I am taking stock of what has gone well and not so well in 2021. And I have decided to capture all this good stuff in this not so serious, getting close to the end of the year blog post.

Here are 21 things that I have learned.

1. Photography is alive and well
2. Photography snobbery is alive and well
3. People knee jerk on social media
4. I know quite a lot of stuff
5. I can do new stuff if I just do it!
6. Practise really does make well not quite perfect but certainly better
7. I still do not need Photoshop (apart from removing stuff)
8. I take less photos, but they are loads better
9. Composition is still king
10. I do not need a new erm anything
11. My camera does not really matter
12. RAW vs. JPEG?
13. Social media is really not that important (or Is it?)
14. I am still struggling to talk
15. Does a photo have to technically perfect if you like it?
16. Niching down works
17. Being your own brand makes sense
18. How may photos do people look at not on a device?
19. Black Friday is rubbish
20. My website is rubbish
21. Sticking to things pays

OK that is a list of things that came out of my head in no particular order. Let’s have a quick look at each of these one by one.

Like I say, nothing too serious in this post, just some things for us all to think about.

1 Photography is alive and well

The good news is that after this incredibly difficult year photography is indeed alive and well. The proliferation of online photos seems to know no bounds and continues to grow,

Now you might see this as a good thing or a bad thing, but in my simple head if photography is growing in whatever form that must be a good thing.

Think about it – we would hardly call it good news if there were less photos being shared now would we?

And the photography industry is struggling but is still there and I expect to see growth in the second half of 2022 – I think that the first half of the year is going to be tough though.

2 Photography snobbery is alive and well

So much so that so that I created a page all about it on my website called, erm Photography Snobbery.

Now what am I talking about here?

Let me give you some examples.

If you wear the camera neck strap that comes with your camera you look stupid.

• No, you don’t.

You must use manual mode to be a proper photographer.

• No, you don’t. I don’t.

This kind of thing. People giving these views that make many of us feel inadequate and insecure, and make us think that we are doing things wrong.

I hate this, and can find examples of it any time I look for it. Which is a shame.

We should be encouraging people to enjoy photography, to be able to us learn it without having these things forced on us.

Photography snobs need to shut up and leave people alone.

3 People knee jerk on social media

This happened to me this week. I saw someone ask a question on Facebook, so I offered some advice to them and got jumped on at once for not answering the specific question.

They were asking how to fix something in post processing, and my advice was how to avoid having to do this in the first place when taking photos.

But no, someone jumped on me and sent me three messages pretty much calling me an idiot for not answering the actual question.

So utterly unnecessary.

4 I know quite a lot of stuff

Yes it appears that I do know rather a lot of photography stuff. I have realised this from the feedback I have received from my podcast, the Photography Explained Podcast, and from blog readers, and from comments on videos on my You Tube Channels.

I have learnt a lot over the years, and in 2021 have learned how to share my knowledge to help people which is truly a wonderful thing.

5 I can do new stuff if I just do it!

Well last year I started my podcast which I have stuck with, and this year I created a course – How To Become A Real Estate Photographer.

I have spent lots of time thinking about creating these new things, and do you know what – I wish I had just got on and done them ages ago.

The thing is that when I got into them all the fears just went away.

So, if there is something that you are thinking about doing, just do it.

Start now, get perfect later!

6 Practise really does make, well not quite perfect, but certainly better

Yes that is taking photos, processing them, writing blog posts. Anything.

So, whatever it is that you are doing keep practising at it, and whatever that thing is it will improve.

And the number one way to improve your photography is to go out more and take photos. As I like to say…

7 I still do not need Photoshop (apart from removing stuff)

I have been shot down for this again this year.

And do you know what, I don’t care.

I do not need Photoshop for anything other than to remove stuff that I cannot remove in Lightroom.

If Lightroom had the clone stamp and the spot healing brush tool I would not use Photoshop at all.

And no, I have still not used layers on any photo.

8 I take less photos, but they are loads better

Yes this is a biggy for me. I used to take loads of photos, and these days I take loads less. And the photos that I take are consistently better.

And having less photos to sort through saves me time and hard drive space.

So, take your time and think about every photo that you take, and you will get better photos.

Simple.

9 Composition is still king

Number one with every photo I take is concentrating on the composition. Get the composition right and you are in business.

And if you think about it why would you not concentrate on the composition, of what you are taking a photo of?

What you include, and what you do not include.

Composition is king now and always will be.

10 I do not need a new, erm, anything

I am talking gear, software, anything. The stuff that I have works for me and I have spent years working with it and learning it inside out.

