 What is happening guys? It's Nick Chay. I'm coming at y'all with another video. Today we're talking about something a little bit different and that is how to get started into photography and why gear doesn't matter. I know I get a lot of comments asking you know what kind of camera do I shoot on? You know what equipment do I use? How did I get started into photography and the videography? So today I'll give you some tips on how I got started and what photography really means and why you don't necessarily need to have the most expensive cameras or lenses to get started. Alright so the first thing is that gear does not matter. I know you hear time and time again and it gets a little repetitive and a little cliche but I think that every artist and every photographer who says that really does mean it because we know what it means to come from nothing. If no great photographer ever just picks up a Canon 1DX Mark II that's like a $5,000 camera and you know when you get to the point where you feel like you're a professional where you need that type of camera to do your job then yes of course it's worth the investment but if you're just starting out you want to take your feed in and you just want to learn how to take great photos you don't need that expensive camera you can really start out with a cheaper body and work your way up once you start saving your money from the shoots that you do you can eventually upgrade your gear. At the end of the day obviously your gear makes a ton of difference in the quality of the photos that you're shooting and just the type of images that you can get but everyone has started somewhere and for me I was shooting on a Canon T3i for several years before I upgraded to the 60D and then the 60 and now the 60 Mark II and then the Sony A7S so you really do have to start from the bottom and work your way up as time goes on you realize that the camera is the most important aspect of photography you know most importantly it's the photographer the person behind the camera so if you have the creativity and the desire to become a photographer then there's nothing stopping you don't let your gear get in the way. So as far as my story and how I got into photography it all started with a photo of a dandelion that I took with my Samsung Galaxy S3 or something in my backyard during golden hour just a cool photo and then I submitted that to this local photography competition and I was in like sixth grade at this time my mom says I have an eye for it ever since that photo anyways I submitted it one first place and I got $300 which I used to buy my first camera the Fujifilm X10 from there I just fell in love with photography I was taking that little camera everywhere I went and it opened up a lot of doors for me it made me realize okay I do have an eye for this and it's something I'm really good at and so I would just save up all my Christmas money all my birthday money buy cameras whether it's used or new through eBay and just continue upgrading from there like it's the whole process of buying and selling and buying and selling I've hardly had a camera for more than like two years before I want to upgrade because there's always something better but even then like the gear still doesn't matter it was an upgrade because I felt I had used up all the potential I could in that specific camera meaning that there was no way for me to grow without getting a new body or new lens or something which and when you get to that point in photography when you're using your equipment to its full extent then it becomes perfectly justifiable to continue upgrading because you know you're pushing yourself to my second tip is practice is key you always have to be outside taking photos with your friends or random subjects or whatever just as long as you're practicing photography consistently you're instantly going to get better keep in mind though that you have to practice with some sort of focus in your mind that okay today I'm gonna get better at this today I'm gonna learn a new technique or when I'm editing I would want to edit this photo a different way you always have to think about improving once there and that's what drives so many creatives and artists to always just push themselves to make better content at first yeah your photos may suck like they won't look great and you're just gonna feel bad but that's the process you know my biggest influences and role models on youtube and in this creative industry are always say that you know failure is necessary because I mean you learn from that you move on and you become better and I truly believe that which means it's okay to have shitty photos at first but if you learn from it develop your art form and really put in the time and effort to become great at something you love then it'll eventually pay off and yes getting started with photography can definitely be scary and a little nerve wracking going out with your camera and asking people to pose for you or even asking to get paid for gigs I remember when I was first starting out I was just doing a lot of free stuff from my friends that eventually got my name out there oh hey this kid's pictures are really great people started asking me hey how much do you charge I'm like oh I can start charging now which basically just comes with time of developing a portfolio developing a style which I'll go into now your style as a photographer is literally your photography is it's your biggest identity it's the way you trademark your editing or your poses and for me that's probably one of the most important things about photographers that I like and look up to is that they have this very unique style whether it be through the color tones they use or the way they capture the image or just the concept behind it and that's key to developing your name as a photographer as an artist you don't want to be copying what everyone else is do you don't want to be you know the next Sam Colder or Casey Neistat you want to be your own person and as great as those people are to look up to I mean they're some of my biggest romanos I've learned from them and now I take that knowledge and develop into my own craft whether it be through photos or cinema or you know this youtube thing which is why it's not bad to take inspiration from bigger photographers or youtubers and use their ideas because yes if you see someone cool then take inspiration from that and implement it into your own work and that'll really help develop your voice as you know a photographer or whatever it is you're pursuing now the biggest misconception I think with photography is that you have to have thousands of followers on Instagram or you have to be this huge youtuber to have an audience that will look at your photos and to be honest that's not the case my Instagram account only has like 2000 followers which isn't very substantial compared to a lot of these other photographers whose work is out there but for me it's never been about the followers or the likes it's about me sharing the photography the pictures that I love with my friends people who enjoy the art form as much as I do and appreciate the work that I'm putting out so there's never a constraint on how many followers you need like that shit doesn't really matter it's just about the quality of the content you're producing because if you're producing great images consistently posting on a daily basis the followers will come eventually whether it takes months or years people will expect great work and that's what's going to help you get you followers but at the end of the day photography is an art form it's a passion and it's something that you have to be passionate about you can't just decide to pick up your camera and be one of those Instagram photographers who you know has a nice camera and a nice lens but doesn't know how to take good pictures or it's taking pictures of like the most basic things like that doesn't make you a photographer that just makes you another Instagram girl with the camera no one cares about that and yes it's hard and yes it's a struggle and of course it's oversaturated with so many photographers in the industry right now but if you keep at it and it's something you really love to do then it shouldn't matter about the fame or the fortune and that's been a big struggle for me is that yes as much as I love the art form itself I do want my work to be appreciated by others and so there's nothing vain about wanting more followers or wanting more YouTube subscribers or anything like that because obviously I think the work that I put out is good content and I want other people to be sharing that which is why it's always a struggle for me to just push myself to always be better always put out you know better content than I am before figuring out new editing techniques whether it's through YouTube tutorials or shooting in a different situation anything that pushes my creativity and pushes me to think outside of my boundaries it's going to help me just grow as a photographer I mean if you look at these photos behind me these are just some of my favorite photos over the years I've taken and then on the wall that I'm usually behind those are just even larger photos and you know photography to me is it's just something I can't put into words capturing a moment in time forever is the most impactful thing and you know for me as a photographer anytime I look at a photo I remember that exact moment I was behind the camera pressing that shutter button and that memory is ingrained within me forever which is why I love hanging on my pictures because I can instantly look at it and you know reminisce on that day and that memory and that shoot overall what I hope you can take from this is that it doesn't take much to get into photography honestly even with your new iPhone 7 plus or the 8 or the 10 you have great cameras on that that can produce stellar quality images I did that test between the iPhone 10 and a DSLR and people hardly tell the difference so go out there with portrait mode shoot a nice picture put it into a live room edit it and see what you can come up with I mean that's literally how it got started editing is a completely different process but it takes the photos to another level it's another part of your style you know no photos ever complete without editing it anyways that's just my thoughts and opinions I hope this helps I change it at the back drop a little bit kind of trying to see what's most aesthetically pleasing leave a comment if you guys like this type of video I'll try to make more tutorial videos in the next few days that's it for now I'll see you guys next time