Advancing Your Photography. Marc Silber
any instant feedback. In today’s digital world, those barriers have gone. This is both a help and a hindrance. No one expects to pick up a musical instrument and immediately make beautiful music. It takes years of practice, but modern cameras are so technically foolproof it’s tempting to think that you can pick up a camera and make great photographs from the get-go. It can happen by chance, but to make consistently good photographs, you must practice, practice, practice.
I still believe the only way to learn and improve is to get out there and shoot, but now you have a resource that gives advice from decades of experience from some of the world’s best photographers.
Marc Silber has distilled the essential nuggets of information shared by these photographers in his very successful video series, Advancing Your Photography. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Marc for several years and can attest to his dedication to helping photographers of all levels find their vision.
His background as a seasoned working photographer gives him the necessary perspective to ensure you only get information that works. It would be difficult to better his advice.
Use this information and apply it when you are out there shooting. The more you shoot, the better you will know your camera and the less you will be concerned with equipment, so that you can concentrate on the image. So get out, shoot a lot, make mistakes and learn from them. And remember, photography is fun!
Bob Holmes
Marin County
“PHOTOGRAPHY IS A LOVE
AFFAIR WITH LIFE.”
— BURK UZZLE, DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHER
My intention with Advancing Your Photography (AYP) is to provide you with a single text that will take you though the entire process of becoming an accomplished photographer. I will do this by teaching and involving you in the stages of the cycle of photography so you can climb, step by step, a stairway that continually spirals up, following its major stages.
As it is a handbook, it is a size that you can take with you in your camera bag and refer to often. In that way it will be your guide and coach and there when you need us.
I have had the wonderfully enlightening experience of interviewing scores of photographers over the last eight years, and I will pass along to you some of the gems that they gave me throughout the book. Since these interviews covered many genres of photography, you’ll get tips in the areas you most likely want to know about.
My inspiration for writing this book was the many conversations in these interviews; I discovered that there was no definitive resource book that photographers who wanted to advance their skills could go to for help that was simple and easy to use.
As photography is constantly evolving, I will teach you the basics that are not likely to be constantly shifting.
There is plenty of data available about the newest technology; I want to focus on teaching the fundamentals that will carry you forward in a lifetime of pursuing the art and craftsmanship of photography. I may be leaving myself open to criticism for leaving out what some perceive to be key details, but I chose this path so I can provide you with a handbook you can use, not an encyclopedia of photography.
What you will gain as the reader is an easy to follow guide to help you create photographs that you love. After all, at the end of the day, when you’re able to accomplish that, then others will no doubt fall in love with them too!
How to read this book
“TELL ME AND I FORGET. TEACH ME AND I REMEMBER.
INVOLVE ME AND I LEARN.”
— BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Be sure to check in on our resource page at AYPClub.com.
This is where you’ll find links to my recommendations, videos that accompany the book, and other helpful information.
AYP will open its doors to you and you’ll receive its full benefit by following several points that I want to stress:
1. Know the words! Just like my mom repeatedly told me, always look up any word you don’t understand as soon as you encounter it; never try to go past one, or you’ll end up confused. Use the glossary in the back, or look in a simple photography dictionary (go to AYPClub.com for recommendations.)
2. You can also google “define _____” – but watch out, some of these start simple but soon get more complex. So grab what you need to understand the word and don’t dive in the deep end.
3. “Involve me and I learn.” The other point I cannot stress enough is to have your camera or equipment or the software being discussed sitting right there in front of you. Touch it and move or touch whatever I’m talking about as though I’m there with you showing you these points, involving you then and there. So if I’m talking about your lens, look at it, notice what I’m saying, and touch the parts mentioned, etc.
4. The next step of our hands-on approach is to do the practical exercises that I give you. Don’t sail past these – you’ve got to put what you and I have gone over into use NOW!
5. I love notebooks (they have long been a staple for artists) and I recommend that you get a plain black and white “composition book” and write “AYP” on the cover. As photography is a visual subject it helps to use your notebook for “visual thinking” to sketch or write down your discoveries, key words you want to remember, diagrams and drawings of how something works, and flashes of inspiration! You can also use it as a way to log your advancing skills as a photographer, like a diary.
Leave room in your cup
I have told this story at the start of my workshops:
Nan-in, a Japanese master, received a university professor who came to inquire about his teachings.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”
“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I teach you unless you first empty your cup?”
No matter how much you have studied or your level of skill, be sure to leave room in your cup to learn!
There are two ways to study this book:
1. Start at the beginning and go through it sequentially chapter by chapter, learning as above. I recommend this to you, even if you think you’ve already studied some of the data. I guarantee you’ll learn something new if you leave room in your cup!
2. Or let’s say you’re on a trip and want to dive into“travel photography” or “wildlife photography” and get some tips to use right away. By all means do so, but I still recommend that you go through chapters 1, 2 and 3 first to have your basics and your camera down cold.
Either way, the important point is to really use AYP and carry it in your camera bag or have it close to hand when processing your photographs, etc. I may even give an award to the most well used copy of it in the field! And show me where and how you’re using it by tagging #AYPClub on Instagram (including pages of your notebook).
Sandwich Training