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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- Don't fall into the trap of taking nice photos because you think you should. This was a hard-learned lesson for me but once I learned it, I really understood what my value was as a photographer.
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Thank you all for the time you take to watch my videos!
Max
I can't believe this video I made while there was a gas leak in my airbnb has done so well! If you enjoyed it, maybe sign up to my email list to be the first to hear about my European photobook www.maxkent.co.uk/ (It'll pop up after a few seconds). Nice one
Movie leaks: this character dies
Gas leaks: 💥💥💥
maybe make one with "stop making 'nice' videos" seeing the success of this one
I love how his tattoos just blend with the shirt he's wearing.
i was just thinking the same thing man
I hate tattoes. They will look like crap when they are a few years old.
No you
@@Traitorman.25ththat's cool bro but nobody asked
@@Rena152
Just in case you are confused.
I wrote two sentences. One an opinion and one a statement.
And as you said.
You’re cool, but nobody asked you to comment.
You assume Im capable of taking a single nice photo?
I’d rather you weren’t 💪 even better
Amen! I'm sill waiting to take my FIRST nice photo!
my parents said your photos were nice haha, dont worry
This comment though! 🤣
😂😅
I've been shooting for a decade, but I feel like I'm lost identity wise. This is a great reminder, beautiful video.
We all feel that way sometimes! And sometimes you think you’ve got it and then you feel like you lose it again 🙏
yes it is
haha jokes on you! my photos are either underexposed, overexposed or out of focus
Well that’s not “ nice” =success
@nonculus I do that so much, I've started to tell people it's intentional and it's my "photographic style."
Mom, is that you?
Even out of focus and clumsy photos can be great! try this: go out with your camera and decide to only shoot out of focus photos on that day and try to find ways that it looks good to you.
What camera(s) do you use?
Daido Moriyama made a whole career out of that
If nice photos make you happy, go nice. I don’t care if im nice or something else and dont care after 19 years. It's probably a random mess of daily enjoyment and absolute boringness for most others. This is what it was for most before social media ruined that fun for this new generation. Embrace the nice if you're having fun!
I agree with you 100%
you're right but this is advice for professional photographers not hobbyists or people just taking photos to remember their holiday
@swiggityswoogity961 nothing in his video suggests he is talking exclusively about professionals only. He actually says in the video for professional and nonprofessional work.
Your video popped up in my recommendations today and that's crazy because that's exactly what I was thinking about yesterday. I went on a nostalgic trip looking at some old photos and I realised that they had so much soul, much more than my photography nowadays. I actually took a break from photography because I felt like I was only creating cold and soulless images. Going back to images I captured years ago (way before I learned all there is to learn about the technical parts of photography) showed me what I've been looking for and lost over the years. Your words hit home and resonated a lot with what I'm feeling right now so thank you!
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Finding your own style is so valuable. There are certain photographers that just have their own style and you can spot it quickly. Such good advice here.
If bro is intentionally out of focus that’s next level
AND lit from above with a pretty unpleasant industrial looking light, arms filled with tacky sticker-tattoos. Everyone; You do you, but personally, it makes it hard for me to take advice around aesthetics from someone, when this is the presentation they go with.
@@thomasoringso what do you look like that makes you a legitimate artist, then?
@@thomasoring Sure, criticize the technical aspects like focus and lighting, but not taking a person serious for the stylistic choice of tattoos one has is just you making yourself look ridiculous
Lol I shot this in 10 minutes in an Airbnb in Bergamo that had a gas leak.
