Half my time spent teaching is concentrated on the essential mechanics of good photography; aperture, shutter speed, ISO, lenses and so on. The rest of the time is focused on understanding natural light, and the techniques of good composition.
I truly believe that a good photographer, no matter how good their camera may be, must have a good grasp of the basics. If you don't understand the relationship between shutter speeds and movement effects, you won't get the best results from your waterfall photos. If you don't understand depth of field you won't know how to capture real character in a wildlife photo.
However, the simple truth is that most of the time, especially in clear daylight situations, you can leave your camera on automatic and rely on it to do the job for you. I don't encourage this, as the more experience you have with your manual settings, the better prepared you are to use them when the situation calls for it. But auto is a reliable option most of the time.
So, if your camera can take care of the technical aspects of your photography for you, what sets a good photographer apart from the rest? The answer is simple; their creativity, and their willingness to put in the extra effort for a great photo.
If you are prepared to go to the trouble to take your photos in the best possible light, you can improve your photography one hundred percent overnight...without doing one thing to the settings on your camera.
If you ask 100 people what is the best time of day for landscape photography, 95 of them will probably know the answer: early morning and late afternoon. This is when the sun is low in the sky and the light is soft and colourful. The fact is, people don't need to be told when to take their photos; they just need to be prepared to put it into action. It is just too much trouble to wait until sunset, or stay overnight to be on location at sunset.
The great photographers are the ones who are prepared to make that extra effort. They may even stay several days, or return to the same location time after time, just to get their perfect shot.
So what sets a great photographer apart is not what they know. In relation to capturing the best light, they really don't know anything that the rest of us don't. The difference is that they have the level of commitment required to turn knowledge into results.
Good nature photography is about much more than just perfect lighting. There is also attention to detail, and creativity in composition. Once again, this is not rocket science. It is often simply a matter of patience, and the effort you are willing to make to get that great shot.
Let's examine the approach of two hypothetical photographers.
The first photographer finds a nice location at the right time of day, snaps a couple of shots and then heads home for dinner. Later they look at the photos and notice some dead grass in the foreground, and a plane in the sky that spoils the natural look of the photo. This photographer is not happy with his photos and does exactly what most people do: he blames the camera.
The second photographer arrives at the same scene, at the same time of day. He looks carefully through the viewfinder and notices the dead grass in the foreground. Knowing this will spoil the shot, he finds a better location just a few metres away, where an old fence leads into the distance adding depth and interest to the image. He notices a plane in the sky and waits a few minutes until it is out of view. In the meantime, he sees some clouds drifting into the frame, and waits just a few minutes more until they are in a perfect place to fit the composition. Later he looks through over the photos and is deservedly happy with the result.
Which photographer do you want to be?
To have a successful career in any company you must know how to build relationships.
And the most important relationship is between the manager and their direct reports. The strength of this relationship can have a direct result on the success of a team. Yes the relationship between the manager and their staff must be ?open and ?trustworthy, that's a given ? but what else should you expect from your staff as their manager?
During my 20 years plus management career, I've observed and experienced that certain behaviors, on the part of both the staff and the manager, are conducive to productive and rewarding relationships.
I share my views below and I hope that I can help other managers, leaders, staff and teams to improve their relationships and as a consequence, their performance.
What I Expect from My Direct Reports
Get involved
Successful managers know how to delegate. But even more important, they know when a situation calls for their immediate involvement, whether it's in redirecting resources to a major crisis or visiting their staff at a remote site. If you see a problem rising, there is no excuse for not taking responsibility. I expect my reports to take the blame for things that go wrong and give credit for positive developments to their employees. That is part of being a manager ? take the blame but praise the staff/team when things work out well.
It is the manager's judgment call to know when your involvement is necessary and will have the most impact on the business. I have found that effective managers generally get involved when one of these three types of circumstances arise: when somebody is falling behind in their commitments; when important personnel matters arise and in a crisis.
Generate ideas
A person who is innovative and creative is rare. I actually encourage individuals to come up with ideas. I listen to what they suggest and say. Together we decide which ideas are taken forward and implemented.
Be willing to collaborate and share
The number of people I come across who resist collaboration or sharing credit amazes me. Individuals think by keeping ?things to themselves' they will become infallible or irreplaceable. The team, department, company can achieve improved results if individuals share their good ideas, practice, ways of working.
As a manager, you have to take this very seriously and I do. Several years ago, I was hired to improve the turnaround time of customer orders for a large blue-chip company. Two of my direct reports just did not get on; they didn't talk to each other; they didn't turn up to each other's meetings; they argued in front of customers. All this meant they didn't and couldn't work together and because they didn't work together well, neither did their teams. As a result, service was not improving. The three of us met and I told them that it didn't matter whether they liked each other or not, but the way they worked together had to change. They left the meeting with the agreement they would overcome their differences. I don't know if they ever learned to like each other, but they learned to work well together ? and more important, so did their teams. Our overall performance improved considerably.
Be willing to lead initiatives
I love change and as a manager, I am always impressed when someone volunteers to lead new initiatives. It shows courage, confidence and flexibility. New initiatives often means new skills, new relationships and new environments, for the individual who volunteers. Most individuals won't put their hand up to volunteer because of the unknown. All I can say, it that those that do, it will be their careers they will accelerate and their profile will increase tremendously.
Develop your staff as you develop
You need to manage your own development. However, even more important is the development of your staff. Early in my career, I worked for a great manager. He told me one day, he was going to do everything he could to help me reach my potential. From that moment on, he was more interested in my development than in his own. He went out of his way to criticice or praise me when I needed it. I'll never forget him; he played a very meaningful role in my career.
Drive your own development
Keep your own skills up-to-date. Your company may not offer all the development you need. You may have to do your own research. In my career I have read many, many management/leadership/business books (some bad, some good, some excellent). I have also had many mentors.
Ask your boss and peers for feedback. Get yourself a mentor (inside or outside the company). Accept and volunteer for new types of work ? learn from the new skills, relationships and environments.
Remember your own development is your responsibility.
A last word?..
25% of all staff don't know what their boss expects of them. As a manager, make sure 100% of your staff know what you expect of them. It's easy to do ? the behaviors I expect are listed above. You may have different ones. It doesn't matter ? just make sure your staff know. If they do, you will see an improvement in your team's service.
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Both Andrew Goodall & Andrew Rondeau are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Andrew Goodall has sinced written about articles on various topics from Digital Photography, Photography and Digital Photography. Andrew Goodall believes that with a small amount of guidance, anyone can become a better photographer, no matter what sort of camera they have. Andrew's ebook "Photography in Plain English" is a perfect place to start. Check it out at. Andrew Goodall's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.
Andrew Rondeau has sinced written about articles on various topics from Coffee Advantages, Management and Alternative Medicine. Andrew Rondeau transformed himself from a $4 an-hour petrol-pump attendant to a highly successful Senior Manager earning $500k every year. Discover how you can remove your fear and reduce your stress of being a new manager by receiving Andrew's. Andrew Rondeau's top article generates over 9900 views. to your Favourites.