100 Things I’ve Learned About Photography
Martin Gommel is a photographer on Flickr that I’ve been admiring for a while. Martin also has a blog called KWERFELDEIN (German) and has generously offered to to translate one of his photography articles for Digital Photography School. I’ve also made a few minor amendments/translations - and hope that between us we’ve created a helpful article for you. PS: the images in this post are all Martin’s - enjoy.
100 Things I’ve Learned About Photography
Since I found photography two and a half years ago I have learned different things which I would like to share with you today. These lessons have made me richer and I hope that you will find them refreshing and inspiring on your journey with the camera, too.
1. Never do photography to become a rock-star.
2. Enjoy what you are shooting.
3. Prepare well for your shooting, realizing that your battery isn’t charge when you’re setting up for that sunrise shoot is too late!
4. Always take one warm garment more than you actually need with you
5. Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions while you are shooting
6. Set goals you can achieve
7. Write tips about photography, because writing is also learning
8. Never go shooting without a tripod
9. Be pleased with the little prosperities
10. Build relationships with potential photo buddies
11. Watch the place you want to shoot first with your heart then with the camera
12. Always stay calm
13. Know that you tend to overestimate yourself
14. Perspective is the killer
15. Dedicate yourself to photography, but never browbeat yourself too much
16. Take part in a photography community
17. Keep your camera clean
18. Never compare yourself to others in a better or worse context
19. Find your own style of photography
20. Try to compose more and to hit the shutter less
21. Seek out and learn to accept critique on your images
22. Do something different to recover creativity
23. Get inspiration from the work of other photographers
24. Criticize honestly but respectfully
25. Get feedback from your lady
26. Don’t copy other photographer’s style
27. Be bold
28. Take care of the golden ratio
29. 10mm rocks!
30. Take selfportraits
31. Read books about photography
32. To give a landscapephotograph the extra boost, integrate a person (maybe yourself)
33. Every shooting situation is different than you expect
34. Pay attention to s-curves and lines
35. Always shoot in RAW
36. Keep your sensor clean, so you can save some work cleaning your image in post production
37. Discover the things you think are beautiful
38. It takes time to become a good photographer39. The best equipment is that what you have now
40. You can’t take photographs of everything
41. Break the rules of photography knowingly, but not your camera ;)
42. Pay attention to the different way that light falls on different parts of your scene
43. The eye moves to the point of contrast
44. Clouds increase the atmosphere of a landscape
45. Start a photoblog
46. Accept praise and say “thank you”
47. ‘Nice Shot’ is not a very useful comment to write
48. ‘Amazing!’ isn’t useful either. Try to describe specifically what you like or don’t like about an image.
49. You are not your camera
50. Ask a question at the end of your comment on a photo to get a ping-pong conversation with the photographer
51. Do a review of your archives on a regular basis, the longer you photograph - the more diamonds are hidden there
52. Always clarify what the eyecatcher (focal point) will be in your image
53. No image is better than a bad one
54. Everyone has to start little
55. Your opinion about photography is important!
56. Leave a funny but thoughtful comment
57. Speak about your experiences with your photo buddies
58. Limit your photograph to the substance
59. Participate in Photocontests
60. Post processing = Optimizing your image to the best result
61. Shoot exposure latitudes as often as possible
62. Use photomatix as seldom as possible, HDR’s always have a synthetic flavor63. Always remember what brought you to photography
64. Never shoot a person who doensn’t want to be photographed
65. Always turn arround, sometimes the better image is behind you
66. It’s who’s behind the camera, not the camera
67. Mistakes are allowed! The more mistakes you make, the more you learn!
68. If you have an idea and immediately you think : No, this is not going to work - Do it anyway. When in doubt - always shoot.
69. Understand and look to your histogramm while shooting. It delivers very important information about your image
70. Know your camera, because searching the menu button in the night is time you don’t want to waste
71. Shoot as often as possible
72. Believe in yourself
73. Don’t be afraid of getting dirty
74. Pay attention to qualitiy in your image
75. Your photographs are a personal map of your psyche
76. Re-check your ISO-Settings. It’s aweful to detect the wrong settings on your screen.
77. Be thankful for long and thoughtful comments on your images
78. Never trust your LCD. Normally it is brighter and sharper as the original image.
79. Provide for enough disc space, because it’s cheap and you will need it.
80. Learn to enjoy beautful moments when you don’t have a camera with you.81. Always arrive at least half an hour earlier before sunrise / sundown, composing in a hurry is a bad thing.
