How reading fewer blogs and watching fewer YouTube videos improved my photography
Tuesday 29 September 2020, 16:32 by Frédéric Paulussen | 5,032 views | 4 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
You are here today to learn. Whether it is about the new features of a brand-new camera or just a few tips that will help you on your next photowalk. You want to learn something you can put into practice.
And that is great. I do it myself too.
But recently I reduced the number of channels and blogs I follow to a minimum. Only a handful remained, including Photofacts, of course.
But I can already hear you asking: Why would you want to learn less about photography, Fred?
I don't want that at all. I want to learn more. But just as with so many other things, that annoying 80-20 rule came up again. 80% of everything I learned about photography came from 20% of the channels I followed.
The other 80% of the channels and blogs were noise. And actually just a waste of time.
On YouTube and Bloglovin, you get an overview of all the new videos and articles. Of course, you don't watch or read them all, but you do keep reading the titles and then scrolling on. With too many subscriptions, the time you waste this way quickly adds up.
But of course, you keep following all those photographers. Just imagine that one of them uploads a life-changing tutorial. FOMO, there, I've said it, you know.
I can tell you that life-changing content appears online very rarely. I'm not saying never, I can easily name 2 or 3 videos that genuinely helped me with my photography business.
But for those 2 or 3, I had to filter through a mountain of other content. And I could have used that time to read or watch the genuinely useful content more carefully and put it into practice more effectively.
Because that is what it ultimately comes down to. Putting what you read into practice. You read nice tips every day, especially here on photofacts, but do you actually apply them?
Because what is the point of reading about 5 photography techniques you should know if you don't test a single one of them afterwards? Exactly, it is completely pointless.
How do you find the right channels to keep following?
Of course, the question now is how you go about it. How can you decide which channels are worth following and which are not?
I will apply it to YouTube for a moment. Everyone is probably at least somewhat active there and has quite a few subscriptions.
But you can easily apply the same principle to your favourite RSS feed or another platform where you follow blogs. I even apply it to my Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Step 1: open every channel
Open every channel you follow. I did it alphabetically so I could do it over several sessions and still keep track of where I had stopped the previous time.
Step 2: check the date
And by that I mainly mean the date of the latest video. Was it published so long ago that there is no point in following the channel anymore? Unsubscribe!
Step 3: More dates!
Then also check the dates of the penultimate video and the one before that. Do they publish consistently enough? Or is it more irregular? Unsubscribe!
Step 4: The last 5
If you cannot find a single video among the last 5 that you would want to watch, or have watched, unsubscribe!
Step 5: Is it actually relevant?
I am an event and portrait photographer, but my subscriptions were mainly focused on landscape and travel photography. Not really relevant. I have no ambition to do more landscape photography either.
My excuse was always, 'who knows, I might find something I can apply to my niches too'. Unsubscribe!
Step 6: repeat regularly
And now go through these steps again every year. Because you are guaranteed to find new channels you want to subscribe to. And they will be removed again after a year.
Or the ones that just made the cut this year will no longer be relevant.
Conclusion
As photographers, it is important that we minimise the time we spend away from the camera and Lightroom as much as possible. And studying is of course essential, but it should mainly serve a purpose. Studying for the sake of studying will not achieve much.
Hopefully this article did not come across as too preachy. It is really mainly a reminder to myself. YouTube, blogs, Instagram, Twitter, books, newsletters. They are all very useful, but they are also all time sinks. It is up to us to use the tools we are given properly.
Are you an info-junkie too?
How do you stop it from getting out of hand?
About the author
Als bedrijfsfotograaf bij Fredography focust Frederic zich op portretten en reportages. Daarnaast heeft hij ook een passie voor workflows, social media, en smartphone fotografie.
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4 comments
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Nukkie
wrote on Tuesday 6 October 2020 at 11:12
| reply
Nice article. I mainly focus on portrait photography, street photography and projects too. Recently I went through all my subscriptions and only kept the subscriptions I regularly watch. I also save interesting videos to Watch later so I can quickly find a particular subscription again. Otherwise, just search when you want to know something and watch the cream of the crop. Regularly cleaning things up does indeed make sense. Next time I'll take a look at your criteria.
Translated from Dutch. -
Donald Willemsen
wrote on Tuesday 6 October 2020 at 11:59
| reply
This article: I don't follow blogs or watch YouTube anyway. So I wasted a lot of time on this article!
Translated from Dutch. -
scoot-shooter
wrote on Wednesday 7 October 2020 at 12:03
| reply
Clear and enjoyable article; I completely agree with you, ultimately experimenting is the best way to learn, in my opinion
Translated from Dutch. -
remco v
wrote on Wednesday 7 October 2020 at 13:18
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Discovered the stunning video quality of my 5DII 2 years ago, and have learned an enormous amount through all kinds of youtube channels, about its technical use as a film camera, as well as general film techniques and applications. Of course, a few favorites remain, but depending on your level at that moment, all tips are welcome, especially if you don't yet have the knowledge to distinguish which are the best tips that you are also going to use.
Translated from Dutch.
I have actually become very curious what those 2 or 3 life-changing videos have been for you, perhaps that could also become an inspiring life lesson for others.
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Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about PhotofactsPhotofacts is made possible in part by
