Many a times a question that gets asked is - how does one improve in photography? The more I think about it there's a simple 3 step pattern that emerged.
Get Inspired
It all starts with some inspiration from somewhere. Some photograph, a tranquil scenery, a magical moment - there are so many moments that can trigger inspiration. One can participate in a variety of online and social media forums for sources of inspiration. In Facebook there are so many groups to cater to different interests and genres. Instagram was of course created for this purpose. :) Pinterest is another great source. There are so many gamification apps and websites such as Gurushots, Viewbug, 500px etc. Of course I have to warn you to take care with gamification apps where they could easily tease you to spend more and more money with them. Once you go through a few cycles of getting inspired one can expand into newer territories and genres. This is one hobby where I believe the opportunities to explore have no boundaries. It helps to have a "bucket shot" list for reference.
Research
Once you are inspired then comes another interesting phase of research. Every shot you admire will definitely have a story to tell. It could be the location (or a specific spot in a location), the kind of gear and tools used etc. You will learn a lot of geography, astronomy, physics, chemistry - pretty much every subject you ignored (or enjoyed) in school will come back handy now. One will have to research more on the camera features (rear sync flash for example), about lighting modifiers, location research etc. There again there are wonderful tools available in the "app marketplace" such as Photopills, Clearoutside, Merlin Birds (if you are into birding) etc. There's absolutely nothing that Google or YouTube cannot help you with provided you know what you are looking for.
Experiment
Everybody starts somewhere. The important aspect is to start and keep shooting. Thanks to digital photography one does not have to burn their wallets on film and prints as in the olden days to experiment. Just get your camera (or mobile phone) out and click whatever picks your interest. Experimentation as in any other field is the only way to learn and improve. The beauty with photography is that one doesn't really have to step out and travel for creating images. There are so many things that we can do just within the 4 walls and with relatively simple tools. One does not require fancy equipment to experiment either. Yes - you may need certain tools for certain types of photography - say macro for instance but there are plenty of economical options available to embark on macro photography. So there's simply no excuse for not experimenting other than lack of interest. Experiment and explore.
Once you have experimented enough and feel confident the cycle repeats by trying something new. Am sure by the time you were working on one area, if you had the interest and had your eyes and ears open there will be something else waiting for you to pick on. If not in a variety of genres, you can go further deeper into a genre of your choice and be able to come up with unique moments. Here's some samples from some of the genres that had picked my interest so far. Looking forward to explore and share my experience as I continue to improve.
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