You Probably Don’t Take Enough Photographs
Striving for Quantity can Lead to More Quality
I enjoy writing about photography here at Medium.
Although many of the articles there are click-bait flogs of paper-thin content, there are a few each day that catch my eye. I really enjoy the articles by Josh Rose and Charles G. Hacker.
Most of the time I stay away from the whiners and the scolds. You know, the “Ten Reasons Why No One Likes You” and “It’s Time We Talk About Your Use of Google”. The “I Tried This Guru’s Ideas So You Don’t Have To” and “You’re Doing This Wrong” posts are tedious, and — well — a bit boring. Your experience is yours and not universal, scoldish Medium writer person.
But I do write here every week now. And I have fun.
No one reads my stuff, but I keep on doing it because it is fun and it will make me a better writer.
However, one article did catch my eye a few days ago. It was your typical internet scold stating that “You Take Too Many Photos”. I wasn’t sure how he knew how many photos I — or you — take but then, he is so sure of himself that it would be pointless to argue. (He has a collection of trophies just like all the other kids got, so — you know — he KNOWS.)
But here’s the thing. He is wrong. Dead wrong. Absolutely wrong.
The more you do anything the better you get.
Wanna play the piano?
Practice.
How often?
As often as you possibly can.
Wanna be a good painter?
Paint.
How often?
As often as you possibly can.
Want to be an excellent public speaker?
Speak. In public.
How often?
As often as you possibly can.
The more you handle the camera, look through the viewfinder, make snaps and see how close they match to what you saw in your mind’s eye, the closer you become to the art and technology belonging to you rather than being the master of you.
Repetition makes you better at the things you repeat. If you do something, again and again, you become familiar with it. Becoming familiar means you spend less time on the act of what you are doing, and more time on what you are achieving with that act.
The Danger of Aiming for Perfection
On the first day of class, Jerry Uelsmann, a professor at the University of Florida, divided his film photography students into two groups.
Everyone on the left side of the classroom, he explained, would be in the “quantity” group. They would be graded solely on the amount of work they produced. On the final day of class, he would tally the number of photos submitted by each student. One hundred photos would rate an A, ninety photos a B, eighty photos a C, and so on.
Meanwhile, everyone on the right side of the room would be in the “quality” group. They would be graded only on the excellence of their work. They would only need to produce one photo during the semester, but to get an A, it had to be a nearly perfect image.
At the end of the term, he was surprised to find that all the best photos were produced by the quantity group. During the semester, these students were busy taking photos, experimenting with composition and lighting, testing out various methods in the darkroom, and learning from their mistakes. In the process of creating hundreds of photos, they honed their skills. Meanwhile, the quality group sat around speculating about perfection. In the end, they had little to show for their efforts other than unverified theories and one mediocre photo.
There are photographers who make thousands of images per week. And they continue to make as many images as they can to become the best they can be.
We have all heard of the 10,000-hour rule by now. The rule was sort of invented by Malcolm Gladwell in the book “Outliers” after he interviewed noted researcher on excellence, Anders Ericsson. And while Ericsson has clarified the partially wrong assumptions about the 10,000-hour rule, it nonetheless holds true that the more you do something the better you get.
Ericsson notes that it is not just the time and repetitions though. It also has to do with masterful teachers, constant assessment, correction and recalibration, and the individual’s desire to reach that highest of plateaus.
If you practice the piano wrong for 10,000 hours, you may indeed have a difficult journey toward rectifying those terrible habits.
So you need to have some guidance. Whether it is a group of like-minded artists, mentors who have walked your path, or teachers who support and actively encourage your growth, it is tough to do it by yourself even IF you shoot 1000 images per day.
How To Shoot More Images Without Burning Out
If you are passionate about something, that will naturally lead to a photographic subject that will be considerably much easier to shoot. You already love it, and the images are just an extension of what you are already fascinated by.
What about stretching out a bit and using photography to learn about something you are not currently interested in. I live very near a world-class dragstrip. Fuel cars and high octane machines are built for one thing… the fastest 1/8th mile they can possibly go. I know next to nothing about this sport. I can, however, use my camera to explore this new to me social strata. I know I can find interesting photographs there, and whether I get to be a devotee or not, the images I make can still be interesting and informative.
Find subject matter close at hand. If still life is something you are interested in, there are things everywhere that can be found and photographed. I once saw an incredibly interesting portfolio of river rocks by a photographer who lived north of Scottsdale. He had found the most interesting shapes and shot them with incredible lighting.
We are a society of quick fixes, quick solutions, fast this, fast that. Acquiring a skill may be something that we still need to practice that lesser-known quality of patience to get to a point of even mediocrity. Let alone excellence.
So I disagree with my Medium compatriot. 100% disagree.
Take as many photographs as you can. Take even more than you feel you should. Overshoot. Again. And then again.
The growth will be visible to you and anyone else familiar with your work.
I am a photographer, designer, and photo editor. You can find me at my self-named website or at Project 52 Pro System where I teach commercial photography online. This is our tenth year teaching, and it is the most unique online class you will find anywhere.
You can find my books at Amazon, and I have taught two classes at CREATIVELIVE.
