I know this is the time of year a lot of people are thinking of gear upgrades or additions… and that’s very cool. I’ve been down this road personally many, many times. You can’t believe all the gear I bought over the years that I thought would make me a better Photographer.
You also will not believe how many times that gear acquisition was a mistake! Those were in my younger days, when I was beginning in my career. Man! I would listen to all the guru’s of the day, all those Pro Photographers touting all of this “new fangled camera, or lens, or lighting system”…
Then I would grab all the savings I could muster and rush out and lay the money down! How wrong I was!! When I spent my money on education? That has always returned more to me in spades, than ANY piece of gear acquisition!
There Are Times The Gear Purchase Makes Sense
But those times were when I regularly used the limits of my gear that I had, to accomplish images that I was creating and selling all of the time. For instance… a better sensor with less noise for Night Sky Photography.
Less noise, and pin point stars, mean bigger prints. And bigger prints? Sell for more money. They set themselves apart. They command the ambiance of an entire room.
More noise, in addition to comma in the stars instead of pin points, in a small image, are not as drastic of a “flaw.” But blow that image up? Now a little comma in a star becomes a half inch dash that sticks out like a sore thumb. And noise? Trust me this is far worse than the grain of the film days.
Yes, I’ve spent many dollars on education learning how to sell those images as well! Every time I took a class for this? I made my money back for that class many times over with more sales.
So What is the Driving Force Behind Your Photography?
What inspires you to spend all this money, time, and effort in pursuit of your Photographic goals? Travel? Do you think you need to go someplace to capture a great shot? Yes thousands of people do this every day, so I get it.
Many people wish to satisfy their creative side. This one is huge. There are all sorts of reasons we have gone “all in” with the pursuit of this art form. We plan our trips. We buy new gear, and new clothing.
We spend LOTS of time planning an itinerary. After all… If I’m spending all this hard earned cash, I’m gonna get the most for it! Fifteen countries in three days! The Mighty Five in Utah in only five days!
Yeah right. You are not really going to see one country or one of the Utah Mighty Five in one day. We drool over all of the inspirational images we can find, so that we can make sure we see it all in one trip.
I can tell you emphatically here that it’s not the trip driving our desire, my friends. It’s the planning. It’s the all encompassing journey. It’s the take our mind off all the other things we need to do on a daily basis, so we can plan and look forward to our escape! I think many of you will agree that the planning is almost as much fun as the trip! Why? It’s that mental picture we create, that’s why!
I Have A Blinding Flash For You My Friends!
You can escape right in your own city, or even in your own backyard! I personally do not go anywhere without a Camera. No, I do not mean just my smart phone. Most of the time now I have two cameras with me. One visible light, and one infrared.
In addition! Every spare minute of every single day, I spend time educating myself on Photography. I have studied Photography for over five decades now. I have spent far more on education over my career in the past three decades, that I ever have on gear.
Not because I’ve bought all the gear, because I haven’t. But because I’ve realized the education is far more important. With education we might not make the wrong gear choice, as well.
People Spend Thousands On Gear! But Very Little On Education.
The very best Camera and Lens will not give you a great image, unless you know how to turn it on and operate it. I’ve even had people employ me to teach them Photography, opening up the package of their brand new fancy camera, right in front of me, two weeks before their trip!
How about the editing of that image? How much time do they spend researching that? Composition? What creates a great Photograph? The gear? Or the six inches behind it?
Reading or watching a video to learn some finer points in Photography can, and should be part of your journey! Taking classes. Going out to shoot and practice. Spending time in front of your computer editing your images is also part of the journey. You’ll bring back the feelings you had when you composed the image in the first place.
If you were a tennis player and wanted to be better player, you would spend much more time on lessons and playing with better players, than you ever would on Tennis Rackets!
I wish to inspire you just a little…
In the hopes that this holiday season you’ll reserve your place in my 52 week online classes starting February 1st, 2024 for only $19.00 right now. I’m billing this series of classes and challenges as the “campfire series,” because that’s the feel and the vibe I’m going for. We will also do just that as well… we’ll gather ’round a campfire or two in free PhotoSafaris just for this group, starting next spring.
This series will also be a community of other like minded Photographers as well. From the beginner all the way to the very advanced Photographer that will join in, you will gain inspiration and education from all, more than you can imagine!
Full price for this adventure will be far less than a lot of that gear out there at $249.00 for the first six months. That is one less Starbucks a week my friends. Cheap! There will be a new Video class every two weeks, in addition to a PDF download you could place in a lesson binder if you like. I’m actually looking forward to seeing everyones progress from week one until week 52!
You’ll be able to stop, or pause the videos all you wish, and in addition they will also remain on my site permanently for you to be able to re-view them for life. Also you will upload an image you compose on the subject matter every two weeks as well. You will be able to see images from the other students as well, for inspiration or to witness their interpretation of the subject matter.
I will select a few images with each module to comment upon, and I will select one “image of the week” for every session. This is NOT a competition so get that out of your little head. My image choice will be completely random and I will make an effort to “showcase” everyone through out the year.
So click the link below to reserve your spot today for only $19.00!
The balance will be taken care of after the holiday season
