42 PracticalPhotograPhy
W
hatis itthat
separatesprofessional
photographersfrom
amateurshooters?
asi defromtheobvious
di fferenceslikecostof
gearandthesmallmatterof gettingpaid
totakeshots,theprois generallyatwork
when outon a shootwhilethehobbyist
doesit forfun.But whilethestressesof
hi ttinga deadlinewillnevertroublethe
amateurphotographer,oneelementof the
pro’sworkingmethodcanbe veryuseful
toadopt– andthat’sfulfillinga brief.
Stayingmotivated
Motivation– or thelackof it – is often
raisedby hobbyistshootersas thebiggest
barrierto gettingouttherewiththeir
cameras.oncetheinitialexcitementover
thisnewpastimehaswanedandsome
goodshotsarein thebag,theneedto go
out andshootalsofallsaway.Whereonce
everyweekendinvolvedsometimespent
onphotography,it graduallystartsto
becomea ‘once-a-month,butonlywhen
the weather’sgood’thing.a professional
photographercan’tslipintothishabit,
however,as
theyhavea client
tosatisfyandthey
haveto go outandshoot.By embracing
thispromindset,motivationis replaced
byneed.youjusthaveto be a bit hard
onyourself.
Settinga target
thesimplestwayto do thisis to imagine
yourselfas theclient,briefing‘you’as
thephotographer.set a briefof fiveto
te n imagesthatyouhaveto shootwithin
a certaintimeframe.suggesta themeto
theseimages,usemoodboards,colour
chartsandotherimagesforinspiration,
and makea contractwithyourselfto
deliverthemon timeandon brief.
Whena profinishesa jobthey
of tenhandoverall of theirimages
totheclient,wherea teamof
cr eativesdecidewhichof themto
us e. Theshotsarewhittleddown
th rougha processthatwill take
se veralfactorsintoaccount,and
part of thismethodis a usefultool
touseon yourownshotsas you
developas a photographer.It can
behardto objectivelycritique
yo urownimagesat first,so start
bylookingat shotsyouseeonline
orin print.Findfivethingsyoulike
and fiveyoudon’tlikeabouteach
im age,andonceyou’vegotthe
hangof theprocess,applythe
approachto yourownimages.
learn to self-critique
treat every shoot
like a client brief
tips&advice
tip
alWays
carrya camera
Youcan’tgeta shotif you
don’thaveanythingto
shooton. Wherepossible,
alwayskeepa camera
tohand.
make a
contract with
yourself and
deliver on it
10 Ways To Improve
6
Yakobchuk
olen
a
bannasak
