Learn One Thing at a Time

Learn One Thing at a Time and learn it well.

About 15 years ago I took a night photography course in Toronto. I wanted to learn something about studio lighting. First thing I did was look for a course that was being taught by someone who actually did photography for a living, someone who would be able to impart practical knowledge learned from experience not just opinion.

I found a course at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto. Two evenings a week for 6 weeks. It was a great course.

At the end of the course, on the last day, the person running the course had us all display some of the work that we had produced. She went through each photographer pointing out our good points by and large as opposed to our weaknesses. When she came to mine she made the statement that I had come the furthest of anyone in the class. I was quite pleased with myself, obviously but had to look at why this was so.

Reviewing the work of the other photographers that were on the course and their products was the first thing I did to see what I was doing or had done that was different. What I noticed were a couple of things. One, many students were trying to do things beyond their level of expertise. The other thing, and I thought this even more pertinent, was that most students tried something quite different every week. They seemed to be trying to learn “everything” on the course.

What I did was different. My goal had been to learn a basic two light system that I could use in pretty much any situation. So, I just did that through the weeks until I had a good balance of light and just the look that I wanted. I used pretty much the same set up each evening. I didn’t get it the first time. I was a bit better the second session. By the end of the course – I think we did 4-5 actual shoots – the pictures were what I wanted. Later, with the basics that I learned well here, I was able to easily build, with variations and more lights.

Trying to learn everything at once can be pretty overwhelming as there is a lot that can be learned in photography to improve your picture taking. Whatever your level of expertise as a photographer, take one function or technique and become competent with that before going on to the next. For example learn about a particular setting on your camera (other than P – Program) and work with that until you are good and comfortable with it. As I said before in this day and age of digital cameras – well, it’s a real boon to learning, as you can take as many pictures as you want and all it takes is space on your hard drive.

So, as in educational undertaking, start with one basic function or lesson and learn it very well – make sure you are certain of it before moving on.

Good luck!
Martin