What Nobody Teaches You About Photography 

I find the photography channels I like the most are ones that deemphasize gear reviews and the technical side but emphasize the creative side of photography.

Adam, this is why I like you and like your channel.. because you're straight talking. No bullshit.. no beating around the bush. You said many things that make sense, but one thing resonates.. "If you don't believe in your own work, how can you expect anybody else to?"

I was having a conversation with somebody who knows I'm into producing music and art and photography, they asked me what type of photography I like making, I said "all sorts... not just street, I even enjoy doing product photography", they looked at me with such confusion. I agree 100% with everything in your video.

At the 12:00 mark you said as life becomes easier...finding meaning and fulfillment becomes increasingly difficult. This is pure gold.

I had to add to my previous comment; when I heard you make the statement, "I always wanted to get good results in the form of a great photo. The problem is, if this becomes your main focus, it's guaranteed to spoil the enjoyment of the experience", I paused your video and told my wife, "That is me RIGHT NOW." It's brutal honesty like that, Adam, that make me love your videos. It is very encouraging to know that those same pitfalls are out there waiting on (and unfortunately often trapping) the seasoned professional veterans such as yourself, and the solution is the same: back up, take a breath, and rediscover your passion for the pleasure of photography itself. Your videos are so helpful, Adam, and as I mentioned before, I really do appreciate you investing your time and attention on the rest of us. Thank you, good sir!

It's so refreshing to hear someone else say a good photographer should be able to do a decent job in any genre as the principles are largely the same, I've thought exactly that for years. I also absolutely agree on taking influences from as many different genres as possible. I'm using the word 'genre', although to me genres are almost a flawed concept or at the very least a slightly strange concept. My professional background is in music; if I hear a song I like I don't think 'that's a good pop track' or 'that's a good rock track', I just think 'that's a good track'. I think about photography in exactly the same way, a good image is just a good image to me, the genre is irrelevent. Keep up the great work Adam, your videos are always a pleasure to watch!

Great messages! Discussions of the "why" of photography are such a nice break to the "how". We need to spend more time reflecting and appreciating on the "why".

Thanks Adam for telling it like it is, no job is all roses and candy you made some great points and the one about believing in oneself

Your comments make a great deal of sense Adam! It’s the journey or experience that will satisfy the photographer, a good image that you have imagined is a bonus! In Feb 2020, I traveled from Australia to Lofoten Norway with a group of photographers i had never met, to do a tour . The experience was amazing, i captured some great images, now in print, hanging on my wall. The images remind me of the experience & the people i met. You have a great channel, keep pressing on! Cheers from Australia 🇦🇺👍🏻

Love the story of how your daughter reacts to your photos. My wife is my harshest critic, one time looking at a photo and saying "meh, doesn't do anything for me." But, she also has a great eye and often points out subjects that I would have missed. I really appreciated this video and did gently press the like button. Thank you!

"alone at the bar before you can say shutter speed" HA! "Wow" is my gauge, when I get them, I know its a good capture. Great stuff Adam... we think alike sir.

This video is for real. So much real; it has all the real. I especially like your comment about weddings where the people are so focussed on forging a perfect day, whereas just enjoying the day will make it perfect. I've come away thinking about a few things from a different perspective, so thank you!

You are not only a good photographer, Adam, you are a decent human being and a good bloke!

This is a lovely video, thank you. You raise points that are lingering for folk like us, but points that we (or at least I) hadn't considered thinking about. again, thanks!

Really enjoyed the video. As a hobbyist nature photographer, I identify with the message. Refreshing to hear someone present the point of view so well. As someone who has the good fortune to enjoy photography for the creativity, the excuse to be away from the throng, outdoors and not focused on success or money, it's validating to hear a professional express the values that I find important to my own experience.

Good points made Adam. I totally agree with it all. Unusual for me to say that as I can be a little critical (especially with myself). I used to be a Pro Photographer in the ate 80s and 90s but then got burnt out and enjoyed a gap of nearly 20yrs lol. Slowly but surely I am getting back into it together with flying. Great uploads as always.

Adam, you are so right about the brides looking for perfection, something that isn't attainable by the way. When I was young and covering weddings around the country, I saw the stress so many times. It was always pleasing to me, that moment when I presented the album to the bride and groom and I saw their reaction to the finished product. One wedding that still persists in my memory involved a posh top hat and tails affair but for wealthy people they were very happy and relaxed. The bride's father was an extremely nice man and the groom looked so much like Harold Lloyd that I shot some black and white for a vintage look in addition, which they absolutely loved. The reason it sticks in my memory is that the bride's father had driven the couple to Manchester Airport and on the way back he was crushed to death by a lorry that overturned on the Dronfield Bypass and I heard the radio announcement as it had happened.

