My answer to “10 Traits You Should Possess if You Want to be a Good Photographer” by @ScottBourne. 4 days ago (sry, I’m a bit behind with my rss-reader) there was an nice 10-point list with traits you should possess as a good photographer. The original article van be found on http://photofocus.com. And here is my answer / adendum:
1. You need passion: I couldn’t agree more. If you really want to become or be a good photographer, you be it every wake moment (and dream about it too). When I walk the streets to work, to go out etc. I “frame” everything I see, thinking about how good it might look as a photo, what lightning would be nice, should it be b/w or colored? You will start seeing the world it is, and not just wandering through it. Then you can catch all its beauty.
2. You need to be dedicated to the craft of photography: This is true, for everything we do. You want to learn guitar playing? If you’re not dedicated, it will become really hard. The act of photographing may be just a chain of actions. Even if you master them all, it doesn’t automatically makes you a good photographer. There’s more than just technique. And that’s what is meant with “the craft of photography”. You should train it everyday, even without your camera (see point 1.). I often make shots to keep my finger and eye busy, even if I know that I don’t want to make a print or release it on flickr.
3. You need to be a story teller: Isn’t this why we all become photographers? Because we wanted to tell our feelings and understanding of the world through our eye, with the help of the camera? At least it’s my understanding of “the way of becoming a photographer”. My pictures often tells their story through their title, or I add an description to show the viewer why I took this shot. But the really good story teller don’t need this. If you can title your picture “Untitled” and your viewer realize what you were thinking and what you wanted to show them, then you are a good story teller.
4. You need to care about your subject: This goes hand in hand with point 5. If you don’t know your subject and what’s special about it, you do not take a photograph, you just take another snapshot. Without knowing your subject, how can you tell its story?
5. You need patience and lots of it: Photography isn’t just buying a camera and go out shooting and have great results. 6 years ago I bought my first DSLR. Since 2,5 years I tell what I produce photographs, before that I was just another “hey look I got a DSLR”-guy, and I was taking many snapshots, but not real photographs. But then came a point I realized how amazing photography is. So I invested more and more time, went on photo walks, took workshops, read a lot of books about photography and art & beauty in general. This is the one type of patience you need. You should also be prepared for not getting the perfect shot when you really want it. You’re looking for the perfect situation, perfect lightning, to make the shot you imagined so much about. This can take hours, or days, or even years.
6. You need a sense of wonder and imagination: This goes hand in hand with point 3 & 4. Be curios! A good practice for that is the following: Lock yourself in your bathroom, and you are not allowed to come out until you got 100 shots! The first 50 will be easy, then it gets hard. The last 20 will be the hardest, but you begin to think differently. You got a shot of everything around you, but what can you do to make another special shot? Something you don’t see everyday, or even ever saw before. That will become the really great shots!
7. You need to share: You want to tell a story, and you can’t do that by locking all your photos onto your harddrive. I use flickr and I use twitter to share my photos with the world. Also I have about 10 prints on my walls, and some at work. Think of it like that: You made a photo of something important for you, your story is in the picture. You preserved something from the past. Memories are to important to keep them for yourself.
8. You need to be the kind of photographer who makes OTHER people want to become a photographer: Help where you can. You were a beginner once, remember? So be nice to all the new photographers out there ;-)
9. You need to try a little bit harder than the next guy: This is true for almost everything. My way to achieve this is reading a lot. The internet is a great source for any information about photography. I also like books, but not only photography books. In my bookshelf are also many books about western art, east asian art, beauty in general, and art history. The other thing you should do is attending many workshops. Nothing better than learning directly, and not only reading about it. Spend your money on a workshop, and not the latest new dslr body, you will profit more of it!
This point is also strongly connected to point 5. You will never know when the best moment for a photo will be, so be always stay 15 minutes beyond this poitn ;-)
10. You need to develop a recognizable style – even if that style is – no style! Best way to find your own style are projects, at least in my opinion. Even if your projects will perhaps never be finished like my “urban decay” project, they will point you the right way. At the moment I’m doing a 365 project, and I feel that it’s going to help my finding my style.
Now you know my opinion about the 10 traits. I hope you liked it :-) Let me know in the comments if you want to add something!