@@thomasoringyou suck
you got some points i can agree on about having personal style etc. but there is nothing wrong with taking nice photos. don't fall into a trap that every single picture you take need to tell a story or be a part of larger serie or need to mean 'something' or be 'important'. that can kill the pleasure in photographing. after maybe 5-7y of shooting i had this mindset of not shooting 'nice' photos and it just stressed me out and i almost finished doing it. after 15y i appreciate shooting 'nice' photos because it is just fun. i take my point&shoot or a small dslr and a few rolls of film when i travel and i love the pictures :)
This really applies to all the arts, not just photography. Rules are good to learn, but you also need to learn when and how to break them
Exactly, you need to master the techniques before you can brake free and use those techniques for what you want to show
One thing that helped me personally is to just take a picture that I "think looks good" and then in post look at what made me feel this was and simply double down on that to hone in more of a style. This is in opposition to finding "what looks good" with the help of a set of rules that is.
Not sure if this is helpful to anyone, but hey.
I found that trying too hard is how you ruin a photo. You can feel the mechanical stiffness of the photographer in a perfectly composed photo, the soul is lost, Muscles are always moving or resting, never stiff and still, and that tension really shows when you ask someone to pose. My best photos were always quick little shots in the middle of something. Yea focus is often bad, and the subject is pulling a funny face, but the authenticity is there.
I am an english teacher. Your message is equally applicable to language study and teaching.
I think this applies to anything involving creativity. Whenever we create or teach or converse about something, we're generally not just trying to capture and describe reality, but rather to convey how our human sensory and emotional perceptions filter that reality. Subjectivity is just more interesting than objectivity
Just take YOUR photos YOUR way. If others don't like 'em - tough! It ain't rocket science.
@4th_Lensman_of_the_apocalypse So what?! If you enjoyed takin' 'em and like the results. - jobs a good un!
mood
@4th_Lensman_of_the_apocalypse if the person taking the pictures likes them then thats all that really matters
@4th_Lensman_of_the_apocalypse We're just talking about hobbies man. Nobody has any obligation to be good at them, they're things people do in their free time.
Yeah, I've heard about just few of the rules, and sometimes I don't care to take a picture of something, and use it as a tool to give lil factors, but usually when I would like to take a picture even in my way it's surprising how very simple pictures beat my "better" shots.
I'm not photographer, I just got few picks on Google, and one of them works as an ad for one place. They got basic coffee on top of a town's tallest building, and it is quite popular as people who live there use it regularly in summertime.
Sometimes you just find the videos you need and the thoughts you need to express so that you can grow as a creative. This video came at just the right time
This is good to hear dude
@@maxkent I’ve made videos before and done lots of creative work that’s technically well made but I always felt that I needed to be more bold to take a true step forward. Your video helped me see that more clearly and listen to my own feelings. It’s like getting advice you can’t take from yourself, even when you know it’s true. So thanks.
I’ve been shooting photos professionally for more than 40 years and I still feel my “style” is continuing to evolve as a photographer. At times I wonder if I have an identifiable style even though I do have a style… As we grow our way of making images changes and our “style” changes in the process. Good video for making us all look at ourselves.
also don't try to chase an identity, just doing what you're deeply passionate about is what your identity actually is (not what's supposed to be "nice").
And when you think you have developed a style/identity don't harshly stick to it all the time, that's what gets you burned out after some time. Still always try to experiment, it's about lifelong evolving
brilliant man. it has taken several years for me to finally get this and not always adhere to the norms but then its also good to know the rules and where to break them.
"Less 'nice' photos & more interesting photos which show who you are as a photographer." Love that tip!
Yeah dude!
The algorithm is scaring me at times. Just getting into photography. I have a lot of “nice” photos, but only very few are “great” to me. Thanks for showing me and others what really matters. Cheers
I like this advice. I feel the similar way in the context of drawing and design. People can make realistic works, or conventionally good designs and logos. But giving it some personal touch is something I usually fail because I was afraid that "personal" or "stylized" works cannot be seen as "good". I was seen that my style was eccentric, unconventional. And I needed to follow certain rules
But you're right, there are people who wants to have your work the way you do it, and that's why they asked YOU out of all people
Great video. Something I needed to hear right now
You're right, and it's ok to experiment. What helps me is spontaneity. That's related to my personal project/concept but when you got less time to think it sometimes lead to surprising results. Just have to get better at it now.
