A Photographer’s Reality Check
Forget gear, celebrate uniqueness and overcome fear
When I started as a photographer I was into photographing birds. I remember getting a 600mm telephoto lens for my Canon camera. While I enjoyed my time with it, I also ended up with a terrible neck issue that took months to heal. That was perhaps the biggest lesson in my photography journey. I gave up the lens and settled for a 250mm telephoto lens and I still got good bird photographs. I realised I did not have to kill myself to get close-ups of birds!
Over the years I have concluded that gear does not matter, it is the art of seeing which does. If one cannot cultivate this art of observation (no matter what fancy lens or camera you have) one is not going to get anywhere. The art of seeing/observing is all about understanding light, composition, colour, shape, form, and texture, and then building your vision of photography through these elements.
Quite often we feel the way we approach our creative process is better than the others. But it’s not. What works for me, may not work for others. My process may not be the best way, it’s just my way to go about my photography work.
We are all different people and come from diverse backgrounds. Hence our experience will be as unique as our context. And that’s the beauty of photography. Our images portray our uniqueness and our interpretation of other people’s photographs portray our diversity.
The fear of not being good enough always takes us two steps back. Photography is not that boundary that a cricketer gets instantly and wins the match. Continuing with the cricket analogy, it is a process of getting the ones and twos required to keep the score ticking and make progress to reach the required target.
Sometimes so much energy goes into considering others' opinions, getting into unnecessary comparisons, or thinking that our work is not good enough. In my opinion, it will never be perfect or 100 percent.
Photography is a skill that is a process and a journey. And along the way, we may make others who inspire us a part of this journey. Unless we put ourselves out there, we may never grow or evolve. For instance, I joined Medium in October 2023 but did not start sharing any content immediately. I was nervous about writing about my photography work and it stopped me from sharing my work.
My first post was in January 2024. It took me three months before I decided to go for it. I have been doing photography for more than a decade and it's only recently that I decided to write about my experiences and my photography journey. In retrospect, this decision has been the best one as it has given me clarity about my work. It has enabled me to be a part of a creative community like Full Frame which in itself is enriching.
Thanks so much for stopping by here! I am a media professional and a self-taught photographer based in India. My interests are landscape and street photography. You can connect with me on Instagram where I am most active.