82. Try to amplify your mental and physical limits. Takes some extra shots when you think “it’s enough”
83. Pay attention to structures in the sky and wait until they fit into structures in the foreground
84. Visit the same place as often as possible. Light never shows the same mountain.
85. Print your images in big size. You will love it.
86. Calibrate your monitor. Working with a monitor that is not accurate is like being together with someone you can’t trust. It always ends badly.
87. Don’t think about what others may say about your image. If you like it, it’s worth publishing.
88. Never address reproaches to yourself. Learn from your mistakes and look forward, not backward.
89. Fight your laziness ! Creativitiy comes after discipline.
90. Ask yourself : What do you want to express in your images ?
91. Always try to think outside the box, collect new ideas about photographs you could do and ask yourself : Why not?
92. Search for a mentor.
93. Photography is never a waste of time.
94. Every community has it’s downsides. Don’t leave it out of an emotional response.95. There will always be people who will not like what you are doing.
96. Henri Cartier-Bresson was right when he said that “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”
97. A better camera doesn’t guarantee better images.
98. Always have printing in mind when you postprocess your images.
99. Photography is fair : You gain publicity with the quality of your images. Unless the images are stolen, there is no way of cheating yourself higher.
100. Write a 100 things list
Do you have learned something that I didn’t mention ? I would be glad if you let me know it as a comment, so I can learn from you !
This post is a guest contribution to DPS. Do you have a Photography Tip or Lesson to share with us? We’ll promote your photography, blog or site in return for your time if you do. Simply contact Darren with your idea for a post if interested.
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October 10th, 2007 at 12:59 am
Thank you for sharing.
As a beginner in photography I often compare myself to all the novice photographer in my Flickr group. That is one of my biggest downfall.
Again, Thank you for sharing your 100 list.
October 10th, 2007 at 1:32 am
I’ve learned that not every trip out, has to/will produce a masterpiece. Sometimes you can can spend hours shooting and produce nothing more than learning experiences.
October 10th, 2007 at 2:04 am
I really liked tip 96 about your first 10,000 images being the worst. It is so true, as a person who shoots 1,000+ photos a month, after the first year, my photos become a lot better.
I feel the overall message here is practice, practice, put time in, and practice some more.
Thank you for putting in the effort to write this list Darren.
October 10th, 2007 at 2:43 am
Great list. Really nice to read through with some little gems in there. I like the “eyes are drawn to contrast” - definitely a new tip to me.
I like lists like this, always remind me that others are also as interested in photography for more than just the images we ourselves take.
October 10th, 2007 at 3:58 am
Martin, you’re a stud — that list is HUGE! One of my favorites: “Don’t think about what others may say about your image. If you like it, it’s worth publishing.” Definitely true. Art is subjective, don’t ever let anybody tell you that your best isn’t good enough — because it is.
October 10th, 2007 at 4:19 am
I think #25. Get feedback from your lady - is really helpful. I can always count on my wife to give me praise and give me a pickup when I am feeling uninspired.
Further, # 92. Search for a mentor. is a smart one. I need to do this.
October 10th, 2007 at 4:50 am
I need to do #92 as well. I’d add “Keep your camera’s manual in the bag.” You never know when you’ll need to do one of the “I forgot what button” functions. (Like mirror lock?)
October 10th, 2007 at 5:36 am
wow big list :D and a good one too.
I like 97 :P
October 10th, 2007 at 6:08 am
I like 97 also :) it makes so much sense!
October 10th, 2007 at 6:27 am
i will use your text as a mantra! thank you!
October 10th, 2007 at 6:48 am
Great list. Especially nr 53. No image is better than a bad one is one i definitely have to think about when going through my archives of thousands of photographs.
October 10th, 2007 at 6:53 am
I agree with #65 a lot. I find that often my better pictures come from photographing the ‘wrong’ thing.
One thing I have learned is to take some time every so often (a least few times a month) to go find things to shoot, instead of just waiting for an opportunity (such as a trip somewhere) to come.
October 10th, 2007 at 7:06 am
This is really great. Some of these are bang on!
October 10th, 2007 at 7:49 am
Well I’m sure doing #30!
October 10th, 2007 at 8:15 am
@feli : Oh yes, I know that from my own experience. But knowing yourself in this is the first step out ;).
