SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

We have all heard the famous phrase uttered by none other than the incomparable HCB,"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst".
Almost daily I hear the advice, shoot, shoot, shoot(sss), and practice, practice, practice(ppp), then do it some more.
Are those of you dishing out this advice just parroting something you have heard, or has it actually helped you in some quantifiable way along you Photographic Journey/Career?
I assume you also know that the famous HCB was also one of the most highly trained artist/photographers on the planet, even to this day. Indeed attending schools that were actually pioneering photographic concepts and styles, not to mention using the best gear available in his day.
Can we actually get better by just sss/ppp without actually changing something in order to improve, and can we do that on our own without outside trained input?
Those of you that have attended real photography schools and hold something akin to a BFA or similar, could you have come to that point on your own, by just sss/ppp?

So I am inviting a discussion about whether sss, ppp actually does any good?
Those of you that are quite fond of saying it, I hope you come forward and embellish in what way you feel it's worth repeating, or are we just misleading new photographers to learn bad habits and a photographic life of just stumbling around in the dark?
Does sss, ppp teach one composition, how to use your camera or how to be an artist and produce award winning shots?
Feel free to post pics that you feel explain your position, or maybe before and after shots(after the first 10,000).
Or does something else entirely different work for you or others?
I'd like to hear from pros as well as those just starting out, that we may be able to come to a consensus to better advice those looking for that first camera or those that just got one, not to mention those that have been at it for years. Maybe we can all learn from this.
What say YOU??!! ;-)
SS

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Who is HCB?

Darkroom317 Loc: Mishawaka, IN

Are you serious?

Henri Cartier-Bresson

amehta Loc: Boston

I think learning modes apply to everything, including photography, so I will respond in the general context. Only doing something over and over will not make someone better at it. We need to also learn from those who have done it before and involve feedback in what we are doing, both from ourselves and from others.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

It's helped me.
In handling my camera to be able to make adjustments and changing settings without stopping and thinking what to do.
In better understanding what I want to accomplish and how to get there.
I'm still working on framing and composition, but practice is helping with that.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

OK, I know him, I just never heard the abbreviation.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

If you put a lot of thought, imagination and creativity into your photography, you don't need 10,000 shots to become good at it. There are many past masters who became great photographers in a very short time, and whose work is still admired and emulated today.

On the other side of the coin, there have been plenty of people who have been taking pictures a life time yet never developed the skills to produce captivating images.

ebbote Loc: Hockley, Texas

In my opinion, If one has to take 10,000 shots to get one good one they should throw away their camera because they will never be a photographer.
PP is trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear and it is
no longer a photo, more ART than anything, good or bad.
HDR turns a photo into a cartoon.
The most important thing about being a photographer is that you have to have a creative artistic mind to visualize
what you want in the photo and follow through.

redhogbill Loc: antelope, calif

I also have been hearing this!! practice makes perfect!etc,etc...
actually it does make a difference for me, everytime I pick up the camera I seem to clear another very small hurdle! that in conjunction with reading and watching tutorials!
as I get older I retain less knowledge! so I read twice as much!! my $0.87 {inflation}

bretedge Loc: Moab, UT

When I first got serious about photography back in 2000 my girlfriend at the time and I took a five week road trip. I'd been shooting for over a year and was still producing, well...crap. During the road trip I photographed daily in a variety of conditions and locations. At the end of the road trip, I had dozens of rolls of film developed. When viewed sequentially, one could see a marked improvement in the quality of the photographs. During that five weeks I became well acquainted with my camera and learned to operate it intuitively. I made several breakthroughs in understanding some of the technical aspects of the craft that I'd had great trouble grasping before the trip.

I do think that shooting and practicing often can help one to become a better photographer. Simply going through the motions is unlikely to help much but those who take the time to think critically about what they're doing in the field stand to benefit from the activity.

blackest Loc: Ireland

Exclusively NO ! You need some some outside stimulus, it can be books, websites, other photographers, an open mind ...

The chances of discovering everything for yourself, by yourself is going to be a fluke, I think the hardest things are "the story" and composition. It is so easy to make technically good photographs but with the appeal of a wet dish cloth. I have to be honest i've shot 1000's of boring photographs even if they have been technical well created they are meh. The worst thing is your friends like them, never do they say why don't you try ...

So no practice and shooting by itself will not make your photographs interesting appealing strike a chord with your audience, that takes more.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

I think that people mistake just pulling the trigger multiple times as "practice" when really, practice is:

1.) Focused
2.) Directed
3.) Goal Oriented


Etc.

I compare it to playing guitar (which I've done for many years) When folks "practice" they do things that they can already do...they do it mindlessly and repetitively.

But when people who are "pros" practice...they do things that they DON'T do well..and AREN'T FUN and they stretch themselves beyond their comfort zone.

So...yes..shoot shoot practice practice...but if that means taking the 1000th image of your hibiscus in your front yard...then no.

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

As simplistic rules go, the "Shoot,shoot,shoot; practice practice, practice "(sss;ppp) dictum is incomplete as is. To be truly effective, one must add "edit/cull, edit/cull, edit/cull" for without objective self-critique and undestanding why you edit what you edit you'll just wind up with a continually growing bunch of unimproving images.
So remember:
sss;ppp;e/c,e/c,e/c !!!!
It is from the edit/cull process that the learning comes.

Dave in SD

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Dave, I won't disagree with this, BUT, personally, I don't feel photography is "self-intuitive".

How can we be " objective and self-critiquing", if we are not yet aware of what we need to do to improve?

What you are saying is that we each need to reinvent our own self-critique wheel. If we have no idea what that wheel is supposed to look like, how do we know if we are actually going forwards, sideways, or indeed possibly backwards?
What do good experienced photographers know/do that one just starting out does not know/do. How will that less experienced photog know to go in that direction?
Can we get there on our own without experienced guidance of some sort, simply by using self-critique ;-)
SS

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

It's too bad you used the 10,000 picture quote. It seems the focus is on 10,000 and not on practice.
I know for me practice (and not 10,000 pictures) has been a big help.