Visual Learning
There are many, many great photography resources out there, and, allot of them are free. I am currently reading up on flash from a site called Strobist, http://strobist.blogspot.com, and it’s great because the archive of info is sequenced and you can go back to the first post as a beginner and read through from there.
Other good photography resources include:
http://www.nobsphotosuccess.com/
http://www.prophotoresource.com/
http://digital-photography-school.com
But of all the resources out there, I would have to say that the most valuable ones are not the ones that explain techniques and tips, but other photographer’s portfolios. Whilst the educational sites are definitely useful, I find I learn the most from looking at other photographer’s pictures.
I don’t realise that I am learning at the time, I am just admiring photographs, but all the while I am subconsciously absorbing information about what good photography is. Looking at pictures where all the “rules” are obeyed and it is beautiful for it, looking at pictures where the “rules” are broken and it’s beautiful for it. I find that after a while of looking at photos, an idea or a way of shooting something that would not previously have popped into my head suddenly does. Looking at this stuff online somehow gets my head into a different space, the more I look at photographs, the more opportunity I see for them around me.
Photographers train themselves to look at things differently, to know how to find the angles and details that will make for a dynamic image. It is interesting to watch how Greg (the photographer I am shadowing) who has been photographing for over 10 years will choose to shoot something. A fairly basic example of this can was when I was assisting Greg at a weddinga while ago and I was taking pictures of the bouquet. I had found an area with good lighting and a decent background, placed it there, got close up and started playing with depth of field and angles. Greg walked in the room, saw the light, lines and reflections, and said that whilst he would have placed the flowers in the exact same place, he would take a few steps back and shoot from a different angle. When I saw what he was looking at I couldn’t believe I had not seen it beforehand. Here are the two shots.
The first shot.
The shot Greg suggested.
Obviously he did go in and get some close-ups too but the point was he had recognised an interesting lighting situation happening as soon as he saw it and later asked the bride to go sit there for some portrait shots. He went on to say that it’s simply an experience thing. Over the years he has just learned to see things differently, to always be aware of what the lines, angles, shapes, light, textures and colours are doing around him. He has also credited allot of his education as a photographer to his photo-browsing and I am sure most photographers would say a similar thing. When pouring over the work of other photographers, you get to learn from their experience. You are building mental catalogue of angles, poses and interesting ideas.
It’s also a great way to start developing your own personal style as a photographer. The other day I was chatting to my boyfriend Sean (www.mergestudios.co.za) about consciously moving towards a more consistent photography style and he said to me; “Finding your style is all about finding who your heroes are”. And there is allot of truth to that, the people you admire and whose works you follow are going end up having a huge impact on your own work as a photographer.
When I first started getting into wedding photography, a friend of mine, Doug Place (http://www.dougplace.com), sent me some links to the blogs of internationally recognised wedding photographers, specifically for this purpose saying, “No photography study would be appropriate without a careful study of the masters”. Since then I have added some of these blogs to my bookmarks and check them regularly as a conscious way of investing in visual learning. It’s great because most photographers will post links or talk about peers whose work they respect and you get introduced to more and more photographers as you go along. You also get a feel for what is happening in the industry, what competitions are being entered and won by whom etc.
So if you are interested in wedding photography (most of these are links to wedding photographers but there are one or two that are not) and would like some ideas on where to start looking for inspiration here are some of the links I was sent 🙂
The World in Thirds 
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