@ Adam : Oh, yes, that’s true (and wonderful, isn’t it?)! Thanks for sharing !
@Brian : Thanks for your support, buddy ;)
@ Kent : One thing I really like about asking your lady is that she know’s you best. My wife always gives me a honest suggestion about what she likes and what not. That can lift you to heaven or bring you back to earth ;)
@ Rebecca : Absolutely ! I think a manual is always a good thing to have with - and it doesn’t take too much place in your bag.
@ Andre : ;)
@ Jeremy : How long are you into photography now ?
October 10th, 2007 at 8:40 am
Looks like everyone can relate to the comparison game tips. I was actually pretty depressed this past weekend as I felt very ‘less than avg’ with my pics. I’ve only had a digital slr for a few months..but, of course, everyone wants to stand out. I’m learning to try to take my pics for me and not so much so others will go “Wow, you’re so good!”. Besides, I am just capturing what God has already created Himself.
How long have you been shooting? Any tips on finding a mentor?
Thx,
Jeff
Phoenix, AZ
October 10th, 2007 at 9:35 am
Great Tips!! I definitely agree with getting a mentor. I’m 16 and I’ve been in photography for about 6 months, and have had 2 mentors (a friend who is a wedding photography and another friend who has his own business) since the very beginning. Learned soo much from them!
October 10th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Great tips!
October 10th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Thanks for translating and sharing this awesome list. Beginners like me can truly appreciate this list. I always have to remember #54 - “Everyone has to start little” and as my skills progress, I have to keep in mind #96. I guess sometimes, we are our own harshest critic.
October 10th, 2007 at 11:31 am
So many things to photograph, so little time.
October 10th, 2007 at 11:50 am
So true to enjoy what you are shooting and love the possibility of what you might have taken.
October 10th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Great list! Thank you for sharing!
October 10th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Amazing!
Ups, Its break rule #48 :)
The list is so helpful, I hope I can write another 100 things list.
October 10th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
I like number 73… it goes well with something I subscribe to… “Don’t be afraid to look silly” because at least if you look silly with confidence, people think you know what you’re doing.
October 10th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Great stuff!
Getting feedback from the lady is good stuff. Cold heartless feedback… *cry*
October 10th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
My mom is old school. Kodak university in Germany in the 60’s. her advise always was, find a camera that feels right in your hands, a scene that feels right your eye, and make people pose in ways that feels wrong to their natural posture.
October 10th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
I have been involved in some sort of photography for 40 years–Professional for 18 of those 40 years. Your list is inspiring. I wish I had read it when I began my interest in photography. It might have eased some of those difficult battles we all have with our internal creative “devils.”
Your statement about better equipment not making one a better photographer is spot-on. The best equipment one can have is what is between their ears and in their chest—Their brain and their heart. Some of my favorite images came from exposing film through a pinhole punched in a milk carton painted black. You can’t get any simpler than that. It forces one to think and to craft an image instead of simply taking pictures.
I learn something every day and every time I pick up my camera. Your list opened my eyes and refreshed my creativity. I applaud you for such profound statements after only two and one half years of involvement in the photographic arts. It makes this old shooter proud to see this level of excellence in the next generation of photographers.
Fiat Lux!
Bilka
October 10th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Fine list.
October 10th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”
That means - with my digital camera - I have around 5000 more to go then, this is promising for me!
These tips are excellent, than you for sharing them.
I especially like “Always turn around, sometimes the better image is behind you”
BTW thank you for adding my ‘Elephant in a Tree’ photo to your Flickr favourites.
Anthea
October 10th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
89. Fight your laziness ! Creativitiy comes after discipline
68. If you have an idea and immediately you think : No, this is not going to work - Do it anyway. When in doubt - always shoot.
These two are really inspiring (also true ). these were the ones I identefy myself more :|
Martin sure has a lot of experience
Can’t wait to see what experience has for me
October 10th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Some part i already new. And i do fulfil a part of i alredy knew. Though there are a lot of useful stuff.
October 10th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
@ Jeff Krieger : I understand your problem ! I think this is a lifelong process of learning ..I am doing photography since 2 1/2 years. Finding a mentor ? Check out photographers you admire and just ask them via email. It might cost you something, but it’s worth. And if not, great !
