Photography Tips

Why Encouraging Other Photographers Is One of the Most Powerful Things You Can Do
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Why Encouraging Other Photographers Is One of the Most Powerful Things You Can Do

There’s a version of photography culture that feels like a competition. Whose gear is better, whose edit is cleaner, whose follower count is climbing faster. I spent my first couple of years shooting in that headspace, quietly comparing myself to everyone and saying very little to the people around me. What changed things wasn’t a new lens or a Lightroom preset. It was a stranger at a coffee shop asking how I got a particular shot, and me actually sitting down and explaining it.

How to Build a Consistent Instagram Style (And Actually Grow): Lessons from Shooting in the Rain with Peter McKinnon
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How to Build a Consistent Instagram Style (And Actually Grow): Lessons from Shooting in the Rain with Peter McKinnon

Every few months I’ll look at my Instagram grid and feel like it was made by five different people. A moody forest shot next to a bright flat-lay next to some overexposed candid from a wedding I second-shot in 2019. If you’ve ever felt like your feed has no identity, you’re not alone, and more importantly, it’s fixable. I’ve been going back through tutorials from photographers whose grids I actually admire, and this one from Peter McKinnon, shot on location in what quickly becomes a full-on rainstorm, hit differently.

Why I Started Intentionally Making My Photos Look Worse (And Why You Should Too)
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Why I Started Intentionally Making My Photos Look Worse (And Why You Should Too)

There’s a photo on my Instagram that I’m almost embarrassed about. It was taken on a $200 Android phone, slightly crooked, a little blown out in one corner. It’s also my most liked post by a wide margin. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about why. So when I came across a Peter McKinnon tutorial where he describes holding his son, spotting incredible light, snapping a quick shot, and then lying in bed that night feeling almost unsettled by how effortlessly beautiful it looked, I felt that immediately.

How to Stop Being Invisible and Start Owning the Street: Body Language Lessons from a Pro
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How to Stop Being Invisible and Start Owning the Street: Body Language Lessons from a Pro

There is a specific kind of photograph I have almost never taken, and for years I told myself it was a style choice. I preferred quiet, graphic, geometry-forward street work. Clean lines, long shadows, anonymous silhouettes. Honestly, some of that is true. But if I’m being real, some of it was also avoidance. Getting close to strangers with a camera strapped around your neck is uncomfortable, and if you can build an aesthetic identity around not doing the scary thing, it’s easy to convince yourself you’re being intentional when you’re actually just being cautious.

The 4-Step Composition Process That Changed How I Read a Scene
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The 4-Step Composition Process That Changed How I Read a Scene

Every Sunday morning I do a photo walk. No agenda, no client, no pressure. Just me, whatever camera I feel like grabbing, and whatever Seattle decides to look like that day. And for years, I would show up to a location, pull out my camera within about 30 seconds, and start shooting. I thought I was being efficient. What I was actually doing was skipping the most important part. I came across a tutorial by landscape photographer Mark Denney where he breaks down his four-step process for finding and building a strong composition on location.

The Skill No Camera Can Teach You: How Empathy Makes You a Better Portrait Photographer
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The Skill No Camera Can Teach You: How Empathy Makes You a Better Portrait Photographer

I’ve been teaching photography for a few years now, and the question I get most often from beginners is some version of “which lens should I use for portraits?” Rarely does anyone ask, “How do I make my subject feel safe enough to be themselves?” And that gap right there is exactly why so many portrait sessions produce technically fine images that are also somehow completely lifeless. The gear is fine.

Karl Taylor's 5 Portrait Photography Tips (And What I'd Add From the Field)
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Karl Taylor's 5 Portrait Photography Tips (And What I'd Add From the Field)

Portrait sessions used to make me genuinely nervous — not because of the camera settings, but because of everything happening on the other side of the lens. I’d spend so much mental energy on my lighting ratios that by the time my subject arrived, I was distracted and they could feel it. The photos showed it too. Stiff expressions, guarded eyes, that unmistakable look of someone who just wants to get it over with.

Photographer's Block Is Real — Here's the 3-Step Reset That Actually Works
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Photographer's Block Is Real — Here's the 3-Step Reset That Actually Works

Every working photographer hits that wall. You pick up the camera, look through the viewfinder, and feel absolutely nothing. No pull, no curiosity, no itch to shoot. I had one of those stretches last winter where my Sunday photo walks started to feel like a chore. I was shooting the same corners of Seattle I’d walked a hundred times, importing cards full of “fine” images, and wondering what the point was.

Two Habits That Are Quietly Killing Your Photography (And How to Fix Them)
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Two Habits That Are Quietly Killing Your Photography (And How to Fix Them)

There’s a version of me from a few years ago who would open Instagram first thing in the morning, scroll through feeds from photographers shooting in Patagonia and Iceland, and then put my camera down for the rest of the day. Not because I was tired. Because I felt defeated before I’d even started. I live in Seattle. My Sunday photo walks wind through the same neighborhoods week after week. The shots I was seeing on my phone made what I had in front of me feel small and pointless.

From Technical to Intentional: What Brandon's Photography Breakthrough Can Teach You
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From Technical to Intentional: What Brandon's Photography Breakthrough Can Teach You

There’s a specific kind of frustration that hits photographers around the two-to-five year mark. You know your camera. You understand exposure, you can shoot in manual, you’ve read about the rule of thirds so many times you could recite it in your sleep. And yet something still feels off. The photos come back technically fine, but they don’t move anyone. They don’t even move you. That gap, between knowing how a camera works and knowing how to make a photograph that actually says something, is one of the hardest things to close on your own.

6 Photography Bad Habits You Need to Break (And How to Actually Do It)
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6 Photography Bad Habits You Need to Break (And How to Actually Do It)

Every photographer I know has a list of things they wish someone had called them out on earlier. Not gear mistakes or technical errors, but habits. The quiet, low-stakes decisions that compound over time until one day you realize they’ve been quietly capping your growth for years. I came across this Peter McKinnon tutorial a while back and ended up pausing it four times to take notes, which doesn’t happen often.

When Everything Goes Wrong: What Nigel Danson's Worst Photography Day Teaches Us About Shooting in Bad Conditions
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When Everything Goes Wrong: What Nigel Danson's Worst Photography Day Teaches Us About Shooting in Bad Conditions

There’s a version of photography that lives on Instagram — golden hour, perfectly packed camera bag, zero wind. Then there’s the version most of us actually live, which involves wet gloves, gear that breaks at the worst possible moment, and at least one decision you’ll spend the drive home regretting. I’ve had those days. One Sunday morning walk in Seattle I dropped my 50mm on a wet dock and spent the rest of the shoot on my phone, refusing to go home empty-handed.