Steal like an artist

Even if you are new to photography, you don’t have to start from the beginning. You can jumpstart your learning. There’s a shortcut, in a sense.

You’ve probably heard the phrase “steal like an artist,” which suggests that great art is rarely 100% original. It’s usually built on the work that came before it. In other words, it doesn’t start from scratch as something completely new and never-been-done-before. Art is iterative - and that’s okay.

As photographers, I think we intuitively understand this. It’s not “original” to photograph a beautiful sunset over a landscape, or a person walking down a street, or most of the scenes we encounter.

But that’s not a bad thing. We don’t have to be original to create great images.

I think it’s perfectly fine to “steal” from other photographers - but let me clarify what I mean. You can learn a lot from the work others have produced. Find a photographer whose work you love and study it. Look at their compositions. Pay attention to how they use light. Notice how they handle color. These are all things you can learn from and apply to your own photos right away.

When I was getting started, I followed several photographers whose work I admired and spent a lot of time studying their images. I learned how they composed a scene to emphasize certain elements, and how they used light and color to guide your eye through the frame.

I still do this today. I feel confident using a camera and editing my photos, but there’s always more to learn. And I want that - I want to keep improving and deepening my understanding of this craft. I don’t watch a ton of tutorials, but when I do, I almost always pick up something useful. Sometimes it’s a new idea, sometimes it’s a reminder, and sometimes it’s a better way of doing something I already knew.

That’s the process. That’s how we grow.

If you’re reading this, you might already be following my YouTube channel or other social platforms and looking at my photos. Thank you - I appreciate that, and I hope you pick up a few ideas along the way. But don’t stop there. Find other photographers you admire and do the same. There’s an incredible amount of talent out there, and learning from a variety of perspectives will only make you better.

Take what resonates. Leave what doesn’t. Mix it, shape it, and make it your own.

Because in the end, you’re not really stealing anything - you’re building something.