This Photography Tip Will Give You a Massive Confidence Boost
Here’s a photography tip to help boost your confidence.
I’m back again with a simple and effective photography tip for you! This one is easy to implement – all you need is a willing student. So grab your camera, tap into your knowledge, and follow me!
A Photography Tip for Confidence
I don’t want to keep you waiting, so let’s get to it. Today’s photography tip is to find someone to mentor. If you have a friend who has bought a new camera and wants to learn how to use it, perfect, you can be their willing teacher.
I recently did the same thing. My friend I met in Mexico City back in 2019 has just purchased the Fujifilm XS10 and has no idea how to use it. So we met up in Ecuador, his new camera in his hand, and we got to work.
In case you’re thinking, “it sounds more of a benefit to him rather than you,” let me explain.
I began using a camera 10 years ago. It has been a decade since I started learning the basics and working my way up from there. So today, although I’m always learning, I mainly work in autopilot, without thinking about exactly what I’m doing. My friend can’t do that. He needs everything breaking down and explaining, and he needs me to do it.
Being his tutor makes me realize how much I really know about the craft. It also allows me to demonstrate that I can speak confidently about the technical elements of photography and the creative aspect too.
Over the weeks I’ve spent with him, I’ve watched him implement what I’ve shown him to do. Sure it’s an ego rub, but mainly it’s a confidence boost when you’re able to communicate your passion and knowledge to help someone do something you love.
The Honeymoon Period is Back!
Also, it reconnected me with the infatuation period of photography. When it was new and I was making photographs for the first time. The early days are something I’ll always cherish but can never experience first hand again. Seeing his newbie enthusiasm is getting me excited, and I’m shooting a lot more too. As with anything, the more you do it, more often than not, the better you get.
It’s also given me the confidence to consider tutoring others. Running workshops was always something I stayed away from, partly because of a feeling of imposter syndrome. Also, I never wanted to be one of those photographers who gets some success and then starts selling overpriced workshops!
But I’ve been in this game 10 years now, so it’s about time I use the confidence I’ve taken from mentoring a friend.
So if you feel a little rusty or suffer from self-doubt, go tutor a friend. It will likely surprise you how much you know about the craft. You will also connect to the process more and feel an authority when you make photos and show others how to make them too.
And who knows, you may get enough confidence to start your own workshops, creating another revenue stream in the process.