Beyond the Technical

Last night I had the incredible opportunity to again speak at the Virginia Beach Photography Club.  The goal of my presentation was to encourage photographers of all skill levels to develop a habit of practice to grow their photography.  It's simply not enough to sit down, read the latest "how to" photography book, and then randomly point your camera at something when it's convenient.  The practice and study of photography should be thoughtful, engaging, and results oriented. During my preparation for the presentation, I kept coming back to the idea of Deliberate Practice.  A concept developed by K. Anders Ericsson, Deliberate Practice is active practice with the specific goal of improving weaknesses.

• Quality of practice is worth as much as the quantity

• Skill is primarily the result of practice not talent

• Improving your photography over time is your goal and motivation

• Practice must be intentional, aimed at improving, designed for your current skill level, and combined with feedback from either yourself or others

It is rumored that idea of deliberate practice led Malcolm Gladwell to his idea of the "10,000-Hour Rule," which claims that the key to achieving world class expertise in any skill is a matter of practicing the correct way, for a total of around 10,000 hours.  I don't know about you, but I know I haven't spent 10,000 working on anything.