Recently a forum questioning whether a photographer should buy learning DVD's started going toward the "don't waste your money, shoot more pics" direction and I found that to be terrible terrible advice. Not that taking photographs will not increase one's ability to simply 'make photographs, but taking photographs 'correctly' may increase ones ability to make BETTER photographs. (Referring to DVD's by D. Hobby and J. McNally)
I posted the response below on Flickr this morning.
1. When told that spending $150 on a DVD is 'too expensive' I immediately shelve that person in the "don't get it" group. Expensive? Really? Maybe photography is not the right foray for a person who wants to learn, but finds that spending money on it will be painful.
This is not a put-down or a 'diss' - it is a fact of the photographic life. 2. The calls for 'take more pictures' instead of buying a DVD seem arrogant and a little closed minded. People do different things to learn... they learn information differently as well. Some learn by doing and some by listening and some by seeing. Telling those who learn by seeing that the ONLY way is by doing is terrible information. 3. The DVD's that these two guys are offering for a very small sum offer information that is audible and visual. Some people learn a lot from that form of information. "Just read it in a book" is way lame, folks. We could do away with schools then, and just charge folks a couple of hundred thousand for a library card. I wonder how anyone can say things that simply are not reflected in the world we live in. Have you read any books on photography that do not include photographs? (I have.) They are not about learning the techniques, but deal with other questions an aesthetics. Technical books do have photographs because they reinforce the text. To teach. 4. if you have never been on a professional shoot, it is damned hard to know what is going on at a professional shoot. You can 'read' about it. (That would be a real snoozer...), or you can view it from afar. Not much context to that. But a DVD can give you that opportunity to be 'on set' so to speak. To see and hear and see some more. And you can watch it more than once to see things you may have missed the first time. 5. While I believe that it is very important to practice, practice must be based in correct technique and context. "Practice makes perfect" is not necessarily true if one practices something wrong. It is an unfortunate phrase which should be "Perfect Practice makes Perfect Execution". Watching consummate pros like D and J do what they do is worth so much more than a lousy couple of hundred bucks. It may prevent someone from continuing to practice imperfectly. To learn the inside scoop so to speak, is so invaluable as to be worth much more than what it is costing. Photographers would work 12 hour days for $50 as assistants back in the day - just to see what the hell goes on at a shoot. It isn't 'taught' as it is too fluid to be hierarchical or to have a lexicon... it is somewhat dynamic with many moving parts and personalities. But, in the end, it comes down to someone telling you how you should learn, and what you should spend your money on, and how you should spend your time. Bullshit. No one who does that has your best interest at heart. No one who makes those kind of global statements has anything but a personal agenda. The DVD's will have nuggets of info that many "super advanced beyond technique" shooters will find invaluable. Hell, most of us SABT'ers would spend twice that for ONE tiny nugget that makes our work easier, or a technique that can be adopted into our work. Those who are not in the SABT club may find more than nuggets... they may find a ton of stuff that would change the way they are practicing now. To tell you not to invest in these opportunities would be a disservice. YOU know if you need the DVD's. YOU know if you learn that way. YOU know if you can afford the ROI. Constantly amazed that people seek advice from those who are not capable of giving it, but amazed more that those who are incapable are so willing to give it. My opinion is that learning costs less than fuckups. Always has. Always will.
1 comment:
Right on the money Don.
That's why one attends workshops or suscribes to Kelby Online Video Training (like me)
Without attending your workshop and Joe's and doing Kelby online vids for the last year my technique would be lagging for years.
In fact, It will take me years to catch up with practicing what I have learned that way, but would have taken a decade to gain by my own experience.
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