So new things are a no no for me, unless they

• Help me take better photos
• Help get photos that I can’t get now
• Save me time or money

11 My camera does not really matter

No, it does not. Now let me explain this. I love my Canon 6D, and will not hear a bad word said against it.

But I also love my Olympus EM5.

But it is how I use them that matters, what I point my camera at and the way that I take the photos that matters.

Not the camera used to take the photos.

12 RAW vs JPEG?

I shoot in RAW and issue photos to clients in JPEG. I shoot in RAW so I get the maximum data that I can. If I shoot in JPEG the camera does some processing to the image in camera.

And I do not want that, I want full control over the processing of my images.

But does this really matter?

The honest answer is it depends. These days you can get great results shooting in JPEG, but for me it depends on what you are going to do with them.

Rather than a blanket, shoot in RAW rule, I am moving more towards shooting commercial stuff in RAW and personal and travel photography in JPEG, and accepting what the camera can do for me.

And if you don’t know how to shoot or edit in RAW then no sweat – I would rather you were creating new photos in JPEG than struggling to get photos in RAW. Photography, as I have said before, is about creating new things.

So, if you are not comfortable taking photos in RAW enjoy taking your photos in JPEG and ignore anyone who tells you that you must shoot in RAW to be a real photographer.

13 Social media is not that important (or Is it?)

Again, it depends on what you are using it for. If you are just after likes and thumbs up for your photos then fine, I am happy for you. But that is not for me.

It serves no purpose. Well, that has been my thinking for, well forever about social media. But do you know what?

You can use social media to drive traffic to your website, and in my case my Photography Explained Podcast. When I promote a new episode on social media I get more downloads, so this is something for me to work on.

So, whilst I am not a big fan social media does help us photographers with our online presence at the very least.

14 I am still struggling to talk

At the time of writing this I have recorded 100 episodes of my Photography Explained Podcast. Sorry if this post is becoming an advert for my podcast but that was not my intention honest.

No, the point I wanted to make was that I clearly have still not mastered speaking in my native tongue, which I seem to find myself reconfirming on a weekly basis!

15 Does a photo have to technically perfect if you like it?

I wrote an email about this to my subscribers last week, asking this very question. And why do I ask this? It is because there is a photo that I really like that was technically awful, prompting the question.

It took me less than two minutes to fix the problems, but the question remained.
What do you think?

16 Niching down works

I have spent years trying to be all things to all people, but for the last 12 months I have focussed on architectural, construction and real estate photography. And I have moved my other niche, yes my podcast again, onto its own website.

And I am getting more traffic to my main website now that I have niched down. And do you know what else I have worked out? It is much easier in every way when you are in a niche rather than covering everything.

Give it a whirl if you fancy and see what happens.

17 Being your own brand makes sense

Adding to what I have just written, creating a brand that is you makes perfect sense – after all there is only one you aren’t there. Well, there is certainly only one of me ha.

Make your brand about you and you have a unique brand right? And that gives you something to build on for sure.

My brand is me. I am my own USP (unique selling proposition). Do the same and see what happens for you.

18 How many photos do people look at not on a device?

I take photo or clients. They are for marketing properties, or clients’ portfolios of one sort or another. But where are these photos viewed?

This is one that I have just started thinking about – how many of my photos are viewed anywhere other than on a PC monitor, phone or other mobile device?

This is relevant to what we all go through when we take and produce photos, and how we output them.

One for me to think about in the coming year.

19 Black Friday is rubbish

I hate Black Friday. Sorry but I just do. For a start it is not a day, it is a couple of weeks of nonsense and rubbish offers.

And being in the UK, what is Black Friday anyway? It is a thing in the US, which is fine (I don’t have a problem with this at all just so we are clear), but why do we have to adopt it in the UK, not really knowing why?

20 My website is rubbish

I wake every morning to emails from people telling me that my website is rubbish, offering to make it better, overhaul it, and to do things to get me to be number one in Google for whatever.

I probably get at least 10 of these emails every day, and even though I block the senders they keep on coming.

My least favourite are the ones who just tell me that my website is not ranking in Google, is underperforming, or needs an overhaul to make it better.

Have you looked at my website? My online pride and joy?

21 Sticking to things pays

I have started things and then gone on to something else so, so many times. And got nowhere. And now that I am sticking to my plans, things are happening for me. Make plans and stick with them, be consistent and things will happen for you too.

Choose what you want to work on, whatever it is, and stick with it.

Related viewing

You can watch the video that I have recorded by clicking this link to the video on my You Tube Channel.

Summary

I am done here. I enjoyed writing this, and I hope that I have given you some food for thought here.

Thanks for reading this post, any questions get in touch via my website. Cheers from me Rick