 How's it? How's it guys? Thank you ever so much for being here. It is wonderful to see you today I'm going to share with you six tips that I wish I could have given as life lessons to my 19 year old photographer self when I just started out on this journey, right? So really the first thing is You know, no one cares no one cares about your photography That's it, you know, and and that this is a good thing It is such a good thing because as soon as you think that people really care about your photography Then you start changing the way that you approach the art of taking photographs you become worried about what you'll think about your work and all these kind of kind of things and You also get a I think a an overworked sense of self that you think I'm all that in a bag of chips Which is not the case at all that you know It takes a long time to become recognized in photography and in a wider sense So the sooner that you sort of ditch this idea that really people care and and they also like either care Google care in a negative way the the the quicker you become freer to rediscover the enthusiasm that you had for photography when you got started out because you are Just creating work for yourself And that is a mantra that you should hold on to throughout your career is to create work specifically for yourself first and foremost remember sitting in a class one Friday afternoon, and it was quite some summer and it was all very hot and I was sitting at the back of the class because of course I was at the back of class and I've idly sketching on my my notepad instead of taking notes about the theory class I was in talking about the chemistry makeup of film I was drawing a timeline of how I was going to become famous So by 25 I was going to be nationally famous by 35. It's gonna be internationally famous by 45 I was going to be like the new Richard Avedon So what was happening is I was focusing like Luke Skywalker on the future. I was never in the present Doing something actually to move that forward to get those goals to come towards me I thought that photography was a a finite game that there was an end goal that's that I would finish Photo school and that would just happen and then you know from then it was just like well apprentice then actual photographer and da da da da and forgetting that photography is It is a journey without an end Dan would just call it like a road to seeing and now that the way that we see the world Changes constantly and that's something that I really wish you could understand is that how you think about photography right now What you think is an achievement right now is is going to change is going to shift and morph The more that you go down this path because around every corner in this This experience is a new Discovery a new thing that may change you a direction that you'd never even considered Taking in photography so from right now be open to it be Be happy to explore anything and your work will be so much richer for doing so Those who can do and those who can't well they teach and I bought into that live Hugely as a student because I was like oh, yeah, well, you know these guys are so good These the lecturers then they would be internationally famous They would have awards come at the young young people would fate their photography all over because I've fallen into this this ridiculous concept that people who teach must be fantastically good at the thing that they're teaching Forgetting a course that if that were true then tennis coaches wouldn't exist and golf coaches would exist All these other things that you know that there are people who have a wealth of knowledge about the thing that you do the creative expression that you have That are sharing it with you because they want to see you grow. They want to see you succeed. They also Importantly want to know better about the the craft that they enjoy because when you teach Somebody something Doesn't matter how small it is You are relearning that thing you are re-expanding it to yourself and the best way to learn is to teach So be free be generous be open with whatever experience with ever knowledge you have gained Because it only improves you you're gonna run into so many photographers who won't tell you anything I'm not going to show you the secrets to anything and I'm not going to help you improve because why would I help you? Because you might take my work away This sort of knowledge this sort of sorry it is sort of ridiculous way of thinking about photography It's so narrow-minded and for a little while you kind of fell into it for a bit, but it's not nice If somebody is looking for help then then offer it offer it freely You will benefit from the person who is asking for help because you will relearn what you are teaching them picture a door, so there was a door there at photo school and For most of the students we thought that that door was the entrance to a promised land of inspiration of overcoming creative block of of Freeing our x-axe the way they would expect us up in in photography and all you needed to do was just sidle up to the door knock it and it would open and You could then just pick whatever lens whatever camera that you wanted and there was a lot in there There was all sorts of things you could possibly ever wonder and then you would just then be inspired because you've now got a new lens or a new camera so a new toy to play with and you forgot that Is completely the wrong way to think about you're thinking about it backwards that you go Oh the lens that I've got this house black super wide or what? I mean is going to inspire me The the gear is there to facilitate You getting what's up here into a photograph? It is not there to you know, give you a give you a heads up to say wait, you know, let's let's get it Just try some stuff out so you're going to spend a lot of money in photography over the years and Your investments are going to be rubbish because they are always things that you think are going to be They're gonna kick start your photography in a certain direction now Glass okay glass. I would say there is a good thing because it holds its its value Good glasses worth its weight in well glass Right, but the rest of the stuff is just fluff. It's just fluffiness that doesn't really Drive you forward a far better investment is in education in books in biographies of photographers of movies about anything that you can get your hands on that will teach you about the The why you take photographs the language of photography is a far better Investment in a piece of glass or something like that because the benefits will last with you for as long as you're taking photographs So rather than spending, you know, $150 on filter somewhere, it's been on books. It's been on education You know, there's there's a far better thing. So hold on to that thought that gear does not make you a better