So in the past two weeks I've been going on photography blogs and sites and trying to learn as much as I can about everything related to Photography. Several blogs stand out to me. First is Ken Rockwell's blog. He's an interesting guy with very interesting views on the photography craft. I pored over much of his "about photography" posts and some of reviews of cameras, lenses and flash. Nowadays they're called "speedlights." It's a must read and I'll go back to it often.
The second is the strobist. David Hobby was a photography for the Baltimore Sun and reveals a very user friendly lessons on flash photography. The lessons are short and they're free but it's quality stuff. The person who recommended the site was Scott Hargis. Scott is an accomplished interior and real estate photographer who has created a video series on how he makes his houses "pop" with flash photography. I plan on taking the video series after I am finished with the Strobist series. In fact, someone - and it may have even been Scott himself - recommended that "newbies" go through that course first before taking Scott's video series. It's a primer of the very basics of flash photography.
I'm still very excited to be "back" in to the field and am looking forward to ramping up quickly. I've wasted a lot of years outside the field so I have some catching up to do. But I also know that I need to take my time as I learn so that I learn and apply what I learn well. I have a tendency to learn "just enough" to get by. While it works in some areas of life, it will not work to what I want to accomplish.
So, what is it I want to accomplish? I'd love to make photography a full time career. I know, it's a broad statement since photography is such a vast field. Now, I'm learning the basics of flash photography and composition now. I'm running head first into real estate photography and interior photography, and we'll see where that takes me. I'd love to be able to do this overseas. I mean, most countries need real estate photographers, no? Of course they do. I think learning the basics of photography and flash photography will be foundational for whatever specialty I want to end up doing in this field.
But one thing I need to keep in mind is this: while it's nice to learn and absorb the way I will get good at this is to practice practice practice. If it's all theory, then it's no good to me or to my potential customers. But if i'm learning and practicing the craft daily, I'll get good.
Reminds me of a friend in Chicago who told me he was very close to becoming a professional bowler. Tom didn't have any special skills, per se, but he was at the bowling allies every night playing two or three games. Here's his money quote and it's so common sense: "if you do something enough and long enough, you're going to get good at it." As a side note, never quite understood why he never made that extra effort in the end to become pro. I suspect it had to do with his new wife who seemed to hate bowling and resented the fact that he spent so much money on bowling
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