The Beginner Photography Podcast

Gain Wisdom Through Mistakes In Photography

• Raymond Hatfield

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#351 In this episode I delve deep into the importance of making mistakes and how it can help photographers develop their skills faster. I share how Huy Nguyen, one of the most talented wedding photographers shares his wisdom surrounding the knowledge vs wisdom paradigm and learning through practical experience. Through this, Raymond tries to encourage listeners to take risks, make mistakes and not be afraid in order to elevate their photography and understanding of the craft.

THE BIG IDEAS

  1. Mistakes Fuel Growth: Every error teaches a lesson that knowledge alone can’t provide; real learning comes from doing and adjusting after setbacks.
  2. Perfection Isn’t the Goal: Even the most seasoned professionals expect things to go wrong. Chasing perfection only creates fear and stunts progress.
  3. Experience Beats Theory: Practical, hands-on shooting will teach you more than endless hours of tutorials ever could. Wisdom is earned, not downloaded.
  4. Reflect and Share: Owning your missteps and discussing them with others accelerates improvement and builds community with fellow photographers.

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Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

Raymond Hatfield:

If one of the world's most talented wedding photographers budgets in five mistakes for every wedding, why am I so scared of making just one? The thing that Huy really helped me to understand is that you want to make mistakes because mistakes mean that, you did something, and that you learned something from it. Hey, welcome to the beginner photography podcast brought to you by cloud spot. It truly is the easiest way to deliver and sell your photos online. I am your host, Raymond Hadfield, and each week you're going to learn tips and tricks from me and some of the world's best photographers on how you can use your camera to capture more compelling moments. Today, we have an episode from the BPP vault. After years of putting out podcast interviews and releasing hundreds of episodes, I have built a rich library of gold photo nuggets. So these curated rewind episodes allow new photographers to discover the timeless info that has helped the world. countless listeners and other photographers, and they allow longtime listeners to revisit and hear an episode with fresh air and more hands on experience to draw from. Now, in today's BPP Rewind, we are talking about how mistakes are not something that you should avoid. In fact, we're going to talk about how mistakes will make you a better photographer. Faster. So today I thought we would talk about something that has, well, honestly, it has crippled me with fear in the past, but now I realize that it's probably the key to success as a photographer. So, I don't know if you remember, but last month we sat down together and talked about the knowledge versus wisdom paradigm in photography. You know, knowledge being what you've learned from others, right? Just observing it, being taught it. And wisdom being what you've learned by putting something into practice yourself. So, a photographer who shoots, 40 hours a week Is somebody who's going to be more interesting to talk to than a photographer who watches a hundred hours of photography YouTube videos in a week. And that's simply because the first photographer has real world experience and real world experience is everything. So you get it, right? You listen to that episode and you're like, yes, that's it. I need to go out. I need to shoot more. I need to stay safe, get out, shoot more. That's when all of the, you know, your inner voice starts talking to you. You have these ideas. You see photos online, you think to yourself, yes, that is what I need to do. That is what I want to go out. And that is what I want to do. Oh, but my camera's kind of, it's getting older. I definitely don't have the right lens to go out and shoot portraits. Like, how do my name out there if I wanted to shoot portraits? And then what if, what if somebody hires me and then they don't like their photos? Oh, geez. Now, before it gets too dark. Right inside of your head with that internal monologue. I want to stop that thought process right there because over the past month or so I've been thinking a lot about What Huy Nguyen said when I interviewed him back in episode 256 now Huy is one of the most talented wedding photographers I've ever talked to and with more than you know, 20 years of experience of shooting experience. I mean, he's done it all. And when I asked him about how he handles things falling apart or not going according to plan on a wedding day, he said, I mean, definitely things don't work all the time, but you got to go into a wedding and you have to know that at least five things are going to go wrong and when they go wrong, Yeah, you just check out the list. You're like, hey, that's number one. That's number two. That's number three. So you're not surprised. Oh, no. I thought I have a perfect wedding today. You don't. You never do. Even on a toughest day, things are going wrong. We can still make pictures that are pretty good. That are good. That are good professional wedding photography. That our clients will be happy with. And this is a man who shoots hundreds of weddings. I mean, hundreds. And rather than assuming that because he has just so much experience, which he does, that the day should go perfect. No, he knows that things will go wrong. Things both out, out of, and in his control. And mistakes will happen. So if one of the world's most talented wedding photographers budgets in five mistakes for every wedding, why am I so scared of making just one? The thing that Huy really helped me to understand is that you want to make mistakes because mistakes mean that, that you did something, and that you learned something from it. And what is that called? That's called wisdom. Remember? We talked about that last, last month. We tied that in there. And that is why things like, you know, 8 Mistakes Every New Photographer Makes type videos on YouTube are so popular. Because, people understand the value of what a mistake can teach you. And when you hear about somebody else's mistake, then it feels like you gain that knowledge, but without experiencing the pain, but I don't think that it works. You know, you can always pick something up and maybe you're really good with your knowledge management. But I don't