First 2,500 Hours of Deliberate Practice Learning the Art of Photography

This post marks the one quarter point of my 10,000 hour photography apprenticeship, which is an emotionally challenging milestone.  In some ways this seems to have happened very quickly.  Yet I am also very aware that it has taken me nearly 20 months to get this far, and at this rate I will not finish for another five years (60 months).

Objectively, I have achieved the following in the 2,500 hour of work over the last 20 months:

• Pressed the shutter release on my camera tens of thousands of times
• Achieved Licentiateship of the Royal Photographic Society
• Become familiar with the works of over 100 of the most famous photographers
• Studied painting and other forms of visual art in addition to photography
• Written posts about the nature of art, photographic composition, colour theory, etc.
• Moved stylistically from straight photography to a frequently semi-abstract style involving long-exposures, multiple-exposures or intentional camera movement
• I have carried out 5 commercial assignments for a high-end residential builder
• Have had an image accepted into an International Salon.

If you have any comments on this review, please post them below.

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First 1,000 Hours of Deliberate Practice Learning the Art of Photography

It’s July 2018 and I’ve now put in 1,000 hours learning photography through deliberate practice, and am consequently ten percent through my 10,000 hour project.

10,000 hours of deliberate practice is often compared to a 5 year industrial apprenticeship.  So after 1,000 hours of graft, I should now, just about, be capable of making the gaffer a cup of tea!

The best tip was from David Boag on 23 January, when he gave a lecture to the Stoke Poges Photographic Club: “To increase creativity; whenever a shot is good enough to take, also take it from two further angles.”  This forces you to think about alternative perspectives and images that can be made from the same subject.  I have been deliberately practicing this every time I go out shooting, and am hopefully on my way to making it a habit.

Technically, I feel comfortable using Capture One for RAW processing and initial processing then passing the image to lightroom for further processing in Photoshop, output to JPEG and/ or social media channels (flickr, facebook, instagram), and long term storage.  See: “Post Processing Workflow Revision“.

The biggest change for me is that I have started to understand photographic styles and some of the photographers associated with them, as described in my post “First Notes on the History of Photography as an Art Form.”  In general, I am taking a more informed view on my visits to galleries and exhibitions.  Clearly though, still a long way to go.

 

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To see more posts on other photographic topics, or to follow my learning progress, please like or follow me on the social media channel of your choice to the right.

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First 500 Hours of Deliberate Practice Learning the Art of Photography

Its April 2018 and I’ve now put in 500 hours of  deliberate practice learning the art of photography, and am consequently five percent of my way through my 10,000 hour project.

The highlight of the last few months has been meeting David Hurn for a private viewing of his “Swaps” at the Photography Show on the 18 Match 2018.  The small group that huddled round him hanging off his every, softly spoken, word in an otherwise noisy environment must have resembled a rugby scrum.

• “A competent photographer is easily identified by the intensity of their focus on the task of image making.”  (He was identified as such when he was in Trafalgar square taking pictures of the pigeons!)
• “Do your homework” you can gain access to people if you demonstrate a knowledge and interest in them or their work, “be up and working by 5:30am and still at it at 10 in the evening.”
• “Watch a scene with a knowledge of the geometry that makes a strong image, and wait for the elements to get into place.”

Top locations shot include:

• Andalusia Spain (Seville, Cordoba, Granada)
• Semana Santa (Spanish Holy Week at the above locations)
• Christmas in British Columbia, Canada (Vancouver, Chilliwack).

My key (completed) posts were:

• Initial Thoughts on Dog Photography
• Winter Photography 2017/18 – where we were lucky enough to enjoy some snowy days.

[Other blogs started but not yet completed include: “El Nino Graffiti in Granada Andalusia Spain“, “My Introduction to Capture One Pro Sony 11” and “First Attempt at Macro Photography.“]

If you have any comments on this post, please post them below.

To see more posts on other photographic topics, or to follow my learning progress, please like or follow me on the social media channel of your choice to the right.

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First 250 Hours of Photography – Deliberate Practice

Half way through January 2018 and I’ve now put in 250 hours of what counts and am two and a half percent of my way through the 10,000 hour project learning the art of photography.

To see what I’ve done in detail, please look at my Journal.

I think both my approach to photography and post-processing is improving, and I’ve created some images that I’m happy with.

I’ve learnt a little about colour theory, composition and have discovered some inspirational photographers and artists.

My key post was: “Composition – Early Thoughts” which took a long time to write and good deal of background reading.

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After 100 Hours of Deliberate Practice in Photography

Initial enthusiasm in November has meant that I’ve put in 100 hours of deliberate practice and am now 1% of the way through my 10,000 hour project to become an expert photographer.

To see what I’ve done in detail, please look at my Journal.

I think I’ve taken some good shots, and made some nice images.

I’ve learnt a little about colour theory, composition and have discovered some inspirational photographers and artists.

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