What I’ve Learned Through Teaching Other Photographers

There are many benefits that come with teaching up-and-coming photographers, as I’ve come to learn. But some of them surprised me—namely that I would learn a lot more about photography, as well as myself, in the process. Consider this a short list of those benefits, along with some insights along the way.

For context, I am primarily a photographer first and an educator second, and I try to take my experiences and techniques and teach them to the newer generations of photographers through either small in-person workshops or pre-recorded classes via Skillshare.

For the pre-recorded classes, there’s not nearly as much student interaction, as I will mainly answer questions via email or DM after the fact, pertaining to something I talked about. For the workshops, however, especially given that they are smaller class sizes, I tend to dig a lot deeper into what each student needs and where any issues they may have lie.

It’s in the workshops where I made a lot of observations. Particularly, I find it easy—when you’ve been doing something for a while—to forget what it feels like to start. Sometimes I’ve gotten caught explaining a technique, but I have to dissect it or break it down to be more digestible. Granted, I’m not the most technical photographer and therefore not the most technical teacher, so I try to explain things in a simpler fashion anyhow. My main point is to tell the story and make compelling images. This has been tricky when teaching more technically focused photographers. Nothing against them—or you—if you’re a technical photographer reading this, haha. I am someone who will allow for occasional technical failure if the actual image works for the end purpose. I find sometimes it is difficult to break people out of the technical perfection mindset, but ultimately we usually land on a happy medium.

There are certain compositional elements, posing techniques, etc., that you naturally pick up over the years and use in your arsenal that you sometimes forget these photographers don’t have. It’s like having a stacked toolbox and showing it to an apprentice, but they’ve never seen a certain tool before, so your job is to show them what it can do and how to use it. As there are times I am setting up a shot, I usually find I am talking through the shot as I’m setting it up, with them either observing or assisting along the way.

As some photographers coming in are newer to the game—and as I am someone who uses a lot of different lights, modifiers, stands, shoots tethered, etc.—there is a lot to absorb and a lot of equipment to become familiar with. I find there are usually two camps with this: either people are too afraid to touch anything, which is fair when you’re not used to it, or there are those who are almost too comfortable without having the practical experience, which usually makes me a little nervous.

Beyond that, teaching has made me more confident in my skills as a photographer because not only do I have to know what I’m talking about to teach it effectively, but I also have to be able to deliver and correct myself and the students on the fly. In the age of discussions about imposter syndrome, this has helped alleviate that to some degree, as you can see the progress you make in the work of other people, as well as in the work of other photographers who are where you were a few years ago.

I obviously knew that teaching was a social skill and one that some have and some don’t. But stepping into that role is something entirely different because, ultimately, you are driving the ship for people with entirely different personalities, quirks, pain points, etc.—some who will ask question after question and some who will sit back and take it all in—all while you have to keep everything on schedule. This is all done while, in some cases, managing a full team of creatives as well.

Like treating photography as a business, there is more than just technical skill at play, and that all gets filtered down when teaching. So things like business knowledge, marketing, finances, professionalism, and conduct all come into play beyond taking a good photo.

Then there are the times when a photographer is more experienced, and I have to bring out just about every trick I have so they are able to get the most out of the sessions. I am not someone who heavily gatekeeps information, and I try to help those around me when I can. When I first started teaching, I just wanted to do for others what had been done for me.

Granted, sometimes—and it doesn’t happen often—there are photographers who almost challenge me. To give you an idea, I am a photographer who has also worked as a model, in my mid-to-late 20s, teaching people who are, in some cases, up to twice my age. This creates a bit of a weird dynamic, especially if the student has any insecurities whatsoever.

All in all, teaching really helped to add even more love to photography than I already had. I’ve made friends through it, gotten work through it, met some great people, and made some great photos. Consider this almost a “what-I-wish-I-knew” before teaching but more so what I’ve learned since.

My biggest takeaway is that we are all learning. And we learn in different ways and at different paces. We all start out as beginners, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, that is something to be celebrated. The ability to answer questions for students that I remember having not all that long ago leaves me with a great sense of fulfillment and only makes me want to do it more. And if you’re a beginner reading this, keep going. Be curious, ask questions, even ask me some if you ever need. And keep shooting. Always keep shooting.