Wrong Concept

For all this time,i was wrong about photography. This is my confession! Now i feel ashame to all my works for almost 2 years in this field. I was blind and lost in the world that all people followed it, without asking myself is it the way it suppose to be, is it the real way, is it the way that i want it to be. But now, i can see it clearly.Yes i was totally wrong.

The question i should ask myself back then should be why i become a photographer? Is it to shot a great photo? or because i want to be like the people that already good on photography? or i felt jealous of others works?

For all this time i, i went out, holding my camera, thinking about the technical and setting,how to get the correct exposure that i should use to get a great photo, how to get a nice bokeh or blur, angle and everything that others people do. When i went out for a photowalk with some friend, i normally ask myself what setting should i use, which aperture is the best, which shutter speed suit my shots. Sometimes people asked me “Hey, which setting do you use for that shot??it looks great”. I read a lot of articles, books, blogs, magazine about getting the correct setting for a picture. No wonder i was lost in the ‘setting world’ of photography.I know i need to know that stuff because it’s important for a beginner. But, i’m sure i was master at the basic setting after a year in this field, still i was lost for another year. More badly, i always kept thinking to get a new gears without appreciate the capability those lens that i already have, kept searching in ebay, hopping that the price of lens will drop so i can buy it. The truth is actually any gears that already in my camera bag is the best for me!!Sorry guys!!

For the past 2 year i joined flickr hopping to see others great photos, and back then i found a lots of great pictures there, everyone was great and i set my mind to shot something like that and search for the perfect setting and try it myself and i done it!!I feel like i success and proud of myself!! But then, I was wrong. Then, something change since the past 4 month. I felt something wrong and different,there was not many great pictures on flickr compare to the past 2 year (at the time when i begin in photography),i don’t know why i felt like that, everything looks the same, maybe i already looked at the same style of picture for almost 2 years and i’m not impress anymore. MAYBE. I’m not saying that i got a nice photo compare to others on flickr because it’s not!!! Clearly, i’m still learning.

I stopped subscribing Digital Camera magazine because it always explains about the correct setting on getting a nice photo over and over again and it makes me feel like i was wasting my money on the thing that i already know. I need to find something else, something new. A question came into my mind last few months….’Now..i already know about the basic photography, what do i need after this?Is this all about photography??’. I kept looking for the answer until last month…everything changes, something had opened my eyes to see the real world of photography.

Photography is not about taking a great picture, not about technical point of view of a camera, not about how to get the correct setting for an amazing shot, not about how great and how many your gears you have with you. It’s more than that!!!I know most people always think about the setting of camera when shotting something because i have been there for 2 years..yes!i’m one of the example. Setting is not everything. A photo can be a trash although it’s at a correct exposure or at a perfect setting. Photography is an art, not a lesson of technical or practical ability. If it’s all about technical setting, i bet everyone can be a great photographer.

I realized that each photo has its own story, its own mood, and as a photographer we have to bring that up, so that people will feel it. Photography is not about taking a picture, it’s about telling your story, your feel, the moment of the shot and that why to be a great photographer you need to take a photo with a great feel and mood in it! That’s my next mission. For those outside there who wants to be a great photographer, better stop thinking about the camera setting and start shotting photos with stories in it. Personally, i think moment and mood of a shot is not something that you can ask people or pro to teach you, it’s something that you need to learn yourself because after all it’s your own shot that you want to let others people feel it.

I know, a lot of my friends shot all the time using manual mode. Maybe it’s sound cool when someone knows you handling your camera with manual mode, it seems like you are like a pro photographer and you can control your camera 100%. Yeah i know, manual mode is important for some circumstances, but you don’t need to use it all the time. You will not focusing on the feel and mood of the moment if you use manual mode,but you will always search for the camera setting on the view finder to get the correct exposure and i’m sure about that because i always did that before. Why don’t you shot with aperture or shutter mode, and let the camera find the correct exposure because that’s the purpose of the setting in the first place, and you can focus on finding a great moment for your shot.

I don’t know if you really understand what i was trying to tell you in this post. To make it simple, i just want to tell you guys and myself, to start taking pictures with emotions, feels, moments, moods and stories in it because that’s the different between a normal photographer and a great photographer.