What do you do to keep learning?

[3of11]

Do you have any suggestions on books or websites that have really helped you learn a lot about photography? What do you do to keep learning and getting better at photography?

[TPF Sponsor]

[icassell]

Lots of great books (one of my favorite is The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman).

Then it is important to look at zillions of images ... both here and in books of famous photographers. What works ... what doesn't? I can't stress enough the importance of looking at images.

Then (and probably the most important) ... get out there and take lots of photographs and offer them up for critique. Family members are not usually good critics. Show them to other photographers who you respect who can help you figure out what you did wrong. This site and photosig.com are great for that purpose.

Don't make the mistake of spending all of your time in the books at the expense of getting out there and shooting. Some folks are technical experts on paper, but can't apply it to making images.

There are lots of good websites out there with specialized information (e.g. strobist.blogspot.com for flash photography).

[Big Mike]

This web site is pretty good

I like taking classes and/or talking and/or working with more experienced photographers. That is a great way to learn new things.

As for what you should do/read...that depends on where you are at, in terms of photography knowledge.

[andrew99]

As others have said, this site and the strobist site. I also google for specific photoshop tutorials when I want to learn a certain technique, and I also love browsing amazing photos on flickr.. I think that has helped more than anything!

[Alpha]

You pay a-bloody-ttention.

Read. Shoot. Review. Repeat.

[timbearden]

This site, and others.....unless you get a stalker who follows you like me who disagrees with everything you say....which doesn't help much.

Otherwise I go back to my old university and talk to the professors.

[photocat]

get yourself a mentor. someone who will be honest with you but be there when you need encouragement too.

[icassell]

get yourself a mentor. someone who will be honest with you but be there when you need encouragement too.

This is a great suggestion too. Just make sure your mentor is knowledgeable.

[photocat]

This is a great suggestion too. Just make sure your mentor is knowledgeable.

oh absolutely. more importantly to oneself though: listen to the advise then make it work for YOU and YOUR photographic art.

[Samriel]

I try to shoot as often as I can (which is sadly not much), think about why and how I shoot, review the results when I get home and learn what I did wrong and what I did right from the results. Many times I notice things of which I have been previously unaware of while shooting or post-processing.
On top of that, I read books, look at pictures in magazines, on the internet etc. And of course, this forum can help you improve, at least it helps me.

[RacePhoto]

Take notes... IN WRITING (not mental notes) in a pocket notebook. Experiment. When you are looking at the photos on your computer look in the book, then look at the EXIF data. Learn how things effect the pictures in the way you want. See how what you intended or thought, may have had different results.

Reading is good. Advise is useful. But I think shooting and experiencing with your own hands and eyes, will make the lessons stick in your head.

All the things everyone else suggested above.

[AndrewG]

Take lots of pictures, analyse the results, learn from your mistakes. If you don't like what you see in your picture ask yourself what the problem is and try again.
As was mentioned take notes on exposures used. Photographs are everywhere; study them, observe where the light source was and how the photographer exploited it for maximum potential.
Above all, take lots of pictures and turn off your program/auto-everything modes and use the camera in manual, setting aperture and shutter speed yourself.
Above all have fun and don't turn your photography into a technical treatise, 99% of which you don't need to know.

'Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomly simple, that's creativity'

Charles Mingus

[Bifurcator]

What do you do to keep learning and getting better at photography?

Copy, modify, and/or improve on the work of others. Plus think outside the box.

[clee27]

You pay a-bloody-ttention.

Read. Shoot. Review. Repeat.

[3of11]

Thanks everyone! Great advice.