How Photographers Really Get Better (D365)

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It’s not by spending thousands of dollars on the latest gear and lighting equipment, according to Zack Arias who learned his lesson the hard way.

It’s not by pretending to be someone you’re not because we’re supposed to K.I.R. (“keep it real”)… at least that’s what Jasmine Star says and it seems to be working pretty well for her.

It’s not by taking a perfect picture because Joe Buissink says they don’t exist.

Have you figured it out yet? How do photographers really get better? How do they go from the green box of automatic to the masterful “M” of Manual?

One word: WORK.

Encapsulated in that one word are variations on the theme like discipline, commitment, perseverance, sacrifice, connection, vision and honesty.

The work isn’t always external with the camera, sometimes it’s the hard work of hammering out your vision or unearthing your passion. Sometimes it’s about taking a good long look in the mirror and changing the things you don’t like staring back at you.

How do I know? 365 days of doing the hard work has netted me some benefits and improvements in my images that are not only unexpected, but have been highly rewarded as well. From publication to awards, accolades and testimonials, the return on investment in the tasra365 project has been more than I set out to achieve.

Did I really believe it was possible to improve 300% in one year when Scott Bourne issued the challenge? Not really. I thought maybe 100% and would have been happy with even those results. But I have to admit… he was right.

Dedication to taking an image every day, reading your camera manual and studying the work of master photographers will yield photographic improvement you never dreamed possible. I’m speaking from my own experience and that of over 520 other photographers who joined the challenge at some point in the last year.

The process works. It’ll change your images. It’ll change your life.

The only question left is… are you ready? This is your time. Tonight. Today. This moment. This now.

Don’t leave the moment of today without making a commitment to yourself. Whether that’s signing up for the challenge, getting connected with other photographers (have you signed up for the newsletter?), staying inspired, or reading a camera manual page ever day.

Do something.

Do the work.