The secret to truly great photography may shock some of you, so make sure you’re sitting down when you watch this video.
We have all seen ads pop up on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube that promise to reveal the secrets of great photography, and while we would love nothing more than to be able to flip a switch and be a world-class photographer, that is not how it works. Photographer, and YouTuber, Daniel Norton has shared a few thoughts about these ads that claim to reveal the secrets of great photography (for a price) and has put all of those thoughts into one short video. Let’s talk about this after the break.
Are you ready for the grand reveal? Are you ready to find out what the secret to great photography is? It’s called working your butt off and making sure you practice at every opportunity you get. That’s right. It’s shocking, I know. As Daniel Norton points out, all of these ads and videos that are sensationalized with titles like ‘hacks the pros don’t want you to know,’ and ‘hints and tips only the pros keep to themselves‘ and so on are all absolute phooey! There is no magic bullet or secret formula for great photography apart from hard work.
The real secret to being successful in photography is patience and persistence. Photography is not something you can master overnight. Photography is not something that you can become good at because you watch one video that contains ten tips for portrait photography; no, photography is something that you need to practice on a continual basis.
You need to be out there, shooting, experimenting, marking down what worked and what didn’t work. You need to master your craft by putting forth the effort. Sure, there are tons of videos on YouTube that are very helpful, and we know there are courses out there that can help you too but don’t go into this thinking you can just watch a video or sign up for one class and be good.
Photography is about the journey. There is no get good quick scheme out there, so slow down, learn, practice, build yourself up for the long term, and enjoy the ride. Check out the video above. It’s just over eight minutes long and is well worth the watch.