An insightful, inspiring video. Thanks.

Wise words in there, Adam. Many thanks for sharing a great philosophy

Adam, this video perfectly describes my feelings and approaches to my photography. Thanks for putting it together.

Good Evening Adam, I have followed you since I first realized I wanted to be better at making an image. Whilst I have found "some" of your output somewhat maudlin , this release of your's is phenomenal, Stunning work. If not too presumptuous, I would love nothing more than to congratulate you on a truly inspiring piece of work. After my recent copy and paste into email to missus I suspect I may well be a grateful recipient of your book come Dec 25th. Keep going, you Are getting better and better. Gary.

Great video Adam, thanks for sharing your experiences with us!

Great talk Adam! I really connected with that. Thanks!

Really interesting conversation here...it goes the same for me...I got bored of a lot of the spaces for photography and photographers cause too often it became too gear focused...yawn...I've always taken my 'best' photos when I look and I see the nice day I had out enjoying the space or environment I've been in.

Great advice and concepts Adam, always a great pleasure to watch your videos, and I'm nature photographer because I love walking in nature. Landscape or macro, always with me my lenses 24-70, 70-300 and a good old EF 50mm 2.5 macro (nice & light) to follow the moods of the moment.

Love a fellow deep thinker! Great points!

Fantastic video with many truths. I'm trying to get into different types of photography and shoot different subjects because I noticed that I only shoot landscapes. Can't say I have the patience for serious wildlife photography just yet either! I think it's great to be versatile, and as you said you may learn skills that cross over into other types of photography. Agree with each point you made, very relatable. Good to see someone going in a bit deeper and talking about these kinds of things.

Great video and I can completely understand the kids judgment. I can have an amazing shot the client loves and I'm proud of and both my kids will say yeah ok it's ok lol what a kick when my kids just say dad it just looks like every other photo in a magazine or internet search.

What they should teach is how to gain access to where the good pictures are. Working in a target rich environment is key. There are some places and people that are inherently boring.

I quite enjoyed this video. Thank you.

I do like your honesty, sincerity and presentation skills. I normally shoot wildlife and occasionally, motorsport. However, I stepped outside of my comfort zone and did a one day landscape course, here in the south-east. What a great day and I learned a lot. Now I want to travel further afield and try it some more. After that, who knows? :-) Keep up the good work Adam.

Really good presentation, maybe I think that from an egocentric perspective because you have mirrored many of my own thoughts. Anyhow thank you for the content you continue to produce.

I was thinking it’s even more than shooting multi genre. (Which I love to do) but its also knowing which tripod, understanding your camera and choice of lenses. Filters, post editing, printers and which paper suits your photo the most. Mounting and framing perhaps. Publishing either on line or in a book. (Doing a book is such a learning experience) Curating your work and what’s the story behind the image, exhibitions? I get a lot of joy shooting certain shots. And that joy is multiplied when people see that same photo on display at street fairs, galleries and hanging on peoples walls.

Thanks Adam for the honesty and insight. Keep on keeping on :)

Great video Adam, a lovely selection of images.

Great video Adam, really enjoy hearing your journey through photography. I can totally relate to the difficulties of the profession. When it comes to wildlife photography maybe I can help you out there and we can get on a shoot sometime!

This video is a true refreshment, I enjoyed it and it made me think. :) I also love the "just gently press the like button," haha. :)

Good points...press the like button gently 😁 that's nice touch 😅

"...pretentious douchebag that's so far up their own arse they're looking out their nose..." LOL Dude, that's classic. I sat here and laughed out loud. Thank you for sharing your feelings, Adam. That's awesome. PS: I really, really, REALLY do enjoy your videos, Adam; I love the fact that you're very honest with the rest of us, and you don't talk down to those of us who are still very lame beginners who haven't even begun to find our wings. Thank you for the time you invest in us, sir.

Excellent words of advice Adam and for me it's about the journey and not the destination. if you don't enjoy the experience then the final results will be hollower in the long run. Interested to hear your comments about the NFT environment as it certainly has polarised feelings to a greater extent. Just ordered a copy of Illumination and very much looking forward to reading it

Totally agree with all your points and frankly can be applied for all hobbies and not just photography. Photography is a fun hobby for me and I like to try all sorts of things with it. However, I am thinking of starting a photo blog and all advice online is to stick to one theme for it. And most blogs online do stick to one theme. This kinda contradicts to what I like to do. Was wondering what's the advice for this?

