Masters Don’t Tweak
By some estimates, photography is the most popular hobby (at least in the US) and many newcomers join the ranks each day. That’s a wonderful trend! Yet, it seems the practice of some businesses is to prey on the gullible and photo-beginners are a lucrative target. I’m referring to those who peddle snake oil “tips and tricks” guaranteed(!) to turn a rank amateur into a seasoned virtuoso with little effort and with just a quick tutorial.
According to some, the mere act of photographing a landscape scene in black and white is sufficient to clear the bar to “shooting like Ansel Adams,” while others proclaim that some gadget or another will make you “like a pro” etc. Most recently I received spam mail from a site proclaiming authority over digital photography featuring an article titled “Tweak your landscapes like a master in Photoshop.” Umm.. tweak like a master??? Come on, editors, have a little respect; if not for the masters, at least for your readers!
There are no shortcuts or quick fixes to becoming a master – of anything! It takes hard work, dedication, lots of miserable failures, rare moments of enlightenment, tedious repetitive practice, and the occasional revelation that takes one to the next level.
Tips and tricks and techniques and gadgets will not make you a master or a pro or an artist. They can give you starting points, serve as a trigger for further research, help you understand the basics, but ultimately mastery comes from within and demands creativity, imagination, and inspiration. Masters don’t become so using tips or tricks. They work themselves ragged, driven by passion that consumes their souls and silences the pain and drudgery necessary to accomplish anything resembling greatness. No work – no glory. Deal with it.
Here’s a quick tip: if you want to improve your mastery of landscape photography, leave the glossy pages at home, find a quiet place in the wild and read John Muir. It will not make you a master overnight but it will get you closer than any Photoshop tip or piece of plastic.
Category: Rants and Raves
You are absolutely right…it’s not being a master in photoshop that will get it. It’s getting out there and using your camera. I’ve shot thousands of images and even after 4 years I too fall short, but I have my moments with a pretty good shot. Practice makes perfect!
Hey Guy
Another great article … but that closing paragraph is a gem. Regarding the photo, you see ‘blues’ better than perhaps anyone I know. Great work, master.
Cheers
Carl
Masters can not be created in Photoshop. A beautifully composed photo can be artfully improved in Photoshop, but Photoshop can not create a masterful shot. No gadget or trick can do that.
I agree with your premise Guy. I think “tweak” though may have a different meaning now. It’s a euphemism for “make up for your lack of knowledge and vision with software”. Masters do tweak, I think they always have. But for them it’s part of their overall master plan if you will and not a shortcut or workaround the way software companies, and for that matter camera companies, have been advertising it.
Very nice Guy, reminds me of…
“In every walk with nature, one receives far more then he seeks”
John Muir
I’ve said the same thing all along! You can not make something up. It is either amazing or it is not. The value of being real and having a true moment of brilliance far outweighs the hysterical vanity that some photographers are willing to resort to just to further than own shallow ambitions. I can close my eyes and still feel the wind blowing … Read Morearound me at the exact moment that I photographed some of my best known images. Nothing I have done since has ever effected the real art & beauty that I was fortunate enough to experience.
Oh, yeah, don’t ever make eye contact with or engage in conversation anyone wearing a photo vest that is about 40lbs overweight, sporting an Ansel Adams beard, and carrying a tripod. Nothing good can come of it.
I think it wouldn’t be enjoyable much if I were a master at some things.
My two favorite paragraphs:
“There are no shortcuts or quick fixes to becoming a master – of anything! It takes hard work, dedication, lots of miserable failures, rare moments of enlightenment, tedious repetitive practice, and the occasional revelation that takes one to the next level.”
and…
“Here’s a quick tip: if you want to improve your mastery of landscape photography, leave the glossy pages at home, find a quiet place in the wild and read John Muir. It will not make you a master overnight but it will get you closer than any Photoshop tip or piece of plastic.”
I could write pages on the last one, but I’ll let it stand.
Thanks.
Dan
Well said Guy!! There are lots of ‘opportunists’ out there spamming our in boxes. There is definitely no short cut for hard work and it’s people like these who creates fuzzy thoughts in the minds of the uninitiated!
That last paragraph is the best nature photography tip I’ve ever heard.
Piling on, Guy. That last paragraph is a gem.
No doubt there is a direct correlation between one’s appreciation for nature and the quality of nature/landscape shot one can produce.
Well said Guy. Nothing will make you a better photographer than getting out and experiencing nature.
Drew
I know everyone is saying what they feel is the best bit that you wrote, but the sentence above (to me) shows a true understanding of the psyche of an artist.
Thanks Roberta! That’s a great endorsement from a fellow artist.
Well said!
All visual art forms seem prone these days to the promise of quick success via “tips and tricks”. Even in painting magazines you’ll find articles like “10 Tips to Make Your Work Look Like a Rembrandt”.
Photography is probably more susceptible to this hollow promise because of all of the buttons, dials, adjustments, automated features of both cameras and post-processing programs. It is easy to be seduced by the promise of these options, even though they are just tools and do not impart any creative, artistic spark on their own.
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Guy, have you read the book Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment by George Leonard? It is a quick read filled with gems of wisdom about becoming a master at anything. Too often, folks dabble and then move on, or think that they can just dabble their way into becoming really good photographers. Leonard talks about PRACTICE, finding a good TEACHER, and STICKING WITH IT. It is all about perserverence. It is about taking two steps forward and one back, about reaching plateaus and staying there sometimes for a long time. As you said “the occasional relevation that takes one to the next level”. I recommend this great book to all artists and anyone else, for that matter, who wants to become a master at the thing they are passionate about.
Guy very well put. You also have a talent for writing.