Being a photographer is not a job, it’s a calling. Having an eye for perspective, negative space and framing is essential to being able to produce stunning photographs. This does not just apply to portraiture either – there are many, many niches in photography. Some artists specialize in maternity, children, newborns, portraits, conceptual, fashion, glamor, wedding, city-scapes and even architecture. No matter what branch of photography you belong to or want to learn more about, seeing things ‘differently’ is a great asset.
Perspective is all about perception. How a person literally or figuratively sees things is their personal-perspective. You can have a perspective on an argument, where your perspective is created by the reasons for why you see the argument one way, or another. Literal perspective is simply your view of an object. So what makes perspective unique? If I look at a house and you look at a house, we are both just looking at a house, right? Yes and no. One person may look at a house and see something ugly, old and in need of a facelift while another might notice beautiful wrought-iron work or a unique pattern in the bricks etc. As a photographer, noticing those unique aspects of a structure or a person is the key to producing original work. It goes far beyond just seeing beauty where perhaps others may not. Perspective, is also a reference toward angles. People and buildings look exceptionally different depending on the angle from which you look at them. Some people may not photograph well if you approach them head-on but they may have a unique feature that is highlighted by a profile-shot, for example. Buildings can be more complicated than people, however. There are many obvious ways to capture a building in a photograph so you need to have a natural intuition toward doing it differently.
Creativity is another very important quality a photographer should have. There are many photographers out there who see a good idea (had by someone else) and use it. Very few are actually doing the innovating themselves. Being a creative thinker is probably the most critical skill a photographer should possess and it’s likely the reason you were drawn toward photography in the first place. So be innovative – easier said than done? Of course. However, it is possible but it takes work. Many innovative ideas do occur on a whim or through some inspiration but more often than not is requires good, old fashioned, work. Study your subject, approach them (or it) in different ways, different lights, incorporate props or interesting framing – as you work you will see clearly what work and what doesn’t. You may even find that testing a simple change of framing may open your mind to a whole new world of possibilities. Photography is an incredibly competitive field that is growing more and more saturated, if you want to be successful you have to stand-out.
Find a niche. As previously mentioned, there are many branches of photography. It is impressive to do one of them really well and overwhelming to attempt more than one. Some niches do go together such as infants and children or children and family – even wedding and portraits work but trying to tackle vastly different niches can be too much. The ability to focus and perfect the area you are most interested in is what will make you stand-out as a photographer. Stretching yourself too thin means you may to several things well but you may not be great at any one. So, focus! If you want to shoot architecture for a living, you probably shouldn’t be shooting weddings as well. The two are individually difficult and immense undertakings. Generally you work for a client and you want your clients to be happy – that will be difficult if you aren’t 100% involved in the work.
Photography is a rewarding field that provides you the privilege of working directly with clients, making people’s visions and dreams come true and displaying the world or humanity in a unique way that represents you as a photographer. Always remember that the key qualities your need to focus on to become a better photographer are perspective, creativity and specialization. Do one thing really well and be proud of the work you do – your clients will be proud too.
This article was written by Toby Carter Photography
