The day social media programs are shut down permanently to never exist is the day that many arts interests and hobbies will also die because people are so insanely set to share as much content for likes that the day all of it ends people will lose interest in their arts interests and hobbies. Social media has killed a lot of what humans enjoyed.
That is such a good point! So many would simply fade away. It's a weird place for me to comment, though, since I just used social media to share my thoughts on how much social media is ruining the hobby I am pursuing. Haha! Thank you so much for the comment!
Not really, as I started in photography in the late 70s, and we didn't have the internet, social media, influencers, or people pushing brands. We had magazines, but I rarely bought them, and just learned from books and getting out with my camera.
Such a powerful conversation. We’ve all been influenced to upgrade gear thinking it will make us better photographers. I’ve found practice and observing light, and composition plays a much bigger role in success. I’ve taken lovely photos with just my iPhone vs my cameras. 📸
Me waking up: I have a bunch of solid canon cameras, from the 70s until now. I got everything I need. Me after half a day of TH-cam and threads: I really should buy that Leica.
Great Video Jude! Thank you for saying it! I completely agree with your video! Watching influencers who are constantly showcasing free, high-end gear can create a misleading impression that we need those exact tools to be successful photographers. When our feeds become full of ads and videos pushing this idea, it’s easy to feel like we have to follow the same path to achieve quality results. But in reality, photography is about capturing a story, expressing a unique perspective, and connecting with our subject. The gear is just a tool - it doesn’t define our art. I’m not blaming influencers; they have to make a living too. But as viewers, we need to take it all with a grain of salt and remember to focus on finding our own creative voices. Here’s to creativity over equipment!
I love that "Creativity over Equipment!" Should totally be a mindset we have, but yes, unfortunately many people who turn to TH-cam for photography education (myself included) get swept up into gear obsession. Thank you so much for your comment!
It was a sad day when I finally realized a few years back that the handful of YT photo channels I enjoyed were actually 'influencers'... and 'influencer' is just another word for 'shill'. They all seem to have expensive gear, travel to exotic places to shoot, and have early access to the latest gear... on the same day all the OTHER shills, I mean, 'influencers' show off that new gear too! I can't, don't, and WON'T be influenced by them either. They're just people with cameras same as me, and occasionally I might glean a useful tip from them, same as anyone else with a camera. 'Content creators' aren't necessarily good photographers.
And it's always when you start getting attached to a TH-cam creator that they go and ruin it by accepting free gear to push product... I miss the days of photographers just sharing their process and the photo wins and failures. Those channels don't grow, though, and if you want to find them, you have to search high and low for them.
Dude, who's buying a hasselblad just because Thomas Heaton got one? 😂 It's like running out to your nearest Maserati dealership just because you saw Jeremy Clarkson on the TV.
Haha! I'm sure there are a few out there who bought one just cause they saw him flashing his on TH-cam. If not, companies wouldn't keep sending them out to Influencers.
I could not agree more with you right now. Just got myself a X100 VI and now everywhere I look I see videos about the GR IIIx. Funny enough right in between all these GR III videos there was your video, the one I just needed to see. Thanks for your video and the clear message!
Your videos are great. You are always inspiring and I love when you mention how you feel and include your sweet family in your conversation. There is one person who I was watching every time till it started to be annoying how they boast with their gear more than actual photography so I stopped watching them no matter if they are successful or not. Anyone can become successful but not everyone stay humble and inspiring and you are to me. So don’t feel discouraged or stressed but keep on going because you are an inspiration. Have a great day.
Wow! I am blown away by your comment. I've never really thought of myself as inspiring or anything even close to it, except perhaps in the way you might see someone doing dumb things so you know not to copy them. It breaks my heart to see people like the person you mentioned swept up in the "influencer" mindset instead of their origin. It alienates so many of their original community.
TH-cam influencing lately has been "leica m6, leica m6, leica m6"... One thing that viewers tend to forget is that A LOT of TH-cam creator's content (what they're actually selling) is the video not the photography. Ill stick with my f2 and x100t for a while.
