Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • The Great Outdoors

Field Notes: How to Become a Photographer

  • April 25, 2016
  • Ben Osborne
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
0
0
0
Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

When I first started looking through a viewfinder, I thought every frame I was lining up was destined for the pages of National Geographic. Even though I didn’t understand ISO, f-stops, or shutter speed. In my mind it didn’t matter. After all, when it comes to photography, it’s the magician, not the wand right?

 

Photog
Photographer Glen Harris dangling at Metcalfe Rock. Photo: Colin Field

Words: Colin Field

Boy was I wrong. Because if I was the magician in that metaphor, I was a crappy one. My early images are terrible. Out of focus, poor composition and boring subjects being just a few of the major problems. But actually practising was the real issue. In the days of film when every photo (slide film) cost close to a dollar to produce (and I was broke) there was a constant inner conflict between clicking the shutter and/or spending the money. I can’t imagine how much quicker kids in the digital age progress.

Over the years I’ve improved. I still haven’t produced anything worthy of National Geographic. And I’m quick to see the errors in my own work. I’ve taken a few workshops over the years, and worked as a photo editor for a while, both of which have helped me progress.

Of course I get the insulting comments like, “your camera takes really nice photos.” Or the always awesome, “I wish I had your job. I would love to just take pictures all day.” Me too! I’d really, really love to skip all the postshoot work. And the pre-shoot work too. And the cataloguing, the editing, the hustling, the selling, the pricing.

It doesn’t matter what kind of camera you’re using, find something you love to shoot and shoot the hell out of it. There are people who make a living shooting waves. Or snowflakes. Or model tanks.

But don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s one of the best gigs going. I also get the inevitable questions like—Canon or Nikon? To which I have no response; because it really doesn’t matter. And once in a while I get the question, “How do you become a professional photographer?”

This one requires a bit of thought. If I was in the business of giving people career advice I’d say practise. You can’t be a photographer if you aren’t taking photos. So shoot, shoot and then shoot some more. Learn to use your camera, your computer and everything in between. It doesn’t matter what kind of camera you’re using, find something you love to shoot and shoot the hell out of it. There are people who make a living shooting waves. Or snowflakes. Or model tanks.

I can accredit most of my skill to good old-fashioned practise. Years of getting behind the lens and in front of a computer screen.And there’s only one other piece of advice I’d be qualified to give, and it’s probably the most essential advice for anyone starting any kind of business: never, ever, ever give up.

Because you’ll get better every time you click the shutter. And eventually, if you’re persistent, people will start paying you to do just that.

And that’s the dream isn’t it?

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • colin field
  • Field Notes
  • photography
Ben Osborne

Previous Article
  • The Great Outdoors

Fight for the Sacred Headwaters: We All Live Downstream

  • April 22, 2016
  • Editor
View Post
Next Article
  • Features
  • Annual
  • Skiing

The Monk, the Jeep and the Mountain: A Georgian Ski Odyssey

  • April 28, 2016
  • Ben Osborne
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • The Great Outdoors

Helly Hansen Presents: Adventure Planning 101 with Squamish SAR

  • Sarah Bulford
  • May 16, 2022
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • The Great Outdoors

Blower Pow and Disappearing Pants

  • Sarah Bulford
  • April 26, 2022
View Post
  • In This Issue
  • The Great Outdoors

ML Launches Mushroom Life

  • Sarah Bulford
  • April 1, 2022
View Post
  • Leslie Anthony
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play
  • The Great Outdoors

Spring at Sun Peaks

  • Sarah Bulford
  • March 8, 2022
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • The Great Outdoors

Backcountry Skier John Baldwin Headlines VIMFF’s 2022 Best of British Columbia Night

  • Sarah Bulford
  • February 22, 2022
View Post
  • FALL GEAR
  • SPRING GEAR
  • THE GEAR SHED
  • The Great Outdoors
  • WINTER GEAR

The Legend of San Poncho

  • Editor
  • December 9, 2021
735990496 1280x720
View Post
  • The Great Outdoors
  • Videos

Friday Flick: Island of Plenty

  • Sarah Bulford
  • July 2, 2021
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • The Great Outdoors

Win Adventures to the Filming Location of the HISTORY® Channel’s “Alone” Season 8!

