Envy Photography + Creative Design partnered up with Canon to make Capture Photography Workshop happen—not just once, but twice. It features four great photographers who have mastered their sense of taste and style: Kevin Brent, Sundae Cruz, Nina Villanueva and Jeff Ong of Envy Photography. The photographers discussed different elements that affect the creative processes of a photographer and inspired the aspiring photographers within the audience.
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As one of those aspiring photographers, I’ve encountered a lot of those times when I felt I wasn’t making much dent on my goals. These goals seem unattainable especially at my pace, but it’s what makes me want to continue. However, as I try to achieve these goals and hearing the speakers tell their own stories, here are the things I’ve learned that helped me a lot with my photography.
4. You can’t learn photography overnight – it takes time.
So you just got your first professional camera and most of your pictures are pure crap. Pictures that go straight to the bin. Motion blurs and under-exposed photos are your arch-nemesis, but once you master the balance of different settings, you’re going to be okay.
Play with the exposures, shutter speeds, and aperture. A slight adjustment may either make or break your masterpiece. Learning how to be comfortable around these three settings will go a long way. Once you’re familiar, it will be easier to switch from automatic to complete manual mode. This way you’ll be able to control the ambiance of your photos.
There’s no shortcut to being a great photographer. All great photographers went through a long journey of discovering their own style and mood. In the beginning, trying to copy other’s work will be a normal thing. You’ll be a mix of everything, but that doesn’t mean that you’re a fake. You’re just finding where you’re most comfortable and where you’ll shine.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
It doesn’t matter how great you think you are; you’ve got to have your mentor. Even known photographers have someone they look up to. You know why? Because that’s what pushes them to work harder and inspire them to continue. That someone doesn’t necessarily need to be famous or well-supported. It could be your lolo or tita who influenced you by letting you try their oh-so-expensive equipment.
You may be a sloppy shooter at first, but your mentor will be there to support you, to guide you when all of your photos are blurry—and that’s saying a lot because your camera is on automatic mode!
2. Be patient and passionate about what you do—that’s when good things happen.
For an amateur photographer to evolve, it takes a lot of patience and passion. If you don’t care about the craft, it’s hard to keep up with others and hone your skills. Passion is more than just willingness and eagerness to fulfill your craft. It’s all about how you feel when you do what you do. Do you feel happy doing it? Do you feel excited when someone trusts you to take their photos?
Are you willing to give up time even if you know that your upcoming project is all about ‘exposure’ and not really financially supporting? I did a lot of ‘exposure’ projects before and it definitely opened up a lot of opportunity and connections. Although it made my wallet suffer a bit, it’s a great experience to learn about yourself. Also, people will know about your works.That may be the start of your career.
1. Being different doesn’t mean you’re wrong.
Don’t be discouraged when your work looks entirely different from the others. That’s not bad at all. It can only mean that you see things in another perspective. ‘Always aspire to be different’, that’s what Kevin Brent, one of the speakers, said that struck the most to me. When things are created the same way, isn’t that boring?
The process of getting yourself out there will take a long time and it may feel as you’ll never get there, but I promise that you will. I’m also not there yet, but it won’t stop me from trying. It takes a leap for you to get to a higher ground, right?