think that it truly works because, at least for me personally, I only truly learn something from a mistake when there is pain. Because the pain is, is the context. So I can sit here and I can tell you, one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a new photographer starting out is not having a contract. And you listening right now, you're gonna say, oh, yeah. For sure. I need a contract, but it's not until you have a client and they decide that despite already booking you and putting down a deposit, they want to go with another wedding photographer and they want their deposit back that you actually realize. Oh, yeah, you for sure need a contract and I think that's a good example as unfavorable. Not as in I give the best examples, but like you have a client, who could sue you because somebody ran a red light on, on the way home from a wedding and they hit you and destroyed your cameras and all of your memory cards, right? That'd be terrible, right? If a client wants to switch and go to another photographer. That's fine. No harm, no foul. Right? It sucks. Maybe it bruises your ego a little bit, and you gotta give back that money, obviously, but at the end of the day, you, like, you're still gonna be fine. But all that being said, like, I don't want you to assume that I am giving you permission to just go out there and be reckless. In the assumption that you're simply just going to learn a ton more faster, because there is a range of mistakes that you can make. And it's your job to recognize the mistakes that can be made and those that can't. Again, mistakes really are, I think, the backbone of growth. It's not until, you know, I don't know, the first person ate a sea urchin and didn't live that next day that, you know, somebody else realized, oh, maybe I should not eat those. A genuine and an honest mistake, I really think, is going to be at the cornerstone of your growth as a photographer. Again, because it means that you, did something, that you tried something, and it didn't work out. If you were to go out and you were to try something and it worked out perfectly, you'd say, Oh, cool. That's exactly how I imagined it. And then that would be it. You probably would forget about it in a year or two from now. Just like, I can think back to some of my favorite weddings and I don't think about the best parts of the day that happened, the things that just happened seamlessly. I think about all the things that went wrong that day, despite it being my favorite, one of my favorite weddings that I have shot. I always think about the things that went wrong. Because that's more powerful, at least to my brain, how it works to be able to not do that at the next wedding, and become a better photographer. So again, some of these mistakes that you make can be absolutely harmless, and some of them are reckless. And that's what you need to figure out, like, where's that line? Because that line is sometimes it feels blurred. It's really not, you know, you could use the wrong focus mode and you miss focus for your photo. You, went to your kid's baseball game and you brought the wide angle lens, or you forgot to level your tripod when capturing a beautiful mountain sunset. Sure, you know, you could probably edit it level in Lightroom, and honestly, no one would probably ever know, but just you. And next time, you'll just remember. Like, oh, that's right. If I want to start taking better photos in camera, it starts with having a level tripod. No big deal. And personally, myself, like, the type of mistakes that I make are always just biting off way more than I can chew whether it be, you know, blog posts the day after the wedding constantly posting to Instagram creating video slideshows live posts like at weddings like to my Instagram stories like from a session or whatever or GoPro on my camera to record behind the scenes footage or doing dual coverage, both, photos and video. I bought off way more than I could do because all of these ideas to me, like, as I'm reading them, I'm like, yeah, these sound great. I should definitely do more of these. And I started these things and then I pretty quickly, sometimes not as quickly as I would have hoped, but I realized, whoa, I, I just can't keep up with this. And then I'll either slack at it or I'll just stop doing it altogether. And that right there is an okay mistake. Obviously from a client's perspective, it's not ideal for them to assume that you're going to do something extra for them and then you don't do it, but it's not going to ruin you. The problem, and I'm going to say this again, the problem is when you start getting too reckless, almost intentionally with your mistakes. And you know, when you do do, you know, when you do, like you feel it deep down and it's something that is more than nerves. Like, when you do your first shoot, you're nervous. Yeah, of course, of course you're nervous. You might even, you know, feel a little bit sick to your stomach because you've never done it before and you want to make sure that it turns out great, but you're not worried of any type of, external threat. But when you do something like. promise a family that you can, that there's gonna be a dark Photoshop in a child that maybe they lost when you have no Photoshop experience, that is not okay, not okay. And you're gonna feel that, that reckless feeling, not nervous, that reckless feeling immediately after saying, yeah, I can do that. One of the most common ones that I've seen, more often than you'd probably believe is, You know, new photographers in an attempt to show some sort of social proof, will take another photographer's image and post them as their own. In fact, we even talked about this early on in the podcast. I looked it up before this. It was episode 17 where somebody had stolen photos and we share the story about it. And very rarely does, you know, the photographer who's doing the stealing mean any harm. And it's easy to justify, you know, you tell yourself, like, look, I just need to book a few clients and then I'm going to take down these other images, from other photographers and I'm only going to show my own, I swear, like that's it. Or, the internet is a huge place and the photographer is on the other side of the country. I won't be hurting their business. And again, this is just temporary, plus I know that I can take photos like this. I just need the clients to do it with. Not okay. Ever. If you need photos to show potential clients, shoot for free. Ask a friend. Ask a coworker. Ask your