Those who can, do…. Those who can’t, teach…

This is a much overused adage - usually aimed at instructors by cynical conscripts on training courses - who think they can already do a better job than the person telling them how to do it!

As it happens, there may be an element of truth in it - especially if you replace the words ‘can’ and ‘can’t’ with ‘want to’.

Being good at something doesn’t necessarily make you the best person to teach someone else how to do it:

Personally, I see myself as a professional instructor first and foremost: it’s what I did in industry for 25 years before I switched to photography and I genuinely get more of a buzz from one of my ‘students’ winning an award or a competition, than winning anything myself.

In any case, like a lot of photographers, I often don’t even know what settings I’ve used for a particular photograph without looking at the metadata, as it’s an instinctive process I go through without even thinking about the camera at all.

It’s a bit like asking this bike racer which gears they used on every corner - very often they won’t be able to tell you as it’s instinctive, reactive and subconscious. It also depends on who’s asking…. If you’re racing against them, are they really likely to tell you something that may give you a competitive advantage over them in the next race?

Sadly, commercial photography is every bit as competitive and cut-throat as motor racing, these days - there are far more photographers out there than there is paid work! Even in amateur photography, social media has turned posting images online and seeking ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ into a competitive sport!

So, is that award winning, ‘seen on TV’, widely published Professional Photographer really going to share the techniques and tips that might help you to take away some of their business at a lower price?

Or are they just going to tell you as little as they can get away with for you to go away happy, yet not become a threat to their livelihood?

In top level sports most coaches and trainers are either people we’ve never heard of, or successful competitors of the dim and distant past. It is virtually unheard of for a competitor to be competing against their own coach at Olympic / World Championship level in any sport!

If you want to win and know how to, why on earth would you tell your opponent how to beat you?

However, Professional Photographers dependent on the sale of images for their living, rarely ‘retire’… They keep on ‘competing’ for as long as they can hold up a camera.

When you come on my courses, I will never deliberately hold back anything: I will always do everything I can to help you be the best photographer you can be - and if you win an award or make a fortune as a result, I will be as proud as you are!