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Writer's pictureartece2005

5 Things I Learned in Life Because of Photography

Updated: Feb 26, 2022

by Arturo Rivo, Jr.

As a photographer for 10 yrs now using a DSLR, I want to share the 5 things I’ve learned in photography. These are the things that made me a better person {I think haha} and made me wiser and happier in life. So, let’s get started. hehe 1. SHYNESS RUINS OPPORTUNITIES I am an introvert human being. Introvert means I rarely enjoy being with lots of people. It drains my energy a lot. I am a kind of person that enjoys company of small group of friends than hang out to parties with lots of strangers. Socializing and meeting strangers is very hard for me up to now. But because of photography, I develop a love for portraits and portrait photography means, you have to learn how to meet people and connect with strangers... I have to get rid of my shyness.. OOOHHH NOOO.. hahaha. I overcome my shyness by joining a photography club, joining photo shoots and accepting projects even if I have little experience doing it. I am still an introvert and shy person, but I improved a lot because of photography. I learned that every time I conquer my shyness, I benefit from it and opportunities come. It takes courage to achieve your goals. Step out of your comfort zone and face the world. 2. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE In photography, you always aim to capture the perfect moment. On events such as wedding, we love to see smiles, tears and lots of emotions. A photographer should be patient and observant to its surroundings to capture the perfect moment. In Wildlife photography, you need to be patient and wait for an animal to appear and make things that are great for photos. In landscape photography, you have to be patient on waiting for the right time like the blue hour or when the clouds and sky color are best. Photography taught me patience. This photo below is a winning photo of mine. I waited hours to see flying flamingos close enough for a shot and with patience and a bit of blessing, 3 flamingos flew near my place and I was able to take a shot. This photo won 5th Place in Al Wathba Wildlife Photography competition. If I haven’t been patient, I never had this chance.






3. EVERYTHING HAS ITS BEAUTY If you are a photographer, you are on a constant look out of what’s beautiful to take photos. hahahaha. Because of this, we unlock and see the beauty of some things that normal people do not see. We may take a photo of a small insect and your friend will laugh at you for doing so. haha This is because we see that this insect is interesting.. it may have great features, colors and behavior that makes it beautiful for a photo.


In portraiture, many will see an old, weird looking, dirty old man as a beautiful subject. But for ordinary people, they are just nobody in the streets and not worth looking at.




A rusty old metal is just trash.. but in the eyes of the photographer and after being photographed, it may become an abstract art.





Photography taught me to appreciate the things around me and to see its beauty. No one has the right to call anyone or anything ugly. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. 4. BE RESOURCEFUL TO OVERCOME YOUR LIMITS I am not a rich human being and that is one of the main hindrances for me when it comes to buying my gears.. they are damn expensive!! haha I learned to make the most of what I have. A 50mm lens is one of the cheapest lens you can buy for your camera but is also considered one of the best. I have one and I love using it in almost everything except landscapes.lol I can also use my 50mm lens as a macro lens by inverting it. It saved me lots of money.I also shoot with a cheap telephoto all around lens {nikkor 18-200}. With internet and Youtube around, information are just round the corner.

nikkor 50mm. one of my favorite lense


With minimal gears, I learned to be creative and be resourceful. It did not prevent me from getting great photos, enjoy photography and from even winning in several photo contest. Being resourceful means, you are creative and a survivor. Be resourceful and get the job done no matter what. 5. FAILURE IS NOT THE OPPOSITE OF SUCCESS, IT IS A PART OF IT. In photography, especially if you are shooting events and documentaries and real life scenarios, you will discover that most of your photos will be crap. haha It is normal especially if you are a newbie {beginner}. There is a saying “your first 10,000 photos is your worst” haha There are also times that you cannot get a nice photo because of the scenario like low light, bad backgrounds, gear is not capable, extreme weather etc. In short, there are times of great failure. Don’t be so sad, move on and learn from it. Sometimes we have to fail to learn and improve a lot.




All successful people failed somewhere in their lives and some failed big time and rised on top afterwards.


Do you also love photography? What did you learn from it? Please write your comments below. Thanks


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