I'm really grateful to capture something transient, like a car going by or the moon that's between two trees that won;t be there for long
this has been something ive been struggling a lot with recently, really appreciate how you worded this, reinforcing what I've been wanting to do for a while now
This is very neat, I have recently remembered that I take photos because I enjoy it, not to please others or get higher numbers on social media.
And this video reminding me that I should have my style and stick to that came just in time!
And I can confirm, people who come to me to take photos do it because they like the way I take photos. :)
my first few years of photography have echoed what you mentioned. this video was a great emphasis on what is important to me in photography, great watch, thank you!
I love creativity because even though I don't know the first thing about photography, everything you're saying resonates with me greatly as a musician. The experience of making art is universal regardless of the medium and I think that's awesome. Great video!
Man, I've been shooting for like 10 years and always falling into ruts - and have a degree in photography too. I think this lesson was more valuable than anything I learned in my 3 years at Uni.
The “they suck” in the thumbnail is killing me 😂 love it
I’m always happily relieved when I see a friend or relative has actually taken a “nice” photo! 😅
I generally have come to know that in creative fields for some people the less you know the better you’re off. People get stuck on all these rules and never seem to just enjoy the experience.
that's what happens to teh England football team...
I absolutely love your photo of the blurred car headed to the stop sign. It speaks to me for some reason… It is like that phrase, “hurry up and wait”
And your whole argument in general is also good. Sticking to the car idea, there are “hyper realistic” racing games that feel “slow” because absolutely everything has crystal clear gameplay, even though that’s not how real life works. It feels motionless, so it doesn’t seem “fast” or even fun. Gran Turismo is guilty of this in many games, as an example. In contrast, the “stylistic” games are more fun, even if they’re not even 5% realistic. They feel unique and fast. The PS2 Burnout games (Burnout 3, Burnout Dominator, and Burnout Takedown) for example, so much fun! No regard for physics, no regard for realism. Just pure carnage and destruction on the road, blinding speed, taking down opponents.
such a valuable message you are conveying right here, this applies to any art form really
I’m brand new to photography, just out of highschool and took my sister’s camera with me to college. It’s quickly becoming a passion of mine, and while I don’t have it all figured out, I really do enjoy what I’ve made so far! My favorite photo is a picture of a classic soccer ball ( ⚽️ ) in a field in my hometown.
There’s nothing particularly special about the photo, it doesn’t follow any rules that I haven’t even learned yet, it’s just my camera’s auto focus, auto exposure, and nature. It just calls to me, and I think to some extent I was beginning to get obsessed with getting photography “right” that I almost let go of the thing that makes my photos great.
That’s great, enjoy it and keep your thing 🌞
This is the classic audio record in English books for foreign countries
One thing I absolutely love about photography is that there is less of a "good" or "bad", an image is good when you yourself as an artist decide so - it's good when the image makes you feel something and you connect with it and harsh guidelines don’t matter as much. Of course that is present in pretty much any art form, but especially in photography I feel like.
I have been a music producer for years and in music you could say the same but I feel like there are a lot more things to mess up. Maybe I’m tripping tho lmao
good take, wise words. felt the same along the way and it underlines that no one is ever done learning and evolving in photography.
Your shirt images matching your tattoo style is underrated.
The best analogy I have ever heard likens the camera lens to an artists paintbrush. Each artist uses their creative tool a different way.
This video is incredibly reassuring. I’m still quite a novice but the way I’d been looking at it was just like any art, every photographer should have a personal style rather than adhere to a super rigid set of rules. I’ve been approaching my shots from the perspective of how can I show people the world as I see it? It’s the only art I’ve tried taking up where I feel a sense of satisfaction, as a result.