Those two cameras (F2 and X100T) sound like a great pair! And yes, I feel like I've heard a few of them admit they don't feel like photographers, they feel like video creators and business owners.
I was in my car in a Tesco carpark, here in the UK. I said outloud that I'd love a Lotus car like the one parked opposite me. When I got home an hour later and put youtube on, guess what the first thing that greeted me. Yes an advert for the latest lotus car!. I never searched for it online, i just said outloud that I'd like one. Obviously my Samsung phone is listening to me. Not the first time that's happened. Bit off topic but the pushing of things, to buy, on to us is relentless.
That is super freaky. I hate that stuff like that is a thing we have to "get used to." Obviously we aren't even safe from it in the privacy of our own space!
I couldn't agree more. My journey of discovering or experiencing this myself was: I'm subscribed to and following a couple of English and American X100 series photographers, and it was their experiences, the overall hype surrounding the camera, and a little bit of my own research that convinced me to pull the trigger on the X100VI back in February-I'm still waiting for that camera. Jump to a couple of months later, seemingly in a conspiracy, loads of those same influencers are now shooting Leica M11s. Of course, I know that I couldn't afford one, not as a hobbyist, anyway, but I did do my own research, watch loads of videos of the various versions of that camera, and figured out that, most likely, the M11 Monochrom would be for me. And now, as a result of algorithm shenanigans, I see that camera everywhere: on TH-cam, on Instagram, in random online ads-it's mad. Anyhow, my financial situation hasn't changed, so I will just have to push through this ad spell, which I hope will die out in a couple of weeks' time. And, of course, I'm looking forward to my black copy of the X100VI, which I know will do just perfectly for my individual photography needs, even though it's not a Leica M11 Monochrom with a 35mm Summicron lens…
I think you will be super happy with it when it arrives. I feel so fortunate to have gotten mine, and I've been using it as my primary camera while my wife finishes up the wedding photography season with our Sony. I hope to one day shoot with a Leica but only if I actually need a camera like it and can afford it guilt free.
The french anthropologist René Girard wrote about ‘mimetic desire’. It explains why we want to be like others in terms of performance, more likes, etc.
That free hassleblad was genius…I unsubscribed from a lot of Photo Influencers. Basically all of the ones that got that camera. 😂 Not worth my time and with the two that started a $16 a month “community” I am no longer their target market since I’m not rolling in cash. And…alienate them! They are so big and seem to be the biggest gatekeepers on this platform. 😅
It makes me so sad to think that so many of the photographers I used to admire and watch have lost themselves in the influencer cycle. And I agree, that "community" feels like another attempt to boost egos and create exclusivity. Sad.
A real photographer would've waded into that muddy water at 3:52 to get that composition you wanted :). 100% agree on the message though - don't spend a fortune trying to buy a result
Just found your channel, and love this video. Had a late night talk with my wife just a couple of days ago about this very topic. I guess my follow up question to you would be how do you get your art out into the world without social media? (If you already made a video on this topic let me know...haven't browsed your video archive yet.)
Hahaha! Mine has done a pretty good job with that as well, but she also wants me to be free to make purchases if I really really really want them... have I mentioned how amazing she is lately?
Most of those people are that great at photography...regurgitate the same thing as the last, whether it's teaching you something, giving an opinion or taking photos. I've recently watched a street photography meet with some photographers and all the pictures are average, sh*t or just the same...someone walking into light from shadow, people blocking sun from there eyes, people in strong light with elongated shadows, some feet in a line with one pair different in size and or colour. They really blow there own trumpets or each others and mostly just put out garbage which in some cases doesn't need that person in the frame who is slightly overweight or just on a phone. In one of the videos that was put out from the street meet up slash collaboration videos because when i watched one they all got offered to me so i got to enjoy all of the bullsh*t....someone says something like "are you actually good at phototherapy or is it that you are a in London taking photos" something along those lines and I don't think they liked it, it was Dave Herring an american whatever photographer saying it to an English (London)"street" photographer if you want to find it. Lastly and sort of to your point is they all had leicas and none of them really needed digital rangefinders, no-one needs one for taking the portraits of people walking away or crossing the road,just as I've found out because I wanted to try one, I don't need a digital all manual camera except now I want a pixii camera because I've shown some interest which is even more manual and my brain is configuring the justification for it as I write.
