I’m always trying to learn something new, or find a tip or technique that helps me make better images. I know I’ve improved a lot over the past several years, but I also know I’ve got a long way to go.
For example, I found this article a while ago, and it really stuck with me. It might be a little well, duh for just about everybody, but it has helped me…when I remember to use it.
I hope that through enough repetition, skills like this will become automatic. I won’t even need to tell myself…it’ll be second nature.
So, I’m wondering if anybody else has some little nuggets they wish they’d know years ago? Anything that’s helped you grow as a photographer.
Thanks for linking to this article, Ryan . I can see why it has stuck with you, and hopefully it will now stick with me. I feel I have more to learn than to teach, so I’m sorry I can’t deliver a “nugget” back to you in return! Kathy
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Follow your own path. Learn from books, museums, and workshops but use everything you learn to express your own vision. Study mostly the old masters from the golden age - Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Bullock, and my favorite Eliot Porter. Look at compositions of great landscape artists frequently.
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> I’m always trying to learn something new, or find a tip or technique that helps me make better images.
Ryan, I did not read the linked article so I hope this is not redundant input. As a long time project manager I’ve found more need in planning for my outings then I did years ago. Back then I would spend a lot of drive time scouting sites. These days I’ve found Google Earth, TPE, Weather Underground, and a GPS unit essential to maximizing my image results in the end. Not to say I did not have an idea of the locale ahead of time, but to make the best of the visit to the locale I religiously use the aforementioned planning tools.
So, to comment on your point of making better images for me it starts long before mounting the camera on the tripod.
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My “nugget” is to forget the “RULES”. Consider them only basic suggestions, and follow your own path and vision to think “out of the box”. .
Experiment, and try new things,
Sandy
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My best tip is “Wallow in the dirt.”
Don’t get stuck shooting everything at eye level. Get low, even laying down with wide angle lenses. It works just as well the other way- get high with a ladder or anything else you can climb. It’s really surprising how effectively you can stand out from the norm simply by lowering or raising your shooting position. If you ever run across a guy wallowing around on the ground for his shots or lugging a ladder, stop and say hi to me. 
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