6 Factors That Made Me A Successful Photographer

6 Factors That Made Me A Successful Photographer

Have you aspired to be a shooter yourself? Maybe you've been playing around with your camera here & there yet you haven't seen the results you've hoped for. Or maybe you're a phone photographer at the moment developing that skill with the tool you already use on a day-to-day basis.

Whatever boat you're in during your shooting journey, I want to share with you the 6 most impactful factors that allowed me to...

 

 

1. Seeking Feedback & Being Open To Criticism

A couple months of me practicing in this medium, I would always do this thing where I posted my images onto my Instagram page @meekodreamz.

Whenever I did this, people would either like the story or simply skip past it & Instagram made it easy to see this. Since, I already had a few photographers that followed me, I knew I could take their criticism on my technical mistakes whenever they texted me because they knew what they were talking about.

I knew as I kept doing this, this feedback would make me better so I welcomed it. I'm here to learn to be better, not tell myself my shots are perfect without any outside opinions.

 

2. Watching Photography Documentaries 

I love love love to look at the past for inspiration. Whether it's music of the past, films or garments, I think there's so much to gain from looking back on the first innovators.

I recall certain moments where I loved to consume photography docs.

    1. Watching them while doing dishes.
    2. Watching them before I go to sleep.

This way, I have moments of my day(usually an hour+) to just focus of the shots and narration of each documentary. What I did was observe so many images, that certain angles and compositions became ingrained in my brain.

The easiest shots I could reference for you that really impacted my vision was:

Vivian Maier Appreciation Blog

Shot by Vivian Maier 

Study The Masters: Fan Ho — Part One: Approaching Shadow ...

"The Approaching Shadow" by Fan Ho

I became immersed with each documentary I seen about a old photographer. In a way, although these figures are no longer here in the physical, these creative souls were my photography mentors.

Here's a list of some of my favorite photography documentaries all with completely different styles of visual storytelling:

 

3. Observing Photography Through Social Media

This is probably the easiest ways to learn photography as a beginner. If you even look up[hashtag photography] on Instagram you'll find over a billion results of photographs from all over the world.

I always came across photographs online because that's what I was naturally interested in so my feed reflected that. On multiple occasions I found myself looking at a shot for over 10 minutes just analyzing what made it great.

Painters do this when painting still life and paying attention to shadows, the direction of the light, the composition of the scene they're recreating, etc.

So, in this instance, I get to see beautiful shots all across sub-genres of photography online and take what I can get!

Maybe I want to invest in similar gear or using similar framing techniques or learn how to edit similarly. 

I don't have to pay for a photo book, or find multiple different photography mentors or anything(although that's a plus).

Literally just open up any social media app & scroll for a bit.

BOOM LEARNING.

 

4. Being Accountable For Bad Shots

I see this theme online a lot where people talk about pursuing a skill or goal in life & blame their lack of tools or lack of quality tools at least. 

Some could have a low quality or cheap camera and once their shots come out the way they do, they blame the gear instead of themselves.

I say this as a proud digicam photographer, it's not the tool it's the one who wields it.

Even with a decent phone, if you gave yourself a whole year to learn photography on a weekly basis through trial & error, that skill will start to develop.

It will take adjusting just like any photographer using a new camera but those reps will surely build up.

For me, the only thing I'm really chained by with my camera is the weak sensor. Honestly I cannot shoot in the dark at all. Even with my built in flash I struggle greatly.

Every other shot is on me though & I hold myself to that whenever they come out poorly.

Whenever I take a picture that isn't up to my standard, I ask myself why & see if I can fix it for the next shot.

This is a much better approach then just constantly blaming outside forces because I give myself the opportunity to learn from my mistakes and remain an autonomous photographer.

Thus, I take full credit for my weakest shots & most tasteful shots. At least this way I see & truly appreciate how much my skills increase as time goes on.

 

5. Always Questioning How I Could Make My Shots Better

After taking literally 2,000+ images I'm still never 100% satisfied after shoots.

My normal ritual after coming home once I'm done putting my camera to work is literally taking off my sweater or jacket and going STRAIGHT to my camera.

I love going through about the 100-300 images I took after strolling around NYC or attending some event & seeing what gems I caught.

But even if there's gems there's always some garbage in that bit. 

Whenever I come across less appealing pics, I dissect them subconsciously.

I might say things like:

  • Needed more lighting
  • Way too bright
  • Rushed this one
  • Needs to be cropped
  • Meh...

Even if I took decent ones, I can still tell they aren't that good so I might post & seek feedback from a fresh set of eyes critiquing my picture.

I know I'm far(...like really far) from being a perfect photographer and that's a blessing because I'm aware of how much better I can be if I keep striving to capture great moments.

 

6. Pushing Myself To The Point Of Discomfort

I would say I made my biggest jump in confidence with my shots late 2024. I'll explain why.

There was I believe a day in both December & November here in NYC where it was just so cold!

Maybe my iron was just low or something but man was I struggling to shoot.

Just for context, this was when I was an active street photographer & weaker photographer so I pretty much forced myself to go outside and shoot back then. 

About 20-25 minutes in my hands were getting colder & colder to the point where they were numb before I even got home.

But, the only reason they got to that point was because I forced myself to stay out and continue shooting. 

This resulted in some of my proudest shots which stand on my website today as prints.

The Twins

Quiet River

Summer Solace

These images taught me in real time the importance of pushing myself pass discomfort.

That session was miserable but well worth it to me.

Imagine how much weaker my portfolio would've been if I never caught these!

The backstory of these shots alone make these the prize possessions of my entire photography body of work.

 

 

All of this to say, pick up anything that can take a pic, learn from people better than you, become more uncomfortable with your reps & enjoy this journey. 

Don't even feel rushed or under pressure to become amazing at shooting ASAP. 

Just take those first steps and keep building from there. Something is bound to click. ;)

 

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