Do You Want to Take Your Photography to the Next Level? You Need to Ask Yourself These Questions

At various stages in your photography journey you'll inevitably come to some crossroads or get bogged down in creative blocks. At these somewhat confusing points in time, it's worth taking a step back to revaluate where you're at and where you want to be.

In one of his latest videos, photographer and Olympus Visionary, Robin Wong, details five questions which you can ask yourself in order to help you to figure out your photography goals. His first point is a salient one, and sets the viewer up well for what else he has to say. Getting your mind off of gear — or lack thereof — is something every photographers needs to do. Yes, depending on what you want to shoot, gear can be a limiting factor or perhaps even a barrier. However, we must all work within our means. And, if you really want to develop you craft, you need to forget about the extra dynamic range, focal length, strobe etc. Instead, you need to take a closer look inside yourself.

I think if Wong's video could be condensed into one sentence, it would be thus: "Be honest with yourself". A bit glib maybe, at first glance. But it's the soul of his argument, and it's valuable advice for anyone who's finding the road of creative growth particularly difficult. Whether you end up putting down the camera to focus on something that's more important to you, or if you manage to figure out that next little step which takes you closer to your goal, it's well worth figuring out the answers to those five simple questions.

Have you asked yourself these questions?

Mike O'Leary's picture

Mike is a landscape and commercial photographer from, Co. Kerry, Ireland. In his photographic work, Mike tries to avoid conveying his sense of existential dread, while at the same time writing about his sense of existential dread. The last time he was in New York he was mugged, and he insists on telling that to every person he meets.

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6 Comments

A very worthwhile article. The difficult part is of course providing an answer for all the points you put forward.

good

Very well put after 40 years of a success in photography these 5 points had been brought forward by many of the mentors along the way

Simply excellent. Thank you, Mike!

This is fantastic. Thank you.

I am in China and I can't watch this without VPN. Can anybody summarize it for me? Thanks a lot!