It's ironic you say that about street photographers specifically. I always thought street photography was way more intriguing until I saw what passes for the style nowadays. Whatever happened to the jazz-like improv and experimental style that used to be street photography?? Now it's like "lifestyle photography" or "I'm afraid to get confronted" photography.
Covetous. Interesting word. In my early photo career, I always thought I needed something more. Something better. I was around people that seemed to afford the newest Nikon, Hassleblad... Later in my photo career, say, 10 years in, I learned it was not important to have the newest. Use what I had, to the best I could... I took a 20+ years break from photography. Pulled back by a good friend, I bought what I knew, and then some. But spent the money for good glass. Well. Good from 1990 specs... Things I couldn't afford 30 years ago... I learned not to need what the Overlanding crowd always got for free. Camping is camping. As a result, I feel the same with my photography return. I'm just having fun with what I've gathered. Some has made it back on Ebay, some more probably will too...
I believe your journey is one that I am totally relating with. I have always wanted the newest, best, most expensive because I needed to feel validated. It wasn't until I started using what I had and focusing more on just having fun that I started getting photos I liked. Thank you so much for sharing! Have you done much overlanding? With this van conversion I'm sloooowly working on, I am excited to try it.
I 100% have been. I will freely admit it was the hype of the X100V that made me jump on the preorder of the X100VI immediately. Another example of why this video was directed at myself as much as anyone else.
Nope .. No influencers make me buy something or determine what I do or when I do it. Especially those who wave an X100 VI around .. 😂 I must admit I now own a Leica M6 Titanium, but only because I won it in a prize draw with a £20 ticket, and not because of any influencer or hipster pushing Leica onwership.
The influencers will never be the photographers of those who were working before the word influencer creeped into photography, don't follow / imitate them, go your own way, @everyone
100%!! I often wonder how many of these influencer photographers would even be considered pro photographers if it weren't for platforms like TH-cam boosting their ego.
@ there is a place for everyone in the photo world for sure, but new photographer and those learning and on search of knowledgeable mentors should be very wary of this influencer space, the bad habits are amplified through the huge reach they are given.
Are Influencers Ruining Your Photography Journey? No. But they are ruining my evenings at home. I keep falling for the click bait and watching the first 5 minutes of 15 minute long videos with 2 minutes of actual content.
This video might not win me any popularity contests, but it needed to be said.
The day social media programs are shut down permanently to never exist is the day that many arts interests and hobbies will also die because people are so insanely set to share as much content for likes that the day all of it ends people will lose interest in their arts interests and hobbies. Social media has killed a lot of what humans enjoyed.
That is such a good point! So many would simply fade away. It's a weird place for me to comment, though, since I just used social media to share my thoughts on how much social media is ruining the hobby I am pursuing. Haha! Thank you so much for the comment!
Not really, as I started in photography in the late 70s, and we didn't have the internet, social media, influencers, or people pushing brands.
We had magazines, but I rarely bought them, and just learned from books and getting out with my camera.
Came here to kick the habit, and now I want the x100vi 28mm adapter. 😭
Oh nooooo! I have failed.... 😞
Such a powerful conversation. We’ve all been influenced to upgrade gear thinking it will make us better photographers. I’ve found practice and observing light, and composition plays a much bigger role in success. I’ve taken lovely photos with just my iPhone vs my cameras. 📸
That right there is KEY! And such a phenomenal point. The camera is just the tool. Your observational skill is the thing that needs upgrading.
The texture of that tree shot was super cool!