  • Sarah Bulford
  • June 8, 2021
Featured Posts
  • Mountain-Life-20th-showreel 1
    20 Years of ML
    • March 24, 2023
  • Mustang-Survival-WOMENS-HELIX-CCS 2
    Gear Shed: Our End-of-Winter Picks
    • March 23, 2023
  • natural-selection-Redbull 3
    Friday Flick: Natural Selection Tour Highlights
    • March 17, 2023
  • Powder-Highway-BC-ski 4
    Powder Highway Revisited
    • March 21, 2023
  • AleTrailsSouthernInterior_Vernon_MikeGamble_LookoutTrail_BenHaggarPhoto 5
    Ale Trails: Southern Interior Part 1, Vernon + Shuswap
    • March 20, 2023
RECENT POSTS
  • Elements-Outfitters-Filson-cabin
    Elements Outfitters Partners with SALTS to Protect Alberta’s Incredible Landscapes
    • March 16, 2023
  • Bora-Boreal-Quebec-winter-cabin-stars
    Bora Boréal: Frozen in Time and Ice
    • March 14, 2023
  • Uncertainty-mountains-Rockies
    Facing Uncertainty: The Role of Chance in Mountain Adventures
    • March 13, 2023
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
We’re celebrating 20 Years of Mountain Life!
From The Gear Shed: Last Monday was the official start of spring, but we know there’s still some winter to be shredded. So ML staff and partners have picked the latest jackets, lanterns, bindings, mugs and drysuits for winter-spring.
Exploring the sights around beautiful Sutton, Quebec with ML creator @adv_bird ❄️🫶
Back on the road with three generations, dancing lifties, best-on-planet pizza and elusive-but-exquisite pow days.
Live It Up EP 24 is out now!
The Southern Interior region of BC holds an ecological cross-section of the province with alpine meadows, arid Douglas fir grasslands, damp cedar and hemlock forests of the Columbia Mountains and the warm expanse of Shuswap Lake.
Do Not Disturb mode activated ✅ #mountainlifer
Conceived by superhuman snowboarder @travisrice, the @naturalselection Tour highlights earth’s premier riders, from big-mountain mavens to Olympians, all competing on the most stoketastic—and unpredictable—terrain known to humankind.
Built upon a shared desire to enjoy, respect, and advocate for Alberta’s incredible landscapes, it was a natural fit for @elementsoutfitters to work with a local conservation organization @saltslandtrust to highlight the province’s rugged beauty and outdoor apparel to match.
THE UNINVITED INVITATIONAL April 13-16 @woodwardtahoe 😱 $40,000 cash prize purse and a whole lotta spotlight on a group of riders whose time has finally come!! Presented by @jess.kimura and @thenorthface and supported by @yeti @capitasupercorp @slushthemagazine @unionbindingco @smithoptics @sunbum @coalheadwear @fattire 🫡 watch the finals in person Saturday April 15 and join the crew + @btbounds for a public ride day Sunday April 16 @borealmtn. Time to make some history!!! #linkinbio to learn more!
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

We’re celebrating 20 Years of Mountain Life!
From The Gear Shed: Last Monday was the official start of spring, but we know there’s still some winter to be shredded. So ML staff and partners have picked the latest jackets, lanterns, bindings, mugs and drysuits for winter-spring.
Exploring the sights around beautiful Sutton, Quebec with ML creator @adv_bird ❄️🫶
Back on the road with three generations, dancing lifties, best-on-planet pizza and elusive-but-exquisite pow days.
Live It Up EP 24 is out now!
The Southern Interior region of BC holds an ecological cross-section of the province with alpine meadows, arid Douglas fir grasslands, damp cedar and hemlock forests of the Columbia Mountains and the warm expanse of Shuswap Lake.
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.