Whether you’re a professional photographer or you choose to take pictures as a hobby, you’re bound to come across opinions about photography that you may or may not agree with! Everyone’s creative process is different, but there are some people who say their methods are better than others, and they often have no experience to back up their claims. Advice from photographers in the industry based on actual experience will help you nurture your photography skills and hopefully help you develop your own way of doing things. To help you sort through the advice that’s beneficial to you and the advice that’s better left behind, I’ll be looking at some photography opinions and with the help of some real photography professionals, I’ll explain if their opinions and advice should be heeded or not! At the end of this article, feel free to let me know what you thought of these opinions and share your own photography opinions with me in the comments!
“Natural Light Photographers Don’t Know How to Photograph in Artificial Light.”
The photographer Miguel Quiles in his video called, “5 Dreadful Photography Opinions That Affect All Photographers”, goes over the opinion that natural light photographers are “too lazy” to learn how to use lighting in their photos. All of Quiles’ opinions were summed up in an article by David Crewe with the same name, but he defends natural light photographers by saying that it’s a stylistic choice (Crewe, 2021). He goes on to rationalize his point by explaining that some photographers are just more comfortable working with natural light whereas indoor shoots with artificial light require more equipment and have a longer set-up time.
“The More Money You Spend on Gear, The Better the Photograph.”
The idea is that if you spend more on gear and equipment, the better your photos will turn out. Quiles explains that this isn’t always the case. Newer and better equipment can help a photographer a certain style or look, but it won’t improve their skills as a photographer or make them better. Even if you empty the bank on the fanciest equipment, your skills can never develop if you don’t know the right techniques. Quiles believes that as long as the photographer can consistently provide the best quality of work for their clients, the gear they use doesn’t matter!
“Photography Camera Devices Will Die Out and Be Replaced by Camera Apps in the Future.”
This opinion is a little different in that it’s actually something that was suggested by an expert. Digital expert Taylor Davidson believes that “the camera of the future is an app, a software rather than a device that compiles data from multiple sensors” and that eventually, camera devices will become less sought after. Another idea from a digital commentator named Kevin Connor posits that soon enough, the camera will become a “data-collecting device” rather than a device for taking pictures. This can be a potentially controversial opinion because while there are certainly some great apps and software out there for phone cameras, there are a lot of people who believe in the longevity of camera photography. It’s a tricky debacle, so I’d love to hear what y’all think!
“Photoshop Can Fix Anything.”
With the right photo editing tools, you can transform a photograph into something wonderful. Whether the subject of your photo is a person, food, or a place, you can manipulate the color and texture of something and how it appears through programs like Photoshop or Adobe. However, if you ask Jes and Chris, owners of the “Hand and Arrow Photography” photography business, you can’t fix everything to your liking (. In their article titled, “21 Myths of a Professional Photography Career - Explained!” Jes and Chris point out that there are some things a photographer must get right with their camera and that no amount of editing can achieve your desired result if you don’t have the right foundation.
“Wedding Photography is the Only Way to Make a Profit in Photography.”
Couples spend a lot of money on photography for their wedding, so it makes sense that going into the wedding photography industry would yield a considerable amount of money. However, Jes and Chris believe that every photography style has the potential to provide you with a sufficient amount of money, though they won’t be as high-paying as wedding photography. To achieve this, you’ll need a larger pool of clients if you want financial support from photography (Jes + Chris, 2020).
With every opinion and piece of advice on this list, there are dozens of other opinions and advice that accompany them. As a photographer who wants to grow and improve their skills, I hope you were able to take a bit of wisdom from the professionals with you and apply it to your photography. What did you think of these opinions? What are some “controversial” photography opinions of yours?
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