{"id":11421,"date":"2014-09-24T18:57:20","date_gmt":"2014-09-24T18:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=11421"},"modified":"2014-09-24T20:29:21","modified_gmt":"2014-09-24T20:29:21","slug":"5-very-important-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=11421","title":{"rendered":"5 Very Important Things!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photo by Jim Begley<\/p>\n

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As you know, if you follow this blog, the talk of equipment can get hot and heavy!\u00a0 Well today I want to take the advice of a good friend Glenn Barlow and do something that is more important than talking about gear!\u00a0 I want to talk about what makes a good photographer and it definitely is not the camera!!!\u00a0 My good photo friend Rod Planck said it best, “Technique beats equipment every time”\u00a0 So let’s start this off with a little proof, the image above by Jim Begley, it was shot with an iPhone!\u00a0 So let’s get this thing started:<\/p>\n

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1.\u00a0 Learn the basics, really well.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 Know by heart what the aperture does for you besides exposure.\u00a0 Get a real feel for when you can use motion rendition to make a statement image!\u00a0 Spend time learning how your camera works, especially exposure.\u00a0 How does your exposure compensation dial work.\u00a0 Have you got the action of your shutter release down pat.\u00a0 Do you know at just what point the camera will fire?\u00a0 Can you fire your camera extremely smoothly?\u00a0 What direction do you turn your focusing ring to get to minimum focus distance?\u00a0 What is the minimum focus distance of each of your lenses.\u00a0 All of this and a lot more matters!<\/p>\n

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2.\u00a0 Look at all the good photography you can get your hands on!<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 This is easy today, wonderful magazines, 500 Pix, great websites, and on and on.\u00a0 The best way to know what a great image is, is to look at a lot of them.\u00a0 The more you see great images the more quickly you will recognize them when you see them through the viewfinder!<\/p>\n

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3.\u00a0 Study with the best instructors you can find.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span> Countless workshops are available, KelbyOne, great books by fantastic image makers all are available.\u00a0 Spend time with friends that are good shooters, learn from them.\u00a0 Join a good camera club, learn from them! \u00a0I mean really; Joe McNally, Scott Kelby, Dave Black, some guy named Fortney, lots to do on Kelby One!<\/p>\n

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4.\u00a0 Figure out just what you want out of photography!<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 Do you want to turn pro?\u00a0 Think twice about that!\u00a0 Do you want to be the best photographer in your club, your town, your state, America, shoot, the world???!!!\u00a0 Do you care what your photo buddies think of your work?\u00a0 Does how others see your work mean the difference in how you feel about your work?\u00a0 Let me give a little advice.\u00a0 First this is just what I’ve learned personally after 45 years of dedicating my heart and soul to my photography, but it is just my opinion!<\/p>\n

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Work hard to get as good as you can because you love it and get great joy out of the craft and the results.\u00a0 Be glad when others like your work, but don’t depend on that to make yourself happy.\u00a0 Do it for yourself, let others decide for themselves.\u00a0 Be cool with the results!<\/p>\n

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5.\u00a0 Enjoy the great fellowship with other photographers who will become some of your best friends and associates!<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 The best part of the craft will be enjoying those that share your passion!<\/p>\n

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Do all that and photography will be good for you and to you!<\/p>\n

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Blessings,<\/p>\n

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the pilgrim<\/p>\n

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So, wasn’t that better than 1,000 word about Fuji! \u00a0Couldn’t resist. \u00a0You gotta go back and see the last comment on yesterday’s blog post, classic, my answer was cool too!!!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo by Jim Begley   As you know, if you follow this blog, the talk of equipment can get hot and heavy!\u00a0 Well today I want to take the advice of a good friend Glenn Barlow and do something that is more important than talking about gear!\u00a0 I want to talk about what makes a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11421"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11424,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11421\/revisions\/11424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}