Great stuff. Short and sweet. I'm grateful to say that I don't find myself too worried about doing things a certain way when I'm out shooting. I just do my thing the best I can with whatever conditions I'm in. It's very low-pressure while still striving for great quality.
“Nice” is basically palatable to non-artists. Life’s too short to take photos that are expected, we have to capture photos that inspire us
You’re just gatekeeping who is and is not an artist. More people are inspired by “nice” photos than your edgelord crud. Yes they understand it, they just prefer a nice landscape. It’s more inspiring to them.
@@PippetWhippet No one is gatekeeping anything, literally everything is available to view online. It's a matter of liking and sharing work, which I actively do by actually sharing photos I like regularly. I don't hide or gatekeep artists, that's up to others to pay attention and form their own opinions over what they like and don't like, what inspires them. That's an individual pursuit.
*edit: everyone can take a photo, it doesn't mean that they regard themselves to be a photographer and/or artist
@@danicee You literally said who you think the artists are and who they are not. If that isn't gatekeeping or an attempt at it what in the world is?
@@Anon54387 It's not gatekeeping, it's clarifying the definition of the word "artist"
but ain't tht gatekeeping? The term changing?
true af. i used to think about taking *only* nice photos basically for external validation, but now i just shoot anything that's interesting and made me want to lift my camera up no matter how "not nice" it looked.
Completely changed my view on photography for the better, thank you so much
Photography is like a mirror, it's not about the mirror itself but what's in front of it.
deep
OU NICE ANAOLOGY
Bro just subtly stated the rule of all art: do it your way 💯
Your work is awesome my dude. Congrats👏
🔥
i love vidéos like this, i’m not a photographer i’m not so aware of the subject matter at all, but such an interesting take &to hear your story. ❤
❤❤❤ thank you for this.
Love the message in this video, quite inspiring as someone trying to get a ” breakthrough” with my images. Direct format and subtle background music are spot-on as well. Thank you for creating this and sharing your wisdom with the world!
I feel like I found this video at the perfect time. It has really resonated with me. Thanks.
"nice is boring; do your ting" is my takeaway. Nice vid
Great discussion Max, spot on. It’s easier said than done I think, especially while traveling, to avoid those touristy shots. Enjoyed the one-on-one format too. 👏
I really Loved the photo with the logs leading into the couple lying down
If you look close there are three heads 🤯
@@maxkenthahaha totally missed that
Good points. Being too perfect leaves us distracted. The pictorialists were onto something. But if when people start looking for shadows instead of light and feeling instead of perfection. Everything changes.
yeah i fully agree. i have a background in film and i think this applies very well to my workflow too. the media landscape has become very oversaturated especially with colorful lighting, symmetrical composition and analog or old formats (film, vhs). we are at the point at which something that was considered beautiful 10 to 15 years ago is now used by people for their instagram reels and truthfully, it still looks nice and stylish, but it's also a sign of empty and shallow art. perhaps i watch too much experimental stuff, but i absolutely prefer when something looks more raw and unadulterated. i'll always have a deep respect for the movies of dogma 95 and those inspired by neorealism for rejecting what's considered conventionally beautiful in art.
Love the message man! Thank you
its like drawing artists and their specific art styles
Dude you made the perfect point nailing the focus on the background 👌🏻
Haha! I literally only just noticed that, it’s tough shooting and editing on the road! 🔥
great advice.
I take photos not to show off or share with anyone, it's my own personal recollection. I will take the photos in a way that embodies how I feel in the moment.
This is such a great advice for any type of art. Thank you, great vid, great advice
ayo i fuck with you max kent, hella nice video
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It's funny, found you through looking up this old Olympus Trip 35 that I had lying around for ages, looking to get into photography. Consistently, I find several of your videos, like this one, is just as applicable to my music (which I have been doing for the past 10+ years). This is really great, honest artistic advise.
