I've noticed that there are no good consumer / casual video logs for photography. What you see on YouTube is a bunch of people showing off how "pro" they are, and how much cool gear they've purchased. For most of the world who are interested in photography, none of the content is actually useful.
What you end up getting is just way over someone's head, and gives the wrong impression of photography. It doesn't have to be hard and complicated. Anyone can do it, there is no magic nor huge budget requirements, there is only time and patience.
I see a lot of video logs on YouTube that shows a lot of other casual tips/tutorials for things like photoshop, makeup, arts and crafts, which can all be done by anybody. They make it a strong point that gear is not the strong point, and even the cheapest items can be used to make amazing things happen. Why not in photography?
Photography is in this horrible trap that retailers have successfully constructed. There's a powerful and artificial correlation between expensive gear and great photography.
I want to change that. I know it's not about expensive anything. There's a set of secrets that once known, anyone can become real photographers.
Take Instagram for example. You get early users that are tech celebrities with little photographic gear, but have very creative minds. These guys have millions of followers and have a huge influence over many people due to the beauty of social media and networking. Most have horrible pictures they post sometimes of food they're eating. Why horrible?
Well first, let's talk about how these photos are good.
- Interesting subject - mainly because the photographer is a celebrity, people care what they're doing and want to follow or relate somehow to make themselves feel relevant
- Good composition - it's probably cool enough to post because this celebrity's reputation is on the line. If he posts a shot of something horrible, people will take credibility points away. So only photos you saw were actually pretty dang cool, without any fancy shmancy equipment (e.g. camera phone)
- Photo was taken - The best photos are those you take. If you have a gigantic camera setup, but you don't bring it everywhere because of the obvious troubles it causes, you don't get the shot.
Now let's talk about why lots of photos are not shared or considered good
- Poor quality - Washed out, not enough colors, blurry, noisy
- Doesn't have that umph - No cool effects, no time to learn / use photoshop, photoshop is way too expensive, too much work, only pros can do this
- Photo equipment unavailable - My wicked D900001 camera with hella megapixels was not available
With a program like Instagram, these nerdy geek celebrities can now use their solid iPhone cameras to take great photos, and instantly apply great effects to their photos. They're basically doing what "pros" and serious hobbyists do anyway. Pros and hobbyists have sets of "actions" that they perform on their photos for processing. This action can either by in a darkroom for film, or processed digitally with things like Photoshop. It's just easier, and with a tool these internet gods use all the time anyway. You instantly go viral, and everyone starts taking photos. See, not so hard huh?
Let me get to the point: There's so much to say, and there's no good vlogs for the average photographers. As Gary Vaynerchuk would exclaim at me if he were reading this is: "START ONE!"
I've been the total gear head and gotten every possible piece of equipment on the market, and I've gone to the bare minimums. I've learned a lot, and I know that anyone can actually create amazing photographs. A lot of people ask me how to process photos, what cameras to get, what lenses I used for what, but very few ask me: "What gave you the idea and how did you plan to be at that place at that exact time? What was the story?" Those latter questions are the important ones.
I'm going to do it. If I have any possible spare time between working on Fanvibe, actually taking photos, staring at my fish tank, eating, and hanging out with my friends, I will create some.
There are a few problems I can think of:
- I'm not a girl, who's good looking.
- I'm not a good looking guy
- I've never done videos before
The first two I can't really change, but the last one I shouldn't be afraid of. Here are some of the topics I think I'm going to start writing about and publish with a vlog post:
- What camera should I get?
- Getting an SLR, what's involved?
- What programs will help me easily process photos cheaply?
- Processing digitally, lame or awesome?
- What are some favorite processing techniques?
- What settings do I use for my camera?
- What lenses do I get if I have a SLR?
- Cool iPhone/Android apps that I can use?
- My photos are blurry, what can I do?
If you have other ideas of things I could cover, or if you want to help the cause, leave a comment!
