I watch a lot of YouTube videos about lots of subjects. My two primary topics are off-road and photography. The off-road world can be ridiculous but it does not hold a candle to the amount of videos about photography telling photographers they suck, they need this class, or their gear is holding them back.
Immediately after those videos are ones talking about how gear is not the solution, you just need to get better. Check out my 78-part training course for $19.99.
Aren’t the articles I write also pretentious twaddle?
Probably. I’m the angry man in the corner complaining about everyone else and wanting to change the world. I hate every video with “You” in the title. You should do this. If only you knew this technique. Make your photos 100 times better with this trick. People will say they are just following the algorithm, but at the same time, following the algorithm only strengthens that finding, making it self-fulfilling. If I tell you that you will jump off a cliff on July 4th, 2029, and you do so, am I psychic, or are you a lemming? Hint: I’m not psychic.
I prefer titles that tell me how the author improved.
The video is practically the same, except I can see how you implemented the changes in your photography, and improved whatever aspect you are claiming. How can you tell me to improve if you have never seen my photos? Pretentious twaddle. Ask yourself questions and share how you answer them for yourself. Let us, the viewer, and consequently I need to let you, the reader, decide for yourself if what I did will work for you.
Advice given does not equal advice taken.
I have this argument from time to time with friends and family whenever I solicit advice and then do my own thing. They feel disrespected because I made my own choice. Missing the point of asking, to gain perspective to make a better decision. It’s something I try to keep in mind when I provide advice, and people do something else or the exact opposite. It’s their choice, and I have learned that the respect is in the asking for advice, not the following of it. The same thing applies to YouTube or any other medium. Just because I provide advice doesn’t mean people will use it, and that’s OK.
Every time you don’t click the shutter, you miss the shot.
Nothing more to say today. Be excellent to each other.