growing as a photographer

July 28, 2012

Photography, Running a Business

I know photography is an area of blogging that be overwhelming. You may drool over gorgeous, magazine quality photographs on other blogs and feel like you can never do that, so there’s no point in trying. That’s how I felt when I first started my business, then my blog. I just raised the white photography flag and took pictures on automatic. This was the result of that mentality…

Nice. Yes. Those are pictures I took and sent along to my designer to use for my website. She politely encouraged me to work on my photography skills. I had taken a photography class a few years ago, so there was really no excuse. I understood the way a camera worked, but I had focused most of my early photography efforts on cats and kids and things outside in pretty natural light. I hadn’t tried to stage and photograph my home. These are the photos I used in my very first blog post about three years ago… 

It’s okay for before pictures to be bad (and I think I used this one from Craig’s List), but the after picture is pretty bad as well. The picture isn’t even straight! The lighting isn’t great and I didn’t do any editing to make it look better. I’ve resisted the urge to scrub these photos from exisitance, because I want people to see how much I’ve grown.

These are the kind of photos I’m taking today…

It’s taken me over three years to get from the first group of pictures to the last ones. I didn’t take any classes. I did upgrade some of my equipment, but I’m still shooting with “amateur” gear. I still have a lot of room for growth and I probably will always feel like that. I cringe at the thought of calling myself a “photographer.” I prefer to call myself a “blogger who had to become a photographer by default, but I’m not really a real photographer.” I guess I need to drop that absurdly long qualification at some point, though.

Anyway, I’m sharing all of this to say don’t lose heart. If you feel like your photography is lacking and it’s hurting the growth of your blog, it’s something you CAN get better in. It’s not something you’re born with, but a learned skill that anyone can acquire.

Here are some posts and resources that may help you…

My past posts about photography

Centsational Girl – Photography

Funky Junk Interiors – Photography Tips

My Three Boybarians

If you’re more of a visual learner, you may want to check out Shoot Fly Shoot. They offer video tutorials for people who want to learn how to use their cameras, master their photo editing software and take better pictures.

I know the technical nature of photography is intimidating, but it’s a great “life skill.” If you don’t use it to take better photos for your blog or business, you can at least take better pictures of your friends and family.

I am an affliate for Shoot Fly Shoot, but this is not a sponsored post. I think it’s an awesome resource and wanted to share it.

Marian Parsons

Paint Enthusiast | Writer | Artist | Designer

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