I'm a beginner and as much as I don't like landscape photography I find myself doing it more than the style I like. And I'm surprised by the results, which are good.

As a landscape photographer, you know how important is it to protect the places we go. So, i request you to make a video on the steps that you take to ensure that the places you travel to are kept intact. This will inspire others to do the same and even more.

Imagining I'm at a bar... "Hey baby. Did you know you can get better bokeh with an f/1.4 instead of a kit f/3.5 lens? ...Hey! Where are ya going?" 🤣

Spot on comments. Yeah, it's about the journey. The focus can't be on "success" (project- or money-wise). The relentless pursuit of power (including purchasing power) continues to drive most of the worst decisions we make as individuals and collectively. Paid-off politicians refuse to support legislation to protect the environment for fear of losing support from polluters. Back to photography, immersing yourself the situation improves your chances of recording compelling images. Previsualize, but only to the extent of making images that please you--don't even think about how well you think they'll sell. Joy should permeate the process at all stages.

Just wondering, what was the pod cast you were listening to?

Excellent video, with such wisdom. I am surprised Adam, you say that while your out doing landscape photography you avoid people (same here) yet when you have taken a dip in the wildlife genre you headed straight for the parks? In my book that would be like only visiting the tourist hot spots in landscape. I find that if you venture out looking for either a landscape image or wildlife there's normally either to be found in the same locations. For this reason I have taken to carrying two camera bodies one with a wide ish angle on and the other with a 150/600 zoom. If you ever fancy a trip to Bulgaria then you'd be welcome to stay, I would consider it payback for the wisdom you have passed on over the past few years.

SO , how does a landscape photographer handle lockdowns ? .ALSO, can you make a landscape video using entry level APS-C gear shooting ONLY JPEG's to inspire folk stuck in the land of a single kit lens ( please )

Very interesting points you make. Especially when I place them up against the way I do my own photography. Thanks so much for sharing and having thre courage to go a "little deeper".

I don't like talking about my own work unless somebody asks me a pertinent question about it which shows that they are genuinely interested in photography, even if they don't like what I do.

“So far up their own arse that they’re looking out their nose. . . “. Honestly, my wife and I burst out laughing at that one. Genuine LOL, not the usual “I find that mildly amusing” one. I hope you don’t mind if I steal that expression for myself.

Big difference between , got to and get too. I'm a get to kind of guy.

Thank you for sharing. You've made a great video and things you say are applicable not only to photography :)

Everyone's a critic. I find your content great. Something going on in the audio. Your voice is jumping in volume almost too much dynamic range or some sort of processing. You need a processor to smooth out the high dynamic bumps and bring up the low. A compressor might do it but it sounds like you are already doing some processing that is having a negative effect on your voice. Just an observation.

I agree with most of this. I'm not into crypto currency so I don't know much about it. I've been trying to learn different types of photography. Mainly to broaden my skills and knowledge but also because you never know when you'll find something you like more than what you're already doing. It's easy to get burned out doing the same thing all the time. If you change things up you don't get stuck in a rut. You can keep things fresh. I know a lot of local people who took up photography to make money doing portraits. They haven't learned very much about settings. They don't know much about using different focal lengths. Some of them even shoot in auto mode and using jpg. Occasionally they'll forget to chance the white balance and all of their shots are ruined because they used jpg instead of raw. I know you can get acceptable pictures like that but it takes away from your creativity. These same people couldn't tell you how to take landscape pictures. They can't tell you how to do astrophotography. I could go on but I'll stop right there.

Really interesting topics covered here Adam. Especially your thoughts on NFT's, I was only thinking last week that the bubble could burst. I'm also seeing a lot of great photographs are becoming obsessed with NFTs on social media and it's starting to turn me off following them, which is really sad. As you mentioned it seems very cult like. You should do more of this type of content 👍

As is so often the case, I relate to every morsel of your video, Adam. You’re the real deal. 👍

Great honest straight talking video! I am very amateur but love being out and learning. One evening I was set up waiting/hoping for some good light. Along came two other photographers. Turned out one was a 'pro' out with a client. Cutting a long story short what a absolute stuck up arsehole he was. We all should learn but never forget that the story we are trying to tell with our photography is ours not a mirror image of some self righteous dick. Live your own life imperfectly rather than trying to be a perfect copy of someone else and enjoy it! Keep up the great work Adam 👍

I love your description of a douche bag...really made me laugh! Some great points, and I particularly resonate with going out to shoot for the experience rather than results...never a wasted day out when you've enjoyed yourself!