Me waking up: I have a bunch of solid canon cameras, from the 70s until now. I got everything I need.
Me after half a day of TH-cam and threads: I really should buy that Leica.
It's a terrible cycle. But I totally feel ya! Leica would be super cool to own... especially that new Q3 43... what am I saying?! Haha!
That little meadow is beautiful!
Great Video Jude! Thank you for saying it! I completely agree with your video! Watching influencers who are constantly showcasing free, high-end gear can create a misleading impression that we need those exact tools to be successful photographers. When our feeds become full of ads and videos pushing this idea, it’s easy to feel like we have to follow the same path to achieve quality results. But in reality, photography is about capturing a story, expressing a unique perspective, and connecting with our subject. The gear is just a tool - it doesn’t define our art. I’m not blaming influencers; they have to make a living too. But as viewers, we need to take it all with a grain of salt and remember to focus on finding our own creative voices. Here’s to creativity over equipment!
I love that "Creativity over Equipment!" Should totally be a mindset we have, but yes, unfortunately many people who turn to TH-cam for photography education (myself included) get swept up into gear obsession. Thank you so much for your comment!
It was a sad day when I finally realized a few years back that the handful of YT photo channels I enjoyed were actually 'influencers'... and 'influencer' is just another word for 'shill'. They all seem to have expensive gear, travel to exotic places to shoot, and have early access to the latest gear... on the same day all the OTHER shills, I mean, 'influencers' show off that new gear too! I can't, don't, and WON'T be influenced by them either. They're just people with cameras same as me, and occasionally I might glean a useful tip from them, same as anyone else with a camera. 'Content creators' aren't necessarily good photographers.
And it's always when you start getting attached to a TH-cam creator that they go and ruin it by accepting free gear to push product... I miss the days of photographers just sharing their process and the photo wins and failures. Those channels don't grow, though, and if you want to find them, you have to search high and low for them.
Kind of random but I really like the music you put in. Really fits the fall theme very well. Great video!
Before even watching the video, my conclusive answer is Yes. Now off to watch it.
Thank you! Yes, I wish it weren't so.
Love those fall colors!
Dude, who's buying a hasselblad just because Thomas Heaton got one? 😂 It's like running out to your nearest Maserati dealership just because you saw Jeremy Clarkson on the TV.
Haha! I'm sure there are a few out there who bought one just cause they saw him flashing his on TH-cam. If not, companies wouldn't keep sending them out to Influencers.
I could not agree more with you right now. Just got myself a X100 VI and now everywhere I look I see videos about the GR IIIx. Funny enough right in between all these GR III videos there was your video, the one I just needed to see. Thanks for your video and the clear message!
I really appreciate your encouragement! I'm so happy you found my video!
Your videos are great. You are always inspiring and I love when you mention how you feel and include your sweet family in your conversation. There is one person who I was watching every time till it started to be annoying how they boast with their gear more than actual photography so I stopped watching them no matter if they are successful or not. Anyone can become successful but not everyone stay humble and inspiring and you are to me. So don’t feel discouraged or stressed but keep on going because you are an inspiration. Have a great day.
Wow! I am blown away by your comment. I've never really thought of myself as inspiring or anything even close to it, except perhaps in the way you might see someone doing dumb things so you know not to copy them. It breaks my heart to see people like the person you mentioned swept up in the "influencer" mindset instead of their origin. It alienates so many of their original community.
TH-cam influencing lately has been "leica m6, leica m6, leica m6"... One thing that viewers tend to forget is that A LOT of TH-cam creator's content (what they're actually selling) is the video not the photography. Ill stick with my f2 and x100t for a while.
Those two cameras (F2 and X100T) sound like a great pair! And yes, I feel like I've heard a few of them admit they don't feel like photographers, they feel like video creators and business owners.
