Photography taught me so much this year. Here is my takeaways going into 2024:
The past year has been so many things: exciting, stressful, fulfilling, hard, you get the idea. The days that are attached to so many memories this year though are the ones where I have a camera in hand. With every photography-related memory from 2023 I had some type of lesson or learning attached to it. These are my top four things I have learned or implemented and will be taking into the new year with me.
- There are so many communities of photographers. Get out there and find yours!
I don’t think it’s surprising when I say that photography has so many niches. I was trying a lot of new photography disciplines but had no idea where to start. One thing about me is when I want to do something new I dive into a black hole of knowledge with the thing I’m trying to do. These deep dives led me to find communities of photographers that not only were doing what I aspired to do but were willing to help and teach me about it. So many forums exist on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, that are filled with people who are supportive and helpful. My favorite group that I found was on Facebook called LEARN! A Kick*ss Photographer Community. I made a couple posts asking for advice or constructive criticism that helped me see an outside perspective of what people may think about the content I’m creating and publishing. Not to mention, improved my photos in some way (who doesn’t want that) and showed me things I should look for in the future. We can learn so much from other people, even just one person, and I think it is so vital to improving and growing your craft.
- Don’t shy away from trying new things! Mess with your camera settings, try a different angle, experiment with the foreground.
Before this year, I was pretty comfortable with the way I took my photos. Especially when it came to my work in aviation. My settings and editing worked really well for me so I never felt the need to change much. It wasn’t until I started teaching some friends about photography that I realized I am capable of so much more with my camera. When I would explain settings to the friends I was teaching they had so many new ideas that I would have never thought of. It made me realize I had settled into the process and it was hindering untapped potential. Towards the end of the year, I experimented so much with settings, angles, lighting, and I can say it produced some of my favorite photos to date. Now, I don’t ever want to let myself settle back into a comfortable photography routine at shoots.
- Instagram is still your friend!
Every photographer who uses Instagram knows that the algorithm is all sorts of messed up right now. The photos we work really hard on and are proud of barely get a reach, but then content that we make just to have a post reaches thousands of users. I think a lot of us can agree that it is a huge de-motivator to continue using the app. However, it is still such a strong tool for us photographers. I used the platform, not intentionally, for networking this past year. I connected with other photographers in my disciplines. In my aviation side I even connected with some pilots that I was photographing at events, including a couple U.S. Airforce pilots. If Instagram doesn’t want to connect us with like-minded people, we’ll just have to do it ourselves.
- I beg you, please do not delete photos…
I cannot stress this enough! This is something I was told early on when I was learning from my Dad. I have a vivid memory of him saying something along the lines of, “don’t delete any of your photos after downloading them. You never know what software will exist in the future.” Now, we have programs like Topaz and Lightroom Denoise that is capable of saving those shots that aren’t “perfect” but just a tad bit soft or have a lot of noise from high ISO settings. I am going back into photos from 2016, 2017, that were not useable at the time and making them quality shots now. Doing this takes up a lot more storage space but technology is only improving so who knows what we can do with those photos in a couple of years.
I’m so thankful for all of the opportunities that I was presented with this year and how much I learned from all of it. What were your takeaways or cool opportunities you had this year?
Yost Photography 