Peter Carroll’s photography blog

Malcolm Gladwell makes a point in his new book, Outliers, which is that to be a superstar takes 10,000 hours of hard work. I’ve read all of Malcolm’s books and I highly recommend them. Whether you agree or disagree with his ideas I’m sure you’ll find the books are great springboards for thoughtful discussion.

Seth Godin, author of The Purple Cow, is another author whose books are full of great dicussion points. Lately, I came across an entry on Seth’s blog which I found interesting. He takes issue with the 10,000 hour rule as presented in Outliers. He says in a mature market it may indeed take that much work because most people last up to 5,000 and then bail. It’s kind of a last man standing, tough it out, kind of situation. However, in new unexplored areas, niche areas, he says the dip is much closer.

This should be no surprise to anyone in the photography business. Come up with a new Photoshop technique and suddenly a photographer finds his/her work being hailed as the greatest thing since sliced bread. Wedding photographers are legendary for this. I’m sure the first wedding photographer who pulled the black and white scene with coloured red roses trick found the phone soon ringing off the hook and his/her shooting calendar quite full. Photography is a lot like fashion that way. Fresh is in. Art is subjective so new is exciting. Landscape photographers aren’t happy duplicating shots of iconic locations. They must put a new twist on an old scene. There’s a bias against the work if it’s been seen before.

I believe that the truly great photographers put in the 10,000 hours and at the same time are very tuned in to style trends. They combine the two. Work based on weak basics and lots of style tricks is a house of cards standing in the wind. Photography is funny in that way. It’s an art form that is married to technology. If you draw for a living there’s no hiding behind the technology curtain. The pencil in your hand says it all. Photography, however, is different. How many times have you heard the comment – “you must have a great camera”? Photoshop has been around for long enough now that the public is well aware of the bag of tricks available to a photographer. I believe that is why, more than ever, the hard work put into developing basic skills is so important. These days, the rule for superstar success in photography might be 10,000 hours with the camera + 10,000 hours at the computer in post. Every photographer has their own definition of success. For me, success in my photography is the ability to clearly communicate my reaction to the world around me. Money is part of my photography business, sure, but it’s only a small part of the way I define success. I aim in my work to draw attention to the beauty and wonder of life. That can range from the calm serenity of a mountain scene at the break of day to the twinkle in a child’s eye. Every frame is a step on the 10,000 hour journey. It’s hard work. Most things which are worth it are…