Making money from photography. Do weddings if you don't mind stress. Write books. Teach. I buy and sell cameras from an indoor market stall. Not a great deal of money, but I get to talk to people. I shoot street on my Huawei phone and a 8.1 megapixel Ricoh gr digital camera with black and white at 800 iso and stick the results on Facebook /Instagram. No money, but kudos occasionally. I am 76 retired photographer and Landscape Gardener having fun.

There have been days that the decision was made to take no photos, being selfish and enjoying the moment for myself.

NFTs won't burst, they'll go with a bloody great bang.

I agree Adam NFT's are just a fad and not likely to last long term. No offense to anyone but I don't see NFT's as real art. I would never spend money on an NFT. If I want to purchase art I'd rather spend money on a print, a painting, etc. Something real, something tangible you can hold, stand in front of and enjoy. Call me old fashioned, but these tangible items just have that extra "something" that NFT's will never have.

Nice to get away from the basics in photography. Not all about the f stop, aperture etc. It's all about the personal experience...

I am always surprised when people love my work especially the modelsI work with on studio days as more often than not they are way better togs than I will ever be. I have come acoss a lot of cock Wombles on group shoots who spout forth about their cameras etc but then they say they only shoot JPEG, usuually Fuji owners. I even had one pro tog say to me that Ansel Adams got everything right in camera and never edited his photos, once I stopped laughing I pointed him to the books Ansel wrote about editing in the darkroom. At the moment I have not picked up my cameras since October as my eyes are not doing well and I am waiting to go for my 8th eye operation to put in drainage to stop the glaucoma taking more of my sight. This is my hobby and I don't earn from it but I love it and just wish so called pro togs would realise we are all different and even almost blind folks like me can take damm good photos. Sorry for the wee rant there

you talked about the fine line between being classy and being a douchebag. This isespecially true when you start getting in contact with some photographers that are wayyy too much invested in gear rather than photography itself. I can"t count how many "amateur" photographers I've seen trashing my old X-T1 because they have the latest Canon, or Sony or they have a Leica and "nothing's better than that", only to produce photography that would not even be selected for a prom night photoshoot. It's easy to get carried away and think that if you have a good camera you'll get good pictures, spend 6 or 8 grands in cameras gear then think the camer will do the job for you. Say "Gear doesn't matter" is like beating a dead horse, at least on RU-vid cause it seems pretty much every Photography youtuber has made a video on this topic at one point, but in the "real world" there is still heaps of people that will decide if you're a "true photographer" or not just looking at oyur gear. Sad thing is that it's generally the same a**holes that are gatekeeping photography in general, telling you your picture is dogshit just because it has been taken with a Canon Rebel. No one cares about your photo gear, if you produce shitty images with it it doesn't matter how much it costs. Also, on the topic of enjoying what you're doing, I couldn't agree more. I was doing a lot of hikes, and each time I would get to the summit, and find the landscape beautiful, the only thing that could capture the moment was my crappy phone, that pushed me to get a decent camera. I got invested in doing photography and now when I go hiking I'm just as excited about the pics I'm going to take along the way as I am for the hike itself. What ever you do, if you feel forced to do something, if you pursue that thing, you won't be happy doing it, and like for other forms of art, it won't be good in the end. Photography is no exception

Portrait photography is a compleatly diff skill to say landscape, so I disagree Adam, in landscape, your not in control of the light, it,s pot,s luck. In portrait your in total control, that,s the diff.

I solved the problem by giving up photography.

Your premise that any photographer can excel at any type of photography can't be more untrue. All my life I have been an industrial/commercial/product photographer (55 years). I can make a decent portrait, and have shot dozens of weddings, but my Father and older sister and her husband were the REAL experts at those, not I. My late Father and I bought a warehouse to photograph products up to semi-trucks and garbage trucks in (on large format film) for obscene prices! I've a good friend in Montreal who photographs nothing but automobiles (95% of all car catalogs are his photos) on large format transparencies, and that's ALL he does and he makes 11 figures (US dollars) annually doing it. A friend in town is a medical photographer. Pick your niche and hone it.

If you call street portraits for street photography, then you are doing it wrong. Because it's the same thing as defining your style as just photography. Anyway, do we even need the definition of the style or should we just stick to the truth? It's just photography. No matter what style you do 🤔

lol