Try not to take pictures, which simply show what something looks like. By the way you put the elements of an image together in a frame show us something we have never seen before and will never see again.

Link via “Advice from Photographers” by A Photo Editor and “Magnum’s Advice to Young Photographers” by Conscientious.

The video is available for $39.95 in the Nikon Mall.

Link via “New Nikon Video: 154 Minutes of CLS Goodness” by Strobist.

Most of Kris’ tips are applicable no matter what type of camera you have — they are generalized points such as “seeing light”, positioning your subject to take advantage of the light that is present, learning your camera inside-out, taking advantage of manual controls to facilitate low-light shooting, and changing your perspective in order to set your photos apart. He also has a few words regarding how to purchase camera gear.

Link via “Kris Krug – Photography Tips” by Chris Pirillo.

The most important aspect of photography, lighting can make or break the effect of your image. After all, photography is a process of capturing light on camera sensors. Consequently, the importance of lighting cannot be over-estimated and if proper care for lighting conditions is not taken, you stand to lose everything.

The article covers a few different uses for both natural and artificial lighting, such as side lighting, back lighting, and ambient light.

In “Buying Digital SLR Cameras“ TechnoSailor editor Aaron Brazell makes the case for ignoring high-end digital photography equipment until one knows exactly what they need. He also offers a few tips for understanding the basics of exposure.

End of the day, rookie photographers can go and buy top of the line equipment but without a firm understanding of the techniques, it will not help them take great shots.

Aaron is certainly correct about the fact that great photos can be taken with any camera — hit up the Flickr Camera Finder choose any low-end DSLR or point & shoot camera, and take a look at the sample photos that Flickr chooses. You will surely see some amazing work by some very talented photographers no matter which camera you pick.

“Exposure” is a particularly good article for any photographer looking to break out of the point-and-shoot mode. “Exposure” explains the aperture, the shutter, f-stop and exposure. By understanding how all these different photographic tools work, you’ll be able to utilize them all together and take better, more professional photographs.

Link via “Are You on Utata Yet?” by Marc Weiersmuller.

Most of you would be drooling over the latest digital cameras that come out each month. You find yourself saying if I only have this camera or this lens I would be able to take great photos.

But professional photographers would tell you – “It’s not the camera that takes great pictures. It is the photographer.”

To illustrate the point, Fun with Camera shows us a Flickr set of great photos taken with a camera phone (the photo you see to the right is from that set). All of the photos in the set are taken with a PDA that snaps pics at 640×480 — significantly less than one megapixel. What these photos lack in resolution, they make up for in artistic quality ten-fold.

Fun with Camera is correct — having excellent equipment is great, but the best equipment in the world still cannot supplement a lack of skill. If you’ve read our About page, you know that the digital cameras we use for this website are nothing that you wouldn’t see on the street on any given day. Perhaps some day I’ll drop some serious cash on a camera, but not without learning a few things first.

For some extended reading on the subject of skill and equipment, read “Your Camera Does Not Matter by Ken Rockwell, who also says, “… it’s entirely an artist’s eye, patience and skill that makes an image and not his tools”.

Firstly, no two photographers are the same, according to Barr. As in in any other path of learning, the journey through photography is not the same for every photographer. Just as people learn at different speeds, they also progress in very different ways.

Getting to the task of assessing skill, Barr presents a series of sequential levels for judging both technical and aesthetic skill. Each level is concisely defined in a way that establishes what one can expect from a photographer of that caliber, while leaving enough room for interpretation not to contradict the observation that no two photographers learn in the same manner, nor progress along the same path.

“Taking Your Photography To The Next Level” is an excellent article about how to effectively assess your skills as a photographer. Barr’s analysis of progression gives the amateur photographer a clear view of how the process happens, and his levels are a useful tool for analyzing one’s own skills. Once you know where you stand, it’s that much easier to move on.