@ Os Sutrisno : Hehe, so true ;)
@ Bilka : Thanks much for your long reply. I have lot’s of respect of your long experience ! Do you have any photographs online ! I would be glad to see them !
@ Anthea : Rock on !
@ Augustin : Thanks ! I would love to hear your experiences ! Do you have any website or something ?
October 10th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
this list ROCks it realy hleped me when thinking about taking a picture but about the mentor i’m only 15 and i live in Egypt i don’t know any professional photographers or that stuff my only mentor is the DPS please if u have any advice for me ??
October 10th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Some of the best advices I found here:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/
October 10th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
Some of them are some of the thinks realised by my own, some are new for me that I have to pay attention to improve my photography
thanks for share…
October 10th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
Cool list - tx :) My favorite: “80. Learn to enjoy beautiful moments when you don’t have a camera with you” No regrets.
October 11th, 2007 at 12:20 am
I can’t believe you left out the most common tip; “Use the rule of thirds, when composing.”
October 11th, 2007 at 12:45 am
It sounds like common sense, but #76 “Re-check your ISO-Settings. It’s aweful to detect the wrong settings on your screen” got me good one day. I’m pretty new to SLR photography - I understand the concepts, but having so many settings to think about made it easy to forget that I had been trying different ISO settings the week before. I ended up getting some great nature shots only to realize I had been shooting at ISO 1600 all day! The good thing is that I’ll remeber to check it from now on - nothing like learning from experience…too bad I didn’t see this list before then. :)
October 11th, 2007 at 12:54 am
thanx a lot for giving such valuable tips……
i think all are really important for a photographer
i really liked it
once again thanx a lot
October 11th, 2007 at 1:26 am
What is a good monitor calibrator?
October 11th, 2007 at 2:14 am
Well said. These really resonate with me and are things you don’t always hear a lot about… Again, thanks for sharing.
October 11th, 2007 at 2:29 am
72. Believe in yourself
I think sometimes I question how far I should go with my photography.Sometimes it can be so intimidating when I see the awesome and creative art that others share.
For the insecure folks like myself, feedback is critcal to our growth, but deep down applying #72 is probably more sobering :)Working on that!
October 11th, 2007 at 2:33 am
great list!
October 11th, 2007 at 4:13 am
Amazing!
haha sorry - had to say it.
Wonderful list, it really helped. I will visitin it through my photography learn curve :)
October 11th, 2007 at 6:20 am
I just happened to stumble onto this and it is dead on. Thanks
October 11th, 2007 at 7:50 am
great article. maybe another point is serendipity happens. We were driving up a mountain to get a view. a storm moved in and it had the most wonderful light patterns. pure coincidence but great oppertunity. be aware.
October 11th, 2007 at 9:58 am
Thank you. Hope it will help me in my journey. Much appreciated.
October 11th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
wow! What a good advice dto me !
Thanks for sharing with us.
October 11th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
“Photography, I feel, is on of the best learning processes one can make use of throughout our lives provided we always, keep our eyes and mind open to the ever changing environment”.
A lot of the tips mentioned above will definetly help us to do so - To identify and grab it at the right time, cause the same opportunity will never come again.
October 11th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Oh, great idea! Thanks for sharing. And I think that it is a good exercise for each photographer and learner in any other sphere. It is also a kind of sum-up of everything that we know. Before such a sum-up there is a ‘mess’ in our heads, while our knowledges should be structurised to be used effeciently. Thanks great!
October 11th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Your 100 things mentioned are very useful for the ameture photographers like me. Thank you very much for this great list.
October 12th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
i read all hundread . i like all of them .
it is very helpful to newcomer like me .
October 13th, 2007 at 4:26 am
i was just revising your points and thn suddenly i realized that point no. 96 is changed with time
Henri Cartier-Bresson was right when he said that “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”
but because with digital age photographers don’t think that much while taking pictures as film photographers used to think. So i think now it should be like your first 30,000 photographs are your worst.That was said in film age and must be for film age photographers.. ;)
October 13th, 2007 at 5:08 am
A great list! I have learned so much in just reading your 100 list. Thank you for sharing!
October 13th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
What a great list - I’m keeping it handy. Thanks so much.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Really great list. Inspried me to get the creative juices flowing and start recordig my own list of key learings.
Thanks
October 15th, 2007 at 3:13 am
This is a great list. There are so many things on there that I need to remind myself of on a regular basis.
