Anyone Can Be A Photographer – Myth or Fact?
The act of taking a photograph looks incredibly simple. It's just point, click, done– who could get that wrong? And yet, when we look at holiday photographs or pics taken on a night out, we often see exactly how the seemingly simple photographic process can be got badly wrong. Someone in the photo is chopped down the middle, someone else was looking at something off-camera … these things happen.
If you want to make a living as a photographer, then you have to realize that there is a lot that needs to be got right before you can actually take a photograph. The common refrain of professional photographers advising amateurs is “find the light”. Even with a flash bulb on your camera, the fact is that natural light is the most forgiving form, and is to be desired by photographers.
Keeping the camera still is another issue that amateur photographers often get wrong. The simple fact is that a camera shutter is never as fast as the human eye when it comes to capturing a scene, and if your hands shake when you are taking a photo you will end up with a blurry shot that you might be able to pass of as “artistic” if you have gullible friends.
Many people also take photographs for the sake of taking one. The fact of the matter is that if you want to make money as a photographer you will need interesting subjects. A long-time professional may be able to get away with snapping a banal image because they can make it interesting – but when you are starting out, the subject is everything.