Every so often, and I actually mean very often, I am asked to give my quick top tips for taking the same kind of images that I am taking by people who tell me they have been photographing for a few months. I know that what they mean is not if I can give tips very quickly, but if I can just give them shortcuts to taking better pictures. In my mind though, there are no shortcuts to any kind of true craftsmanship and artistry, and nor should there be. What I mean by this is that I believe that part of what gives you self-confidence as an artist is not the external validation you might get on Instagram, for example, but the inner knowing that you have earned the pictures you have made by working hard, being dedicated to the process, by striving to express yourself in your work and by putting in hours and hours of practice.
When I reply to such questions by saying that it would be wise to learn as much as possible about their camera, about the technical aspects of photography and also spend many hours practicing, it soon turns out that this is the wrong answer. This is not what the ...