photographer in second year I took some head shots for a set of actors and I presented the shots to them and they said, thank you very much and when I was out of the shop I heard them say Oh my God, we should have gone with some so and so and those Phrases those words, which I was not supposed to hear stayed with me for a long time decades in fact and Rather than focus on all the achievements or the the the compliments that I ever received throughout my career with photography It's that overheard snippet of conversation that stayed with me for as long as I can remember and and it held me back because I was Falling into that idea of imposter syndrome that maybe just maybe I wasn't actually as good as as I thought I was That that I wasn't really supposed to be a photographer that I you know, I would I'd been I'd been picked to go to Photoschool by accident and and that's a very Insidious soul-destroying thing and it's only going to get worse being at photography school was wonderful because we got a chance to be taught the language of photography the words and the phrases that we can inject into Photographs to make them resonate with a viewer to construct something that has emotional impact And these are the skills that all of us have within us, but are never really brought to the fore because Who teaches it? Well, unfortunately, I've put together a course based on my own experiences at photoschool to help you create richer more sort of Meaningful impactful wonderful photographs that other people are going to go. Wow, that's amazing. How did you see that? It's a course that you could do Oh, you know in lunch break a couple of days a week but the benefits of Knowing the language are going to be so great that they're going to stay with you long after you Stop watching this channel. So if you are interested in finding out more about this course Then go click on the description box below in the little link there and that'll take you to the learning to see page Social media is coming up and that is going to blow Everything away because all of a sudden people are going to define themselves whether or not strangers like their photographs and I Don't have a definitive answer on how you can overcome Imposter syndrome, but I can give you this piece of advice Every time you get a compliment every time that somebody says something Positive about your photography remember what I told you right at the beginning that no one cares about your photography So they are not required to say nice things your mom and your dad But everybody else doesn't care they will say nice things about your photography because well Because they like it It does that's why they're saying it to you Even though you may not think that the rest of the world thinks you're an amazing photographer There's probably one other person out there who goes you are like the most amazing photographer. I have ever seen They will think you are all that and a bag of chips. So remember that It doesn't matter what other people think or How you know, you think you're measuring up against them because this never-ending journey that you're on as a photographer It's only with yourself Right. Nobody really cares about your photography. You're free to make whatever photography that you want to It's all these these things now I'm gonna give you a little caveat with that nobody cares about what you create sort of thing if you are going to be a Professional and this is kind of, you know, what I was wanting to do at the time then yes, you need to kind of balance this idea of making work that is Uniquely yours, but also that will please the the client and you can find this balance You just have to kind of know how to read read clients and what have you and but that's not really that the scope of all this But I just thought sorry that because you know somebody's gonna mention in the in the comments below Oh, yeah, but as a professional user and yes, of course you need to to balance these things with the clientele But this is more about the the why we take photos Be mindful about the sort of people whose advice that you take when looking to improve your photography because There are so many people who just want to parrot off things that they learned last week and We'll say it in a very judgmental non-beneficial sort of way So a good rule of thumb with this is to sit and go, okay Well, if somebody says something about my photograph and you are well, you know what if they don't offer something constructive in with it Then I think you can discount their their their feedback their advice whatever you If somebody helps you says, okay, well, I see what you were trying to do. I see Okay, I kind of get where you're going. Have you considered trying this or trying that approach and And if that prompts a question, you kind of are curious I'm sort of see where I'm going with then those are people worth listening to and you can find them everywhere. They don't need to be Great photographers. They don't need to be people who are you know having hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram or something like that all that tells you about them Is that they know how to get hundreds thousands of followers on Instagram? It doesn't mean that they are either a good teacher that they understand how to help you improve your photography You should also remember that even though most people have a camera The majority of them will just take snapshots without any real thought you are looking to be a Photographer and there is a distinction with this because I believe that Having a camera doesn't just make you a photographer Seeing the world and communicating your unique vision through photographs is the gift That you are exploring that you are developing because you want to be well a photographer and never Never be sort of like naive not naive but blase about this idea because Not everybody has this It's great that you want to explore it's great that you want to develop it because it's wonderful It's an awesome thing to be able to sit there of an evening Sitting in your kitchen watching you know the Sun go down with a pussycat on the wall and the way things are and turn to I'm so well look at the clouds and look at all this stuff. Isn't that amazing and Then they turn to you and you know she goes Yeah, I'm so glad that I have a son who who can see the beauty in the world And this is what you want doing, you know, it doesn't matter what you photograph It doesn't matter what genre that you enjoy the most you have a gift to see the beauty in everything and Ideally hope that you will continue to pursue it to grow it to nurture that That that gift If you'd like to know the one thing that photo school should have taught me then click on this video up here I'm sure you'll find it exceptionally interesting and a real opener. Thank you ever so much for being here, and I'll see you again soon