Quite a lot of my advice is just life lessons that apply to a lot of stuff 😆
@@maxkent Yeah, but delivered in a dry, english manner
Real recognise real
"Rules help you make nice photos." "Nice is the enemy of great". Key takeaways.
Part of the process in learning the technique and then you brake free. First time you follow the recipe, then you brake free and change in the way that suits you.
I'm not a professional. Not making any money.But even though I do shoot a lot, I've never actively searched for any photography tips beyond techincalities. I think I'm going the right path with this.
this kind of advice can apply to any creative hobby or profession, great video
Im not that big into photography but this video was very mind opening, even for other creative work. Thank you very much!
to sum it up: do your thing !
I like how it's suitable for almost every art and non art work
i really needed to hear that, i''ve been struggling to find motivation to go out there and take photos
You are criminally underrated. This is solid advice
1:33 nah fr this is so true not just to photography but for anything art related
What i like about these photography lessons - is that you can substitute "photography" with almost any other "job" and the lesson still be the same
I took up photography in the late 1940s with a glass plate camera (1/4 plate).... and I will shoot what I like..nice or non nice......always have always will and couldnt care less if no one likes my photos....I do it for my own pleasure and use a Zenith 80 (since '68) and an OM10.
Too much philosophying and angst these days about who am I and what do I want to say and all that crap . Just do it!
At aged 91 I can tell you - all too soon, life becomes too short🙄
4:08 shared experience. I feel when i first started I had such high ambitions that the rules didn't matter really - everything I was doing was just me. Once I learned the 'rules' everything felt like it was just a template.
Very true. I realized this in filmmaking about 5 years ago. Once I took ownership and did things in my own style, my career took off. Now I run the video department and do almost everything "wrong" but have never had so much fun or been more successful. For example, I don't use a gimbal. I shoot either handheld or on a tripod. I don't use rule of third. I lean heavily on macro shots. I mix up music genres that don't normally fit well together. I color grade in a unique way that no pro would do for a Netlix show. I operate only on instinct. I never use shotlists. etc etc. The point is, at a certain time in your life, you gotta just be you and the world has to either be okay with it or not. I'd say as a male it equates to becoming a grown man.
That’s great dude! Keep up the good work
I'll take whatever pictures I please. Thank you for the video.
I'm having a hard time writing right now, and found this video. Thank you
Good stuff Tim, we all need it sometimes
Photography has been one of my hobbies since I was a kid. Only in the last few years have I had access to a genuinely good camera... For a smartphone 😅 art is all about communication... Some of my older photos taken with really bad cameras communicate more and convey deeper meaning than some of the pretty pictures I've taken lately.
My 3-year-old just took some of her first photographs completely on her own with my phone. She took some pictures of me, and the ones that turned out good (5 out of like 20 haha) are the best portraits I have ever seen taken of me in my entire life???? Like my phone was able to do a lot of the heavy lifting for the focus and such, but she was able to pull expressions out of me that nobody else can. She had a unique angle that a lot of people maybe wouldn't have thought to use, because she's a tiny human. Photographs of people can convey a relationship between the person taking the photo and the subject in the photo... And you can really see that in those photos.
Don't worry about capturing aesthetic images all the time. Capture feelings, capture moments, capture memories. Sometimes even an objectively bad photo is better than none at all.
Thid apply to other art form aswell, that is why chris christodoulou's risk of rain albums are my favourites. very very good video.
thanks, I really needed to hear this
I agree it seems that the waves of thinking "I really am getting this figured out now!" after every little breakthrough is somewhat universal for most photographers. At the end you touched on that having a clearly identifiable style is a big thing. While I agree somewhat, Ive found for myself trying too hard to have a 'distinct' style can become a little contrived.
What I find more important is to just keep following whatever keeps me interested which I think will naturally lead to a style as more of an emergent property.