I was in my car in a Tesco carpark, here in the UK. I said outloud that I'd love a Lotus car like the one parked opposite me. When I got home an hour later and put youtube on, guess what the first thing that greeted me. Yes an advert for the latest lotus car!. I never searched for it online, i just said outloud that I'd like one. Obviously my Samsung phone is listening to me. Not the first time that's happened. Bit off topic but the pushing of things, to buy, on to us is relentless.
That is super freaky. I hate that stuff like that is a thing we have to "get used to." Obviously we aren't even safe from it in the privacy of our own space!
I thought you said "jeans" at first but yea "means" makes a lot more sense
I couldn't agree more.
My journey of discovering or experiencing this myself was: I'm subscribed to and following a couple of English and American X100 series photographers, and it was their experiences, the overall hype surrounding the camera, and a little bit of my own research that convinced me to pull the trigger on the X100VI back in February-I'm still waiting for that camera. Jump to a couple of months later, seemingly in a conspiracy, loads of those same influencers are now shooting Leica M11s. Of course, I know that I couldn't afford one, not as a hobbyist, anyway, but I did do my own research, watch loads of videos of the various versions of that camera, and figured out that, most likely, the M11 Monochrom would be for me. And now, as a result of algorithm shenanigans, I see that camera everywhere: on TH-cam, on Instagram, in random online ads-it's mad.
Anyhow, my financial situation hasn't changed, so I will just have to push through this ad spell, which I hope will die out in a couple of weeks' time. And, of course, I'm looking forward to my black copy of the X100VI, which I know will do just perfectly for my individual photography needs, even though it's not a Leica M11 Monochrom with a 35mm Summicron lens…
I think you will be super happy with it when it arrives. I feel so fortunate to have gotten mine, and I've been using it as my primary camera while my wife finishes up the wedding photography season with our Sony. I hope to one day shoot with a Leica but only if I actually need a camera like it and can afford it guilt free.
Great video and needs to be said!
Thank you so much!
Great video man. 👍👊
The french anthropologist René Girard wrote about ‘mimetic desire’. It explains why we want to be like others in terms of performance, more likes, etc.
I'll check it out! Thank you for the suggestion! Always looking for new things to read.
this comment brought me back to my undergrad 😭
@@sivgreyson ahaha
That free hassleblad was genius…I unsubscribed from a lot of Photo Influencers.
Basically all of the ones that got that camera. 😂
Not worth my time and with the two that started a $16 a month “community” I am no longer their target market since I’m not rolling in cash.
And…alienate them! They are so big and seem to be the biggest gatekeepers on this platform. 😅
It makes me so sad to think that so many of the photographers I used to admire and watch have lost themselves in the influencer cycle. And I agree, that "community" feels like another attempt to boost egos and create exclusivity. Sad.
A real photographer would've waded into that muddy water at 3:52 to get that composition you wanted :). 100% agree on the message though - don't spend a fortune trying to buy a result
People forget that comparison is only good if it motivates you to do better not when it compels you to be something you aren't.
Agreed! Comparison is a motivator. Be discontented with yourself so you can be driven forward and upward toward improvement!
These are all very good points. I would not mind getting a free Hasselblad though.
Subscribed.
Good video and advice.
Just found your channel, and love this video. Had a late night talk with my wife just a couple of days ago about this very topic.
I guess my follow up question to you would be how do you get your art out into the world without social media? (If you already made a video on this topic let me know...haven't browsed your video archive yet.)
Also...the forest photo at 12:26 is stunning and my favorite of the video!
My wife sees to it that my spending stays under control. I have found out the hard way just how much a sewing machine can cost.😂Have a great weekend.
Hahaha! Mine has done a pretty good job with that as well, but she also wants me to be free to make purchases if I really really really want them... have I mentioned how amazing she is lately?
