creative mind is not all. One definitely needs to be extremely serious and passionate, like every other thing. The best time of taking good pictures is early morning and late afternoon. That demands that photographers cannot be lazy at all. One has to wake up early in the morning and go out to shoot. Study the light, understand different aspects of light, the surrounding, take pictures from different angle and POV to study the light. The more you shoot, the more you improve. So, it is advisable to carry your camera always with you. I usually do street photography, so my gear is pretty simple – a small mirrorless camera. I always carry it in my office bag, so that I keep shooting and practicing on the go.
Remember – as a street photographer you need to develop the REFLEX, as you do for driving a car. The reflex should be developed such through practice, that you cannot miss a frame ( as HCB used to call it the “decisive moment” ). If you have your camera ready then go for it, or take out your mobile and freeze it ! The more you practice, the more you attain REFLEX.
2. PRACTICE to be BOLD & EXPERIMENT new things
Failure is the pillar of success – we read in school. If you don’t try, you will not fail, and if you don’t fail, you will never succeed. This implies to every field, and photography is no exception. But why am I saying this here? It is all the more relevant when it comes to this art. I have seen many beginners as well as veterans, who always operate in their comfort zone and are happy with the output. They never experiment new things, new composition. They never break rules, they hesitate to break the stereotype. They never succeed. If you want to continuously improve your frames, you have to experiment. You have to challenge yourself every moment. You have to be BOLD to break rules, try new things and experiment.
Our very own contemporary photographer Rohit Vohra said, “Imperfect is often Perfect”. This means that every time you need not be perfect with the frame. Sometimes it is better to capture the right moment with wrong settings, than to capture the wrong moment with right settings.
3. PRACTICE to develop LOVE & PASSION
Whatever you do, you eventually need to love it. If you do not develop love and passion for something, you will never succeed. Practice will improve your performance drastically and thereby motivate you to do even better. Finally motivation is the only thing that makes you love what you do and makes you passionate. In this journey you should not be static, you should always challenge yourself and raise your bar every day. Ask yourself, did I take better photos than yesterday ? What did I do differently ? Again, don’t worry of mistakes, they will help you move forward. Be creative, challenge your position, try different and unusual framing, bring in the excitement till you finally get that adrenaline rush. Once you develop the LOVE and PASSION for the art, you become unstoppable !
So, go ahead and PRACTICE, PRACTICE & PRACTICE…till you develop the REFLEX, be BOLD and develop LOVE & PASSION for Photography.