I’m a gadget guy. Always have been. I have a degree in engineering and I like tinkering and technology. I can usually figure out how something works own my own without a manual. What I am NOT good at is creativity. Thinking of creative ways to do things, especially artistic things, is difficult for me. Fortunately the web is full of inspiration.
Yes, learning by doing is the best way to get good at something. It’s just a heck of a lot easier when you have a foundation of knowledge to draw from. And the knowledge I’ve received from learning has helped me get more creative. I’d like to think it has made my photography better.
Remember that book I got with my first DSLR? It is called Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. It’s more of a technical book than a creativity book. But I needed that technical background down solid before I could really start working on my creativity.
My photography education collection has grown quite a bit since that first purchase. I’ve read lots of books. I subscribe to Outdoor Photographer magazine and listen to Derrik Story’s The Digital Story every week. I recently bought a subscription to Lynda.com. Wow does that website have an excellent libray of photography education. Derrik has a few titles on there I really enjoyed, too. One of my favorite Lynda.com titles is The Practicing Photographer by Ben Long. In fact, Ben Long has a lot of great content on Lynda. I’m currently working my through Inkjet Printing for Photographers.
I’ve never had the time to get out and go to a workshop. That’s on my list of things to do. I think a workshop will give me what I’ve been missing with my other avenues of education – people to learn with.
My current project is to learn more about printing with the goal of getting the best out of my new Pixma Pro-100. My preffered ink-jet paper is Red River Paper. They have a great library of resources on their website. I’ve always been disappointment with the color representation of my prints on my HP All-in-one photo printer. I’ve color profiled it and my monitor, but that has never seemed to do the trick. I think I’m on a learning curve now that will get me to where I want to be.
What resources have you used to learn to be more technical or creative in your photography? Is love to hear so I can try it out. Leave a comment.
