ten thousand

Ten thousand hours--that's how long a person must practice (insert endeavor here) in order to become an expert in (insert said endeavor).  That factoid is from Malcolm Gladwell's The Outliers.


Ten thousand hours.  That means, if I dedicated eight hours a day every single day to the practice of photography, it would take me shy of three and a half years to become an expert fotographer.  But let's be more realistic here.  Realistically,  factoring in a full-time job, I will be able to dedicate approximately twenty hours a week to my craft.  Suddenly, almost three and a half years becomes almost ten years!

Haha.  That's amusing.  And fantastically exciting!

My tools: Nikon d40, Nikon Coolpix S570 and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.

Up until three hours ago, I had ten days left of my free Lightroom 2 trial.  Fortunately, I downloaded version 2.7 (an automatic update) and I now have an extra 30 days free!  Sweet.

I purchased PDN magazine (Photo District News) this past weekend.  This issue focused on wedding photography.  Perfect because I want to be able to photograph weddings someday soon.  Seeing the featured photographs was both awe-inspiring and intimidating.  But they are the best of the best.  If I can even come close to being as good, I will consider my efforts a success.  Actually, scratch that.  I'm trying.  That's already a success.

I'm reading "Graphic Design for Non-Designers" by Tony Seddon and Jane Waterhouse.  For a non-art student, it is helping me understand basic design, composition and color concepts--a must for any fotographer, I would think.  I don't want to rely on just instincts.  I think a solid understanding of "the rules" (i.e., proper technique) is indispensable.

So far, I've developed an affinity for striking black and white photos.  I love how B&W photos are so dramatic in their simplicity.  I am excited to shoot and develop more color, though.  Hopefully soon I can setup shoots with models (any volunteers?).  I also want to do some street photography and candids at events.  Another exciting shoot would be food.  All in time.

For now, I need to focus on becoming more familiar with Lightroom 2.  Most of the photos in my Library aren't very good, but they will be good to practice with.

On the conservative side, I'd say I've clocked in a good ten hours so far.  9,990 to go.