Follow the Finger by John Strazza

Ok, it sounds a little odd in a way, but what I’m saying in the title is this; many people often just read or learn something and think they “have it”. The problem starts when they start teaching it to others with little or no experience, and often for a price. They’ll write an eBook or blog about a topic they think they understand but really don’t. They have little or sometimes no real world experience with the topic.

I’ll show it another way. My wife has been framing art for over twenty years, she’s an expert. She also knows that some of the new framing outlet stores “train” their employees for only three days and then let them have a “framing certificate” to frame your precious art work. Red Flag!!! Framing sounds simple, but trust me it’s anything but. It’s rather complex with hundreds of details, methods and materials to understand. It take finesse and a great sense of color as well. Our perception sometimes fools us, we think some things are simple when often they are not. I have personally watched her frame things, even supposedly simple things, that required experience that only years could provide when a problem arose. The novice would have to mull through that unexpected problem to get the job done and paid for, but usually at the expense of quality or archival issues. And you’ll be getting another frame job done in a year or two to correct the problem that inexperience caused.

Another example. A marketing friend of mine who knows my work with Finding Middle Gray said he saw some kid teaching histograms in a video. Well, that ok really unless that kid only has a little experience and in turn sends you down the wrong path. Actually chances are good that would happen because there are simply too many details or caveats to understand. I have seen serious misdirection in some photo how-to articles and videos. I am actually amazed at what some people teach, but I sense that they don’t even know how far off they are with some topics about photography. I feel bad for anyone who listened and took the advise or lesson to heart.

Today everyone’s an expert, but only a few have experience. Trust me, few people who have experience want to write or teach. They often don’t need too. I love teaching through writing, so I do. Ansel Adams, Fred Picker and some other masters did too, and it helped thousands of photographers learn so many good things. They really knew what they were talking about.

Also, when you are learning something that is foundational to a process you want to get that part really right, otherwise the house will be built on sand so to speak. Make sure your teacher or the author of the book teaching you something has solid experience.

So you get the point. As the saying goes, don’t ask a poor man how to be rich. Same goes with any topic. Take caution to whom you listen to. Just cause it’s online doesn’t mean squat, in fact be all the more aware when it’s online because anyone can publish anything very easily.

My eBook Finding Middle Gray is a foundation course on metering light for great looking exposures. It’s about using your camera meter with some traditional methods and newer metering methods like the histogram. These are very important and basic foundational things. They have to be right or many other things can go wrong. So I take very seriously what I teach to make sure it is clear and that it places the reader on solid ground for further growth. I also ask people to look at my work, my photographs, so they are confident I know what I’m saying. I’ve been behind the camera for over 40 years.

Hey, you might not buy my book, and that’s ok. But if you do buy a book that’s intended to teach you something fundamental or ground level in nature, make sure it’s written by someone who knows what they are saying and can back it up with experience. You want your understanding of the topic to be on solid ground.

Happy learning!