October 15th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
thanks! going to write my list hope that I’ll be able to reach at least 20 things list :)
October 16th, 2007 at 12:58 am
As a professional photographer I have even learnt a thing or two from your list. Good work.
October 16th, 2007 at 1:07 am
Thank’s Martin:
20. Great, will be best form me to learn these in non digital times.
28. “take care of the golden ratio” My english is not enought for understand these. Can any one explain it please?
29. also these one.
I would like to ad something like: think as an old sniper, you don’t take photos you hunt photos, think what, when, why.
Is it posible to make a printable version of the list?
October 17th, 2007 at 12:39 am
That was great- worthy of a link from my blog.
I took up all these photographers the other day into the San Juan Mnts in Colorado, the leader was a fellow name Jim Stienberg from Steamboat colo, I showed him my Cheezy Fuji 3800 finepix, but I told him I have always been happy with the results, he told me that a Camera is nothing but a box, it is who operates the box that creates a fine photo. I thought that was cool, in other words if you can’t afford state of the art, don’t let that hold you back, take photos anyway.
November 6th, 2007 at 11:59 am
A great list, worthy of revisiting from time to time!
November 6th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
It really encourages a beginner who is interested in it..
November 25th, 2007 at 8:57 am
Thanks for sharing, very interesting, appreciate it.
December 18th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Thanks for the lovely tips. I will remember #85. I havent been bold enough to yet.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Thank for the great list. Though I’m hopelessly addicted to HDR, your point is well taken (#62). There are so many great points here that I’ll need to periodically review them to keep them fresh in my mind. Thanks so much!
December 29th, 2007 at 4:48 am
One thing I think is that perspective and use of different focal lengths is extremely important in photography. Getting a new 55-200 lens recently really reinforced this with me. I’ve always been more of a wide angle person and going out shooting with just the telephoto really makes you work in a different way and makes you aware of your focal length and how to use it most effectively.
January 13th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Thanks for sharing your 100 tips with us.
Don’t be selfish and lazy about telling and explaining someone things that you know- have learned or heard from somewhere.
The knowledge and information must circulate and go from one to another. That’s the way how you have learned something.
January 13th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Hello! i’d really love this post. To be a photographer is ones of the most amazing experiences of my life. Always you learn something new and also you can use it for imagenes. I’d thik im going to writte the number 100.
See ya around!
January 25th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Loved your list. It stokes the fires of the mind. Here’s mine:
Let your soul flow through your camera; it will bring you extraordinary photographs.
February 8th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
i add one: “sleep with NO model.”
February 21st, 2008 at 10:12 am
love the list!!! as i am bloody beginner, i’ll use that as mantra, too;) we actualy need things like that to latch onto sth., anything! thank you!
today, i learned something to add:
take your camera everywhere and everytime with you!
February 21st, 2008 at 7:53 pm
There are so many things I could do to improve myself. Time to get disciplined. :)
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:12 am
Learn how to spell
April 1st, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Thanks very much! I am just tinkering with the idea of taking my love of taking photos more seriously and investing in a DSLR. Your very monivating! If i can add anything its take photos as a stress relief!! I find if i go out with the intention of making myself feel better instead of trying to take a good shot, i take more emotional photos with less effort and less pressure on myself.
April 14th, 2008 at 5:53 am
I’m a poet’s wife and we love lists. This is great. It’s getting me thinking - always a good thing.
Can you say how one justifies:
“53. No image is better than a bad one”
with
“67. Mistakes are allowed! The more mistakes you make, the more you learn!”?
I guess I’m just pondering #53. I might modify it to say not to post/share “bad” images. But that might not be it either as sometimes we are our worst critics and what we think is a bad image might be great in actuality.
Just some thoughts.
Peace.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:20 am
‘Learn from your mistakes and look forward, not backward.’
bravo!
May 6th, 2008 at 3:05 am
re: point number 64; that’s it, the shotgun stays at home from now on!
Love the list, love DPS.
Love and light.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:03 am
I love this list, but I have a couple comments -
Get feedback from your lady? Sorry, but I AM the lady!
And sometimes I feel like there is conflicting suggestions. On one hand you state “no image is better than a bad image”, but on the other hand you state “Shoot as much as possible, shoot as often as possible and if in doubt, shoot anyway.” Isn’t that a contradiction? Or maybe I am misunderstanding it.
But other than that, GREAT list!!!!!