Photography is a profession. There are some quick courses of a couple of weeks but serious people are learning it for several years, and improving their skills, or art all their life. Like other really good professionals or artist. Talent is often no other virtue than a lot of application, diligence, practice.

To the left a nice Pixabay.com sunset. To the right, an amateur photo where nothing is made appropriate. No real composition, the colors are ugly, the moment isn’t the right one, the horizon isn’t horizontal, the boat is cut, an unidentifiable object is floating and disturbing to the right. Focused too close in the foreground.

All are natural talents

Since digital cameras and phones became widely popular in the World, many people are thinking they are natural talents and can make “high art” without learning anything. Phone or camera out from the pocket, click, click, share, awaiting burst of applause. (And, by the way, many people are thinking they are really genius experts of soccer, or baseball, of politics, of whatsoever, gifted from their birth.)

I see some really nice pictures on Steemit, but also many really bad or simply uninteresting ones. Many people have absolutely no clue about photography. Lights, colors? Sad, ugly, boring, or in best case neutral. Background? Chaotic, boring, disorderly or disturbing. Foreground, theme? Pets only interesting for their owners, crowded tourist destinations, bleak beaches, simple plants in the bloggers garden, suspicious looking food on the plate...

Composed by no composers

Composition? What? Some people never heard anything of that. (See the main composition rules here, or here. Or Google or DuckDuckGo for “photo composition basics”.)

Don’t interpret me wrong, I don’t want to kill the enthusiasm of young talented photographers, but I’d like them to make better photos. I’m suggesting they should learn a little more, at least, reading good articles about photography.

Goals to reach

Are you feeling novice, or that you could improve? Did you make some shots of some known city? Compare your photos with Pixabay’s and decide: which ones are better? Pixabay is offering this photos for free, to make advertising to the even better, sometimes really artistic ones sold on Shutterstock. You can find good examples which levels you should reach first.

And you, @deathcross, what kind of ugly photos are you making? – I hear the voices. True, I know I’m also making some bad or mediocre photos. I’m posting often very old pictures from the golden times I could travel a lot, and I like to tell stories. I left amateur photography years ago because I felt I’m not good, and to be good, I should dedicate all my time to this only one hobby.

Wasn’t meant offense

Now I’m concentrating on writing, narrating. But I’m sure I can form an opinion about the photos. As on Steemit there are content creators and curators.

I tried to tell it to some of the photo-bloggers here what their failure was, in my humble opinion. Best case: they don’t answer. Worst case: they feel offended or they also attack me without talking really about the picture itself. So, I better go back to my investments and less known travel places…

Next: Prague, Charles Bridge, and the Castle. Upper photo: a bad amateur shot. Lower photo: a nice one from Pixabay.com.