9 Mistakes Almost Every Photographer Makes

Photography is a remarkably wide pursuit, with dozens of genres and career paths, but there are some common mistakes that almost all photographers make at some point. This excellent video discusses nine common mistakes almost every photographer has made at some point. 

Coming to you from Brendan van Son, this great video discusses nine common mistakes almost all photographers make at some point. One mistake that I have seen made by photographers of all skill levels and at all points in their careers (and one I am certainly guilty of) is not being brutal enough in culling their portfolios (and I do mean brutal). We often feel intensely personal connections to our own work, and because of that, it can be really difficult to be objective about what work we show the world. However, it is important to remember that viewers will not have the same personal investment in your images as you do. Remember that even one bad photo in a portfolio of 30 otherwise great photos can stick out and get stuck in a viewer's memory. It's much better to show just a few good photos than a larger collection of good and bad images. Check out the video above for lots of helpful info. 

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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7 Comments

...'The gear is not as important as you think. The first year of my career I shot on a Canon XTI. I was fine. I didn't know any better...'

So it IS all about the gear then!

The biggest mistake a photographer, or anyone else for that matter, can make is wearing a baseball cap on backwards. It's like carrying a big sign saying "I am a d**khead!"

What a wonderful comment. What line of work are you in? Can I hire you? I'm sure your customer service is second to none!

Thanks for the offer, but I am retired. I no longer provide patient/client/customer service but am a full time recipient of it.

The biggest mistake a d**khead can make is joining a photography website just to troll the comments and not up load any of there own work.

The only time I wear my hat backwards is when taking photos. The bill hits the speed light when looking through the viewfinder. Really don't care what others think I look like. Really don't care what others wear either.

Fair cop! Mea culpa! I should have made it clear that I was referring to habitual wearers of a backward cap, not intermittent. I don't care what others look like, but it is only human nature to be influenced by peoples appearance. It is generally recognised that 70% of communication is non verbal. You-tubers are in general trying to sell me something, like, subscribe, patreon so need to consider the full import of the message they are presenting.