Most of those people are that great at photography...regurgitate the same thing as the last, whether it's teaching you something, giving an opinion or taking photos. I've recently watched a street photography meet with some photographers and all the pictures are average, sh*t or just the same...someone walking into light from shadow, people blocking sun from there eyes, people in strong light with elongated shadows, some feet in a line with one pair different in size and or colour. They really blow there own trumpets or each others and mostly just put out garbage which in some cases doesn't need that person in the frame who is slightly overweight or just on a phone. In one of the videos that was put out from the street meet up slash collaboration videos because when i watched one they all got offered to me so i got to enjoy all of the bullsh*t....someone says something like "are you actually good at phototherapy or is it that you are a in London taking photos" something along those lines and I don't think they liked it, it was Dave Herring an american whatever photographer saying it to an English (London)"street" photographer if you want to find it. Lastly and sort of to your point is they all had leicas and none of them really needed digital rangefinders, no-one needs one for taking the portraits of people walking away or crossing the road,just as I've found out because I wanted to try one, I don't need a digital all manual camera except now I want a pixii camera because I've shown some interest which is even more manual and my brain is configuring the justification for it as I write.
It's ironic you say that about street photographers specifically. I always thought street photography was way more intriguing until I saw what passes for the style nowadays. Whatever happened to the jazz-like improv and experimental style that used to be street photography?? Now it's like "lifestyle photography" or "I'm afraid to get confronted" photography.
Covetous. Interesting word.
In my early photo career, I always thought I needed something more. Something better. I was around people that seemed to afford the newest Nikon, Hassleblad...
Later in my photo career, say, 10 years in, I learned it was not important to have the newest. Use what I had, to the best I could...
I took a 20+ years break from photography. Pulled back by a good friend, I bought what I knew, and then some. But spent the money for good glass. Well. Good from 1990 specs... Things I couldn't afford 30 years ago...
I learned not to need what the Overlanding crowd always got for free. Camping is camping. As a result, I feel the same with my photography return.
I'm just having fun with what I've gathered. Some has made it back on Ebay, some more probably will too...
I believe your journey is one that I am totally relating with. I have always wanted the newest, best, most expensive because I needed to feel validated. It wasn't until I started using what I had and focusing more on just having fun that I started getting photos I liked. Thank you so much for sharing! Have you done much overlanding? With this van conversion I'm sloooowly working on, I am excited to try it.
Great video Jude 👍
Thanks! Appreciate that!
Hey Jude🙂 Great pictures!
It's so great to hear from you, brother! Thank you so much!!
Would you say you yourself have been influenced into buying Fujifilm X100 VI? For me the X100s are *the* example for influenced cameras.
I 100% have been. I will freely admit it was the hype of the X100V that made me jump on the preorder of the X100VI immediately. Another example of why this video was directed at myself as much as anyone else.
Nope .. No influencers make me buy something or determine what I do or when I do it. Especially those who wave an X100 VI around .. 😂
I must admit I now own a Leica M6 Titanium, but only because I won it in a prize draw with a £20 ticket, and not because of any influencer or hipster pushing Leica onwership.
Heh, same exact thing was happening to me with the X2D
Hehehe! It sucks, right?
@ at least we learned about a camera system and the pros and cons of it 🤠 but yes it does
The influencers will never be the photographers of those who were working before the word influencer creeped into photography, don't follow / imitate them, go your own way, @everyone
100%!! I often wonder how many of these influencer photographers would even be considered pro photographers if it weren't for platforms like TH-cam boosting their ego.
@ there is a place for everyone in the photo world for sure, but new photographer and those learning and on search of knowledgeable mentors should be very wary of this influencer space, the bad habits are amplified through the huge reach they are given.
@JudeStreicherPhoto Oh good grief. I don't like falling back on the lame "you're just jealous" line, but you are definitely way too salty about this.
So... I need to buy the most hyped camera and the lens adapter. Check. 🙄
Hahahahahahaha! Not at all. "Needs" are not the same as "wants."
Are Influencers Ruining Your Photography Journey? No. But they are ruining my evenings at home. I keep falling for the click bait and watching the first 5 minutes of 15 minute long videos with 2 minutes of actual content.
There are no good influencer photographers. None.
That's a bold statement. Sorry you feel that way. Isn't there hope for a few of them?