YYMMDD - ProjectName
That alone should take you pretty far.
If you need to just catalogue and organize your regular photography create a primary folder of photography, and every shoot day is it’s own sub folder. If you own more than one photography device (camera + phone maybe) you can mark each folder by device like:
YYMMDD - DeviceName
You can get way more complex beyond this…but (ISO format) date + description is the fundamental building block.
Self-image is a delicate subject, it’s easy to fall into negative loops. So the folks telling you, you look fine as it is…are truthful. You do look fine. You look like a normal-ass human being.
That said, if you’re looking for small details that can improve your overall composure…a few suggestions:
Update the hairstyle to one that requires a bit of effort. Unkept simply looks unkept. A Hairstyle that requires effort will reflect that you are a person that invest effort.
Your smile doesn’t reach your eyes. There are a lot of tutorials out there for practicing how to smile in a way that radiates warmth. It has a lot to do with flexing the muscles around your eyes.
Selfies are worth practicing. Taking photos of ourselves requires a bit of effort. But it will help inform you to how different angles, and different lighting situations will affect your look.
You can go a lot deeper in examination of appearance on your own, anything from wardrobe and jewelry choices, to how you posture on, and off-camera.
But are you ugly? No. You’re just a dude. A normal regular dude.
Are there things you can do to bring out your best self? Sure. See above…but that doesn’t make you ugly. Bringing out your best self is more like decluttering a room or washing a window. You’re just bringing out and enhancing what you already have.
That cant be it.
Heh. But it is. The entire thread is restating the same things to you over and over.
They’re small, but I’m a big fan of the “read this if you want to take great photos” series. There are 3 books in the set.
But in general, follow your interests, just read lots. I don’t think there’s one single book or book series that does it all, rather, you the creative should make study a lifelong habit.
I like photography books that have segments discussing the work.
Image - study - image - study…etc all the way through.
I look at the picture. I read the study of the picture. I go back and look at the picture to see what the examination says. I consider that against my own point of view and interests, and then move on to the next image, and then the next book.
If I’m really trying to absorb a specific style, then I give myself shooting homework that helps me repeat and practice things from the books I want to master.
Rinse and repeat…for years.
these types of gigs are all relational and tend to hire from their immediate social/creative scenes.
Get into a scene, build relationships, invest time.
A tough lesson for creatives is when they realize that many businesses don’t need visual quality, or advanced to be profitable.
The role (generally speaking) of the in-house creative is to create the collateral that drives sales goals…and if customers are buying from a flat, inauspicious design vernacular – don’t rock that boat.
The new hire, or smaller cog isn’t in an informed position to make the case that the design language that creates customers should be swapped for a design language that satisfies artistry.
Let your customer feedback/market research bear that out. Not the opinion of the unsatisfied creative.
Yeah. I don’t mind the human figure in my photos. It’s good for setting scale…but I don’t care about that person in the composition benign a part of the visual mood.
I find that I am less of a street photographer, and more of an urban landscape photographer.
I care a lot more about buildings and places as constructs that endure (or don’t) than trying to capture an interesting or pensive face.
I like examining buildings with my lenses. They are far more patient subjects to photograph.
Vertical video surpassed horizontal in hours watched back in like 2016.
By 2019 only a fraction of mobile users were still rotating their phones.
Square and unconventional aspect ratios have been used in cinema for years now as well.
Vertical video wasn’t created by an idiot, it was inevitable.
bonus points if they have the same tacticool energy as gun enthusiasts.
I’m not sure if it’s prevalent or just my own bubble, but I feel like there’s a good percentage of photo/video infuencers that talk about cameras with that “we’re going to field strip a rifle and discuss the finer points of a NATO rail system” energy.
the comment above has value though, there’s a ton of photography knowledge that hasn’t really made it to YouTube, but is in books.
It’s good to build a library of book-centric creative knowledge too.
It’s that bell curve meme. At the front end of the curve is the beginner saying “get off youtube, just shoot stuff”. At the peak of the bell curve is deep gear study and intense viewing, at the far expertise end of the bell curve we return to “get off youtube, just shoot stuff” but for fundamentally different reasons.
YT isn’t ruining photography, but there are times and places where I could see someone thinking over-study might be harmful.
Yah, I mean, I definitely need a clinically exhaustive phase in my process these days.
If I consider new gear, I go deep down the rabbit hole to determine value.
If that leads to a purchase, I then watch a ton more content and go through a lot of mechanical testing “Oh, this gear performs poorly in these settings…I better see what that feels like” “Hey, there’s a cool menu setting I didn’t know about, do I like the results when I turn it on?”
Once I come through all that, then sure yeah, it’s time to get intimate and intuitive with the gear…but I’m the exact opposite of OP. I take HUGE advantage of all the knowledge online and invest big on research and gear study.
If someone wants to shoot from the hip on $500+ purchase, by all means, go for it…but studying gear and the process of others is a big big part of it for me these days.
I just don’t run out and “try things” vs being deliberate and intentional with planning and research.
Phones are computers first, and cameras second.
Cameras are cameras first and computers second.
They both approach the same goal with different processes. Both are fine. Use what makes sense to you in the moment.