Learning Photography through YouTube by Xavier

Learning Photography through YouTube by Xavier - September 2024 Scholarship Essay

Throughout my years of learning in a non-traditional sense, YouTube has been my go-to source. It has provided immeasurable aid over the years as I strive for mastery over photography. From camera settings to post-production editing techniques, YouTube was able to avail me with a wealth of information not possible in any traditional classroom setting. It is not about watching video content; it is about contributing to a worldwide community of creators, learning from their experience, and practicing what they learned firsthand in real life.

What makes YouTube work is its ease of access and diversity of its content. Whenever I picked up the camera, I had no academic training in photography. On YouTube, everything felt just right, from understanding aperture and shutter speed to composition techniques. Most importantly, I could learn it at my own pace: stopping and replaying the bits where something didn't quite click. And all this self-learning automatically gave me the confidence to experiment with different techniques sans the pressure of a traditional classroom environment.

YouTube also allowed me to connect with photographers worldwide. Channels like Peter McKinnon and Mango Street provided not just technical knowledge but most importantly, inspiration. A little peek into their work and how they approach photography in general encouraged me to push my creative boundaries. I've learned photography isn't just about capturing a perfect shot; it's about telling something. From light to composition to editing in post, each of those elements comes together to tell the story of the image. It was YouTube that taught me how to use all those elements in developing a picture with emotion and meaning.

At present, I am learning more advanced techniques from post-production editing. On YouTube, I was able to locate tutorials on software such as Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, which have also become my essential tools in photography. These tutorials really teach me to bring out the life of an image through color enhancements, lighting adjustments, and detail sharpening. The one thing I love while learning via YouTube is seeing an entire creative process in motion, from the initial photo shoot right down to the final edit. That transparency guarantees it's much easier to see how each step contributes toward the finished product.

In fact, it has been YouTube that became my main source of photographic education. It allows teaching oneself at the time one sees fit, connecting them with other creators experienced within its virtual 'walls'. On this site, I taught myself not only basic and technical parts but also creative and storytelling elements that make an image impactful.