Here is a list of 10 things I\u2019ve learned the hard way that every photographer, designer, creative\u2013hell, every creative person\u2013should know.<\/p>\n
1. Experts aren\u2019t the answer.<\/strong> 2. Clients cannot tell you what they need.<\/strong> 3. Don\u2019t aim for \u2018better\u2019, aim for \u2018different\u2019.<\/strong> 4. Big challenges create the best work.<\/strong> 5. Aesthetic sensibilities actually matter.<\/strong> 6. Simple is good.<\/strong> 7. Make mistakes, learn quickly.<\/strong> 8. \u201cValue\u201d is different from \u201cprice.\u201d<\/strong> 9. A-Gamers work with A-Gamers.<\/strong> 10. Real artists create.<\/strong> Here is a list of 10 things I\u2019ve learned the hard way that every photographer, designer, creative\u2013hell, every creative person\u2013should know. 1. Experts aren\u2019t the answer. The blogs, the teachers, the mentors, the seminars aren\u2019t the answer. They\u2019re not there to tell you exactly what you need to know. If they\u2019re good, then they are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[26,27,7],"class_list":["post-41","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-photography","tag-camera","tag-creativity","tag-photography-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.inkhive.com\/preus-plus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.inkhive.com\/preus-plus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.inkhive.com\/preus-plus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.inkhive.com\/preus-plus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.inkhive.com\/preus-plus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.inkhive.com\/preus-plus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43,"href":"https:\/\/demo.inkhive.com\/preus-plus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41\/revisions\/43"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.inkhive.com\/preus-plus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.inkhive.com\/preus-plus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.inkhive.com\/preus-plus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe blogs, the teachers, the mentors, the seminars aren\u2019t the answer. They\u2019re not there to tell you exactly what you need to know. If they\u2019re good, then they are there to give you some ideas, some guidelines, or some rules to learn and subsequently break. This isn\u2019t about the expert, it\u2019s about you. In creative pursuits especially\u2026what\u2019s going on inside you is where the answers can be found. Hear what experts say, but don\u2019t always listen to them.<\/p>\n
\nClients hire you because they have a problem. They need a great visual representation of something, a solution. They think they know the best way to photograph something, but they don\u2019t really. That\u2019s why they hire you. Take their suggestions to heart, because they definitely know their brand, product, their vision\u2013perhaps even shoot a few versions of the images they THINK they want to see first\u2013but then go nuts with own vision. Add value. Show them something they didn\u2019t expect. Don\u2019t be a monkey with a finger. Remember why you got hired\u2026that YOU are the badass image maker. If you are good enough to get selected for the job, you should be good enough to drive the photographic vision.<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s funny how related \u201cbetter\u201d and \u201cdifferent\u201d are. If you aim for \u2018better\u2019 that usually means you\u2019re walking in the footsteps of someone else. There will often be someone better than you, someone making those footsteps you\u2019re following\u2026 But if you target being different\u2013thinking in new ways, creating new things\u2013then you are blazing your own trail. And in blazing your own trail, making your own footprints, you are far more likely to find yourself being \u2018better\u2019 without even trying. Better becomes easy because it\u2019s really just different. You can\u2019t stand out from the crowd by just being better. You have to be different.<\/p>\n
\nIf you get assignments that are pushing your vision, your skills, then awesome. Kudos to you, keep getting those assignments. If you\u2019re not getting those assignments, then you need to be self-assigning that challenging work. Give yourself tough deadlines and tougher creative challenges. You do your best work where there is a challenge that is clearly present and 10 feet taller than you think you can handle.<\/p>\n
\nGo figure on this one\u2026 I\u2019m constantly surprised as how much this is overlooked. Read this and believe it: You must develop a keen understanding of design, color, light, and composition. To just say \u201cI know a picture when I like it\u201d isn\u2019t going to get you anywhere. You need to know \u2013for your own sake as well as the sake of your clients who will ask you\u2013 WHY a photo is a great photo. WHY is this one better than that one. If you don\u2019t have any visual vocabulary, opinion, or aesthetic sensibility you won\u2019t be able to explain these things. You won\u2019t get the job. Or if you do get the job, you won\u2019t be able to explain why your photos are worth getting hired again by the same client for the next campaign, story, or video. Trust me on this. Develop a sense of visual taste.<\/p>\n
\nAlmost every photo that is bad has too much information. Outside of technical basics, the number one reason that most photos fail is because there is no clear subject. Often this is the case with design, film, fashion, you name it. Remove clutter, remove distraction. Tell one story, and tell it well.<\/p>\n
\nSimply put, you need to be able to learn from your mistakes. Avoiding failure is not the goal. The goal is recovering from mistakes quickly. That goes for ever element of your photography\u2013creative, business, vision\u2026you name it. If you\u2019re not willing to make mistakes, you\u2019ll be paralyzed with inaction. That is the devil. Get out there and do stuff. If it works, do more of it. If it doesn\u2019t work, change it. Quickly.<\/p>\n
\nDon\u2019t compete on price alone. That is certain death in any creative field. Focus on delivering value and price yourself accordingly. If you deliver great value with your images \u2014 better than expected, and better than your competition\u2013 and you can illustrate that through any means, then you should be more expensive. And remember that value comes in many forms.<\/p>\n
\nIf you are good at what you do, then you work\u2013or seek to work\u2013with other people who kick ass too. If you suck, then you put yourself around sucky people to feel better about yourself. If you want to be the best, seek to be around awesome people\u2013be it other artists, assistants, producers, clients, partners, whatever. Shoot high. Shoot for better than yourself.<\/p>\n
\nDo you just sit around and think of stuff you could create, photograph, build, ship, or design, but never output anything? Then you\u2019re a poser. Take a new approach and make stuff. Maybe what comes out of your studio isn\u2019t perfect, but there should always stuff leaving the door and hitting the web, the page, the billboard, the gallery, or the street. If you are for real, you\u2019ll be pumping out work on the regular.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"