You wait for a break. You post your best shots. You assume progress will stack neatly, one win on top of another. That belief keeps you comfortable and quietly stuck.
Coming to you from Max Kent, this blunt video lays out ten hard truths that cut through the usual advice. Kent starts with a simple one: no one is coming to discover you. Strong work helps, but it rarely moves on its own. You have to push it, share it, ask for things, risk looking naive, and hear “no” more than once. You might need to work for free at times, build projects without applause, and learn skills that have nothing to do with pressing a shutter. Waiting to be noticed is passive. Building something on purpose is different.
He then turns to feedback, and this part stings a little. Friends and family will usually tell you your work is great. That support feels good, but it won’t sharpen your eye. Kent argues that you need critique from people who know what they’re looking at, even if their opinions aren’t perfect. Honest feedback forces you to question your choices. It makes you defend what deserves defending and drop what doesn’t. Early on, that shift speeds up your growth in a way praise never will.
Another point that lands hard is that progress isn’t linear. One week you feel locked in. The next week everything falls flat. You might sell prints steadily, then watch that momentum stall. You may finish a project you love, then struggle to start the next one. Kent frames that inconsistency as normal. Expecting a smooth upward line sets you up for frustration. Accepting the dips keeps you working.
Location comes up next, and it challenges a common assumption. Shooting in a beautiful place doesn’t automatically mean strong work. If you live somewhere visually dramatic, it’s easy to rely on the backdrop. If you live somewhere plain, you have to think harder. You have to experiment, engage with people, and look closer. That pressure builds skill. It forces you to solve problems instead of coasting on scenery.
Kent also questions the idea of the “nice” photo. Clean sunsets. Perfect reflections. Pleasant scenes that collect easy approval. There’s nothing wrong with them, but they rarely say much about you. If you want your work to stand out, you need to examine what actually interests you, even if it isn’t instantly likable. Building a body of work around your own concerns takes longer. It also leaves a mark.
Gear gets its moment too, and not in the way brands would prefer. After a certain baseline, better cameras make a small difference. Knowing obscure specs won’t raise the quality of your ideas. Time spent studying photobooks, analyzing projects, and practicing composition tends to move the needle more. Social media follows a similar pattern. A modest follower count feels significant, yet often leads nowhere. Real relationships, in-person conversations, and consistent long-term effort compound in quieter ways.
Later in the video, Kent talks about time horizons and ego, and that’s where things get uncomfortable in a useful way. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Kent.
4 Comments
I've seen plenty of videos all pointing out the same or very similar 'problems' and not leaving me feeling I've gained anything by watching the video. Maybe Youtube has just become far too saturated with photography 'influencers' who don't really have anything different or new to say and it's all just variations of the same themes?
The thing that I like about Fstoppers is the regular posting of new articles and videos. The thing I dislike about Fstoppers is that so much of its content is redundant. Between the depressing tone of the speaker in this video, and the fact that everything has been said a million times before, I couldn't make it beyond about the three minute mark. Unfortunately that's the case in most videos that extend beyond three minutes. Photographers preach endlessly about making clean uncluttered images with a clear subject, and then proceed to ramble mercilessly for 15 or 20 minutes through a video. As if following some guy wandering down a trail is educational.
And while I'm in the mood to rant... what's up with these titles?
"Stop Shooting Down at Flowers."
"Stop Shooting the Obvious."
"Stop Over Sharpening."
By the time I get through stopping for this or that, I'm afraid to take my lens cap off. And, really, is he serious about asking us to watch a video with the title... "no one cares" and then ask us to subscribe to his channel? Why should I follow anyone who says that? That's sort of a rhetorical question. I have no interest in following or being followed. The whole idea is creepy, but I guess that's the way some people have chosen to earn a living as a photographer in the 21st century.
I dislike the videos, too. I'd rather have long articles.
I have no idea why others hate this video/info. First as a hobbyist I take my hat of to any photographer who can make a living with photography!!! What few realize is not all articles/videos get view time as per Titles have to grab attention of someone but mainly those seeking help in this case.
The one thing not mentioned most of these posts is a photographer yes maybe good or bad wanting to improve but what is need most is business education like keeping the books on both spending and making. Of all the posts no where has anyone showed how to make a plan to find customers or even have a plan to have ones office where they edit there images and programs to manage money flow in and out.
Years ago I learned about college courses started photography classes students with film and then showed all the rules of composition etc.. But nowhere saying to have some sort business education with funds coming and going.
Also wed sites that help in understanding can and can not be captured! Like so many do street photography of people BUT each person photographed has to sign a release and offered some kind of compensation for the use by the one who captured even if a dollar, yes legalize for some day an image can come back to bite. There are images of things you can not make money from like the Eiffel Tower yes you can capture but there is a team that looks over the net for sales of images, also say the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina also personal photography is good but no sales of any images and also a team that does nothing but look for them.
The point is there are legal websites that will point out all of this and also do contracts for you on whatever genre you do. Very important stuff you need to know about. Like when will you be considered a pro when doing photography in a city, state or federal park or even a city exp. using one or more flashes including the one on camera a time you need to get a permit from somewhere and the need to know where to get it.
On and On the many other things a photographer needs to know!!
An example I love going to Jekyll Island Ga. State Park where one grate capture is the artwork in the Wedding Capel. It is where many weddings happen every weekend and photographers of the weddings pay a big price to capture each but some years ago I tried to go in and do some photography and was told to go to a office and pay to photograph and doing just hobby stuff. Only after writing to the Governor about it did some years later it stopped but still you had to have a volunteer to watch over you. https://www.jekyllisland.com/venues/historic-rentals/faith-chapel/
it has Tiffany glass windows.
Also good to ask first in some cases like lighthouses are now privately owned and many want to capture the MW over or around.
Just saying there is more to Photography that knowing when and how to press the shutter button!!!
Even Hobbyist have rules to play by!!!
1. captured in 2016 with A7S and E 10-18mm F4 OSS in full frame mode at 12mm and using a tripod with permission but no fee to pay but many years of waiting.
2. A lighthouse that is private property in St. Augustine has alarms motion detectors and if I did not ask first I could have been hauled away. A7S and E 10-18mm F4 OSS in full frame mode at 12mm in 2016 a year before Sony FE 12-24mm F4 G a gift to the owners family also helps.