neighbor. Ask your nephew. Ask the person bagging your groceries. I don't know. Is it nerve wracking? Absolutely. For sure. You've never done it before. Of course. It's terrifying. It's terrifying. But that's not an excuse to take another photographer's work and claim it as your own. What if John from your department at work claimed your work as their own? You worked real hard on something. And they were like, Oh, here we go. Here's, I'm going to turn this in. How do you like it? Like, what would you say? Would you say, Oh man, That's okay, I mean, he could have done it himself, I know that he's competent, and now that the boss thinks that he does good work, well then he'll be able to take those opportunities more often and, stand for himself. Not take my work. No! Not at all, you would be upset. I would be upset. I'd yell, I'd scream, I'd probably go key his car. No, I'm just kidding, I wouldn't do that. But, the point is, is that you wouldn't take it lightly. You wouldn't just, hmm, just breeze over this one. I'm like, I get it. You know, it's new. Let it go. So don't do it to another photographer. realized that this is starting to sound a bit accusatory and I, I apologize for that, but again, this goes back to, to those mistakes that you can make and that you can't make, because the truth is you are going to make a lot of mistakes in your photography journey. And that is good. That is good. You're going to make a lot of mistakes in life. So why not just simply join me in embracing the mistakes so that we can learn, so that we can grow rather than being scared of the pain of making a mistake. I read something interesting and I don't know if you know this, but Walt Disney. was fired from his job at the Kansas City Star for quote, lacking imagination and quote, having no good ideas. Well, but rather than give up after that job and like, Oh, well, I guess I'm gonna, I don't know, go work it I don't know, go work in the fields. He actually started his first animation studio right there in Kansas City. And then just two years later, the company went bankrupt. Hold on a second. Think about that. Sit here and imagine that pain knowing you are a creative person, but being told that you're so uncreative that you're going to get fired because of it. And then mentally building yourself back up, making sure that you have the courage and the strength to venture out on your own and start a business to prove the world wrong. And then it is such a failure that it goes bankrupt as well. Just for a moment, just sit with that pain. Think about what that would feel like. What would you do? I'm not sure if, personally I'm a strong enough person to give it another go after that. That's painful. But did that slow Walt down? Nope. He learned from his mistakes. Tried again. With the knowledge that he gained from those previous mistakes. And went on to win 22 Oscars for his animations driven by his imagination. 1957 Walt Disney himself was quoted as saying, quote, you may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you. That is powerful. You only get where you want to go by making mistakes. And if everything just went perfect for you, you would be the most boring person in the world. If somebody came up to you at a party and they told you about the time they took flying lessons, plane went down, they got stranded on a deserted island for two years, had to build a raft, get themselves back to safety, would you rather hear that story or the story of the next guy who took flying lessons? Landed the plane safely. You want to hear about that adversity. You want to hear about those mistakes because we know the mistakes are going to be the things that make us interesting and that push us forward with our knowledge. So I want you to dig deep, deep, real deep. And I want to hear one of your recent mistakes. Something that made you walk away and think to yourself, Oh, wow. I have got to change that. So then that doesn't happen again, because those are the things that are going to help you grow. Feel free to share it in the beginner photography podcast, Facebook community, because chances are there are others in the group who have also made a similar mistake and today they're a better photographer because of it. So go out, please make mistakes. And I want to end it with this. I want to wrap it with this and that the goal is not to make mistakes. I feel like that, that would be a bit reckless, but you want to do something. And then naturally mistakes will happen because of it while you're doing it. So yes, you want to make mistakes. But you can't go out and search for those mistakes. Because if you go out and search for those mistakes, you're already have some sort of preconceived idea. And it's not going to be a mistake. Mistakes have to be genuine. So again, don't go out and try to try to follow mistakes, go out and just follow your passion. Whatever you're passionate about right now, whatever that may be. Whether it's just simply photographing your children at home, whether it's, capturing just beautiful light that you see, whether it's walking around town and just seeing what happens in front of your camera, talking to strangers on the street, getting into wedding photography, whatever that may be today, follow it. Just follow that. Just follow that feeling, follow that passion. And inevitably you're going to make a mistake. So the point of this episode right here, this chat that we're having is again, not to chase the mistakes, but to chase your passions and be okay with the mistakes when they arise. Because inevitably they will. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. I would love to hear your biggest takeaway, either a light bulb moment or something that you are going to start implementing into your photography. You can share it with me by reaching out via the contact page at beginner photography, podcast. com. There, you can shoot me a voicemail. Now voicemails allow me to hear your thoughts or questions in your own words, and then share those thoughts and questions right here on an upcoming episode of the podcast. There is nothing to download. And of course, you can preview what you say before you hit send. So head to beginner photography podcast. com to send your voicemail now. Until next week. Remember, the more you shoot today, the better of a photographer you will be tomorrow. Thank you for listening to the Beginner Photography Podcast. If you enjoy the show, consider leaving a review in iTunes. Keep shooting, and we'll see you next week.