Five Lies About Being a Photographer You Should Ignore

Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro, there seem to be a number of stock lines we hear over and over about the craft and technique of photography and making a career of it, but just because we hear them, it doesn't make them true. Here are five lies about being a photographer.

Coming to you from Evan Ranft, this great video talks about five common lies about being a photographer. Personally, I think one of the most overlooked examples is the idea of dictating your own hours. A lot of freelance creatives love the idea of avoiding the imposed structure of a typical 9-5 job, but that doesn't mean complete freedom in setting your own working hours. Often, you'll need to work the hours that match your client's needs, and those can often be times that you'd rather be having a life. For example, successful wedding photographers can pretty much kiss their summer weekends goodbye, and of course, those are often prime hours for family and friends. That's not to say it's all bad, but be sure you carefully consider how your lifestyle will change and what demands will be placed on it. Check out the video above for more misconceptions. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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8 Comments

The one I always heard is that real photographers only shoot in manual. Manual is great for certain situations, but knowing when to use aperture or shutter priority, or manual with auto-ISO, is just as important as knowing when to shoot manual. When shooting EVF+Exposure Comp or even just in RAW, it's really no big deal.

How right you are. I've been shooting landscape / architecture in manual during all my 40-ish years career. It was only when I upgraded from a D800 to a D850 last year that I reasoned there's no point having all this technology if I'm only going to use a fraction of it. So I switched over to AP and / or SP mode with easy exposure compensation, and have never looked back.

Absolutely correct. I shoot in AP, SP, and manual depending on what the needs happen to be. The only mode I really haven't used in forever would be the Program mode. And I've never used Auto.

nahh can't do it, too much of a control freak to let a dumb box decide whats good, Auto-iso often thinks 1250 is right when I'm at 200...

Hard to pay attention to this video as this dude’s hair is something else ....

Is that his problem or yours?

You shouldn't speak about a small creature like it's a problem. Animals have feelings too!

Lie #1: you have to watch videos to acquire knowledge.