Enjoyed your thoughts :)
1:29 My parents will tell me my work is sh*t af no wonder how good it is 😂😂😂
being original is the best trait, not only in photography
I think everyone has an idea of what is beautiful to them and an affinity to see and to capture different things. When combining the individual idea of beauty with the affinity one has (or develops) over time you automatically develop a style. I've realized this in painting. When I draw how I want to draw and paint in a way to suit that style of drawing and when my subjects and sketches are of things that inspires me, I feel proud with about 50 % of the work I do, and find points of improvement in the other 50 %. I think the worst thing you can do as an artist is to try to copy what someone else does because of their fame or skill (not because it speaks to you and resonates with your own ideas), you'll most likely just be a worse copy. If you borrow from someone who really inspires you, in ways that align with your own affinity and the complementary skills you've practiced (because you wanted to), you'll grow quickly.
It's so easy to get wooed by great art, but I don't think anyone should be concerned with trying to base their idea of their work on that art if they aren't really comparable. Comparing landscape oil painting and comic style inking is like comparing medium frame film to 4/3 compact, it doesn't give you any information at all on how to improve, while you forget that the approaches to your own and someone else's art is very different.
Great video, love your work. Photography improves when you adopt the mindset of taking photos for yourself, not trying to take a picture you think will be viral on IG. I have been shooting since 1979 and with a SLR since 1988. I am a multi discipline photographer. I feel shooting less photos, slowing down gets you more interesting shots.
Rules are important to to learn because they often are made for a reason. Learn the rule as well as the reason why it exists. Rules were made to be broken but not just for the sake of breaking them. Rules should be broken when you find a way to address the reason why the rule exists in a way that works better for you than the rule!
Yes I think its good advice. One thing that used to annoy me was when friends used to tell me how to take a photo of them. You have to take photos in accordance with your own vision.
my photography teacher would mark down my photos since they didn’t follow the rules. happy to say i dropped out of that class 😅
i tried to follow the “rules” but the pictures lacked so much character and instead just looked like it was apart of a magazine or an ad. dropping out of that class was the best thing i could’ve done for my photos.
Was staying out of focus for the first half of the video a metaphor? Hehe. Great video and really important advice. :)
my 4 star shot library is literally named "interesting" for this reason. this video has been very reaffirming because i've gone through basically the same hurdles, especially after art school and all of the rules that come with it
I think rules are important. You need to know them by heart. When you know how to set your camera up for what you envision in your mind withouth having to think much about it, you're at a proper stage to think about "style." I wouldn't play them against each other.
I like to just do this: if I like the shot, keep it. If it sucks, delete. And just taking tons of them and if something works, keep doing that.
one of the best content I have seen recently. brutally honest - love it!
dude i love your style
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This is a great advice, thank you!
This is so spot on
A great pic is a pic with a story... most great pics show the situation/action/context of what you try to show. It's much cooler (but not the rule) to take an improv pic of people doing their activity than that of people waiting for the pic to happen... that can translate to other situations like pics of nature, or objects... not easy but it gives more meaning to the pictures
I had a pretty long waiting time for my first lens (several weeks) and I was waiting for it really hyped, so I watched A TON of youtube videos. I made notes etc. And I never really have been clinging to the rules as "musts". But I would say they are like tools in my toolbelt. If I see something interesting to photograph, I usually go with intuition. But if I don't get the shot I like, I can apply some of the rules (or rather, tips), and see if I can use those to make the photo better. I iterate with those and just experimentation until I get something I like. I still do have some that I apply quite consistently. But I think the worst guideline ever, and perhaps the most widespread one, is the rule of thirds. I'd say it's almost a garbage rule, and so overused. At least for me, just intuitively seeking visual balance is a much more helpful way to go.
I was always interested in photography but as a hobby. I'm turning 30 this month and I really want to get myself a decent camera but I don't really have an idea. If anyone can give me sggestions on which one to buy, I'd really appreciate it. Also, great video, you have helped me understand a few things about photography and an identity that you can give to your photos. It really got me thinking as to what kind of visual style I like personally.