The Fastest Ways to Learn the Secrets of Great Photography

Learning Photography can be a daunting process but needn't be.  Some of the best photographs are taken with simple techniques and once you know how they are done, the rest is easy.  A bit like magic.  If you know how a trick is done, it is not really quite so amazing and with a bit of practice, you can soon be taking great photographs yourself.

The best way to learn how to take great pictures is to study the work of the great photographers.  That's easy for me to say, but you need to learn how those great pictures are taken.

When I first started in photography over 40 years ago, I had some bright ideas and took some good shots, but although I processed and printed my own film from a young age, I did not really know what quality was, let alone know how to achieve it.  Upon entering a London fashion and advertising studio as a messenger and junior assistant, I was stunned by the sheer beauty of the studio pictures.  This was the first stage of my education, knowing what good pictures were and understanding what they should look like from a technical point of view.  After a few weeks, I was allowed to watch some of the photographers make their own prints, and within just a few hours I learnt how to turn my own pictures from a foggy dull mess, into crisp punchy black and white prints that immediately grabbed attention.

The point is this, most aspects of photography aren't complicated, it's just a question of gaining the right knowledge and if you have someone to show you how something is done, then it is no longer a mystery and you can do exactly the same for yourself.

Learn Fast
This is a picture taken by one of my students who literally had only about 20 minutes of studio experience with me, yet this could have been taken by a master photographer.  The picture has been featured in photographic groups and has attracted much praise for him.  All I did was show him what he needed to know, no more, no less, in just 20 minutes!

       

Sure, so you might need a lifetime to practice photography, hopefully as a professional, but to learn most aspects of photography actually doesn't take very long, providing you have the right teachers to begin with.

There is an added bonus - you get a Free Online 500Mb Picture Gallery This is an excellent way to begin building your portfolio - what a great way to start!


Learn Advanced Beauty Retouching
I photograph a lot of beauty shots and I spent a small fortune on Photoshop books searching for one that showed me how to retouch the faces of beautiful girls to the sort of standards required by the glossy magazines.  Not one book covered this subject.  I did find a magazine article that claimed to show certain techniques, but these were crude methods that destroyed skin detail, and were not what I wanted.  Professional retouchers charge up to £40 an hour for their work, but the sooner you learn to do this for yourself, the sooner you save money, plus you have complete control over the finished result.

Eventually I discovered a superb DVD on the subject - High End Beauty Retouching Tutorial.  I learned more from this DVD in two hours that I had in six months.  It is just like I mentioned at the beginning of this page - once somebody shows you how a job is done correctly, then doing it yourself is simply a matter of practice.  You will be amazed at how few Photoshop tools are used to achieve professional results.  You just need to know what they are.  As in all the best techniques, everything is kept simple.  If time is money, then this really is money well spent as you will get great results and save yourself a small fortune on outside photo retouching.
 

John Hooton Photography