10 reasons you need to pick up a camera in 2018
1. Gain a skill you can take anywhere
Photography and videography are skills you can teach yourself in your spare time that make you far more employable. Aside from learning another language, this may be the best way to increase your market value in the fields of advertising, communications and media.
Once you’re competent, you can take your skill set anywhere in the world.
2. Meet people
Your camera will bring you into contact with people from a wide variety of backgrounds. This is especially true in the industry. You will meet creative, interesting people inside and outside the field. At some point you will probably want people to be part of your video or photo projects. This is a great way to make a business connection or a friend.
3. Crush social anxiety
Use the camera as a tool to crush social anxiety, big league. As a teenager I worked for the local TV station as a stringer. I went alone to news events; filming them, and finding and interviewing the subject of the story. Fear of walking up to strangers and starting a conversation is very real for some people. Wielding a camera doesn’t make it any easier. I had to talk people into being on screen, which proved difficult. Everything is easier now. Now I can talk to anybody.
You might not have that opportunity, but you can make your own projects. Make a documentary, help a band make a music video, or take photos at the skate-park.
4. Learn to make something
When you learn to film or take photos, you’re learning how to make something. A lot of satisfaction comes from looking at a product you have made, that can bring enjoyment to you and others. This could be a striking photo to hang on the wall or an online video series to watch.
5. Learn how to learn
Once you learn a new skill, you can look back and reverse engineer how you did it. Many abilities and skills can be learnt in the same way. First, take a talent or skill you want to achieve. Consult a resource, a book or online video series, and match what you’re doing to what they’re saying.
Break the practice down to the smallest possible task. Do that task every day and you will start to build momentum.
For photography you could take the camera out for 30 minutes a day, then analyze the best photo from the bunch.
For basketball it could be doing free throws for an hour each morning.
Once you’ve learned the camera, learn something else.
If you can find a mentor, whether in person or online, it will halve your learning curve.
6. Capture important moments well.
When I became competent with a camera, requests to help record events for friends and families went way up, but I always enjoy doing them. It’s a way of making a birthday or wedding special without your loved ones forking over stacks of cash. Being able to hold a camera without shaking it, knowing basic framing and lighting and recording clean audio will put you leagues ahead of most home movie-makers and amateur photographers.
7. Record history
Develop the habit of taking your camera out into the world, and you’ll be surprised how things can work out.
Often you’ll end up at the right place at the right time. You could be at the scene when a car accident happens, or a terrorist attack. If it is a small event, offer to send footage to a news agency, who might pay for it. If you’re at the announcement of World War 3, capture the scene and have your images go down in history.
8. Discover your artistic side
Photography is an art form. The word means ‘drawing with light’. It can be hard to think of it this way with all the technical aspects to learn. First, master framing and lighting, ISO, aperture and shutter speed. Then you can look past the lens and get more creative.
Find a photographer whose style you like and try to copy them. Or imitate the filmic style of your favorite movies.
9. Start seeing the beauty in things
When you pick up a camera and start looking for interesting shots, you’ll notice things you didn’t before. You may develop an interest in nature and architecture.
An urge to recognize the plant-life around you, and put names to the structures that surround you. You’ll find the beauty in the world. Find that and you’ll never run out of energy.
10. Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the practice of being in the moment. Camerawork lets you practice active mindfulness. Hone in on what you are filming or lining up to take a photo of.
Take the camera out in public or into the wilderness and lose yourself in the surroundings. Film a bird in flight and focus on tracking its path through the sky, keeping it in the middle of your frame.
Play with your focus and exposure. Get it right. When your thoughts wander, bring them back to the task.
