The Biggest Myth in Photography

Myths in photography are about as common, some would say rampant, as dimples on a golf ball. No matter how you look at photography, myths pop out from every angle. Of course most people don’t recognize them as myths. They take them for granted, as gospel, and think nothing of them.

The problem is that some myths can take control of you and your outlook and negatively affect your photography. They cause frustration, consternation and evil considerations that make your photography less enjoyable and less productive.

There are many photography myths from which to choose. The biggest and baddest:

• the more megapixels the better
• more expensive equals higher quality
• pros are the best photographers
• focus 1/3 of the way for hyperfocal landscapes
• you can always fix it in Photoshop

But for me, the worst photo myth is probably something you have never even thought about yet it greatly influences all of your photography. I call it the Myth of the Pretty Picture. Let me explain.

The Myth of the Pretty Picture is the belief that the ultimate goal in photography is to get a pretty picture. Not just any pretty picture, the prettiest of pretty pictures, the most beautiful of the beautiful, the most stunning of the stunning, the most jaw dropping of the dropped jaws photos. The bestest ever.

That is everyone’s goal—yours too, admit it. That is why we always go out for yet another sunset or sunrise. This might be the sunset that beats all other sunsets, you think and if that happens you’ll be there and, even better, you’ll be set for life. You’ll be celebrated by all your photo buddies and envied by all your photo competitors. You’ll be recognized as that guy or gal that took the best shot ever and money and fame will surely follow wherever you go. Gotta get going, the sun is coming up!

This myth is especially prevalent for people trying to step up and make a name for themselves in photography or earn money taking pictures. Everyone does it, everyone tries to out pretty the next and everyone is disappointed that a certified spectacularly beautiful image is a) much harder to get seen or published than was thought b) mostly ignored and seldom remembered by the public c) ultimately not very satisfying and d) all of the above.

A single image is hard to get seen or published because it is just that—one image. There it is, all by itself, alone with no other pictures to support it or give it a voice to sing. Plus, everyone, and I mean everyone, has what they think is a fantastically pretty picture. Most photographers have several, if not a whole portfolio of them. And what do they do with them? They send them to calendars, note cards or magazines and there they sit in the company of thousands of other fantastically pretty pictures going nowhere.

There is no more competitive and least profitable publishing strategy than submitting unrelated single images to a photo buyer. Let me repeat that: There is no more competitive and least profitable publishing strategy than submitting unrelated single images to a photo buyer. You have the smallest chance of success and the smallest possible potential paycheck. How does that sound to you?

Actually there is a more competitive and least profitable publishing strategy—putting images up on your website and hoping by some act of God that a photo buyer will come along and recognize the genius that is you. I’m not counting this because anybody who does this really isn’t looking to be published.

So what is the answer, the antidote to the Myth of the Pretty Picture? You have to change your thinking, your entire way you go about your photography. And it is easy, less expensive, more profitable and far more fulfilling. Interested?

Instead of chasing and taking single pictures, start finding and developing stories. Stories are nothing more that a group of related pictures. It can be the seasons at a pond, what you found in your garden, following a stream from source to mouth, a day/month/season/year in the life of _____, it can be anything as long as the images share a common theme. The theme is your story.

Stories are powerful and compelling by their very nature. People remember stories, they share them, they come back to them and everyone loves a good story. This includes magazines by the way. You want to get published? Submit some pictures around a common theme and you’ll have a far, far better chance of being published. Want to have a gallery show? Show them a set of images that are linked, that make sense together rather than "these are my favorites." I promise you will, at the very least, get the gallery’s attention.

You know who follows this approach to photography? Pros do. Pros go out and photograph around themes—wilderness, summer, wildflowers of California, rock climbing, dairy farms, whatever—and then sell these images as stories. That is why pros get published all the time and amateurs don’t. Amateur’s pictures are just as good, just as pretty as pros but their approach is flawed.

If you photograph around a theme you can always sell the individual image to a calendar or website or whomever, but if you take only single, unrelated images then you will never have the proper images to tell a story—you’ll be missing essential images needed to tell the story.

So the next time you go out to photograph try thinking of a theme and photographing it. Themes/stories make your photography better, it is fun and it is wonderfully fulfilling. Don’t argue, try it for a bit and see what happens. You won’t be disappointed.

If you would to know more about this approach to photography and all the possibilities it opens up to making money and getting published sign up for David’s Professional Photography class held in Vermont June 20-26, 2010. He will go into further detail on capturing stories and getting published and his digital guru co-teacher, Scott Rouse, will explain the ins and out of showing and processing your work. It’s a great workshop. Hope to see you there!