Everything has levels.

You need to find your level, perfect it and decide to either remain there or push further. There are genuine benefits to both roads and neither is the “right” path.

In western society we tend to push the onward and upward philosophy (grow or die), in the east, there is just as much of a “perfect where you are” thinking, as it, just as much as anywhere else, is never so perfect it cannot be bettered (Ikigai).

I have three skill sets now I guess. All three can support or improve the other, all effect my attempt to capture people and their lives in some way and all three are a balance of art and technical application. Below I will self assess and rate (out of 5, 5 being fully pro in the field)

Stills

The long term giver

Photographically I would have to call myself an experienced all-rounder. I have specialised, obsessed even, but lately, I just prefer to dabble broadly.

The paper throws most things at me in a get in-get out quick format, but lots of variety and problems to solve. The main thing is, we have to do it reasonably well.

Sport is a priority on weekends, weekdays are all things editorial. Speed is the real skill and accepting compromise.

Balance.

To be honest, I am past the stage of just doing one thing any more. Sport, studio, landscape, even street would not satisfy on their own, not claiming to be an expert in any, but I rarely feel the desire to dive head long into any form of photography these days. Variety keeps it fresh, variety is needed.

My level I guess is 3.5, which is a content photographic wanderer with nothing to prove after a very long apprenticeship.

My ambitions are few, so 4 maybe, because constant practice brings improvement, mostly about getting my style to match my job description. I think 5 requires a level of obsession I now reserve for new things.

Video

The immediate satisfier

In video I am more of a serious dabbler with high aspirations but realistic expectations at this point. I can tentatively go “full noise” into VLOG, LUT grading etc, or shoot more drop-and-go style. Like a lot of things, the more you know, the more you realise you only need to use some of it. Do what works.

I realised a while ago that I generally processed to clean and strong contrast with decent sharpness, so I have adjusted to shoot that way, which mostly means exposing to retain highlights (shadows add drama and depth).

The G9’s have been good lately set to Standard profile, -3 sharpness, -2 contrast, ISO on the thumb dial for exposure, manual focus and just get going. C1 is 50fps at 1/50th, C2 33% slow-mo, C3 1/100th at 50fps low ISO and deep depth (f8) for sunny outdoors when I cannot apply an ND filter. It also means a black mist filter can soften from a sharp base.

Lighting is a big element here, because video has different needs to still photography.

My level here is about 2, the excited explorer with a few wins under his belt. Still lots to learn, but an awareness I am ahead of some and on a steady, measured path to learn more. The main thing here is to keep the passion alive. I am lucky I guess that content creation was my main focus for the first couple of years, putting it all together came later and that is where the growth path is longest/hardest. Got to be fun, never a chore.

My ambition is about 3.5 (or 4.5 in my specific field of quick videographer), which is to say I want to match my technical skills to my possibly over the top ideas. Go OTT!

Sound

The inescapable support act

Sound is a curious thing.

Long before cameras, for me, there was sound. I was a true audio-file, so much so that one of my first jobs, well one I actually liked, was at a local specialist Hi Fi store. I could talk for hours about the difference between European, Japanese and American speakers, the value of valve amps, power streams, Ohm ratings etc. Yep I can bore you in many fields.

Somewhere that fire died and I became a regular “little stereo on the shelf” guy, with a huge music collection.

The fire is back.

I doubt I will ever own a mixing board, maybe not even use a DAW. I just want the best straight to camera sound I can get in a fully self sufficient and enclosed kit. With the H8, H5 or F1 as my capable “middlemen”, I will concentrate on the quality of my sound capture front of house, not so much the processing side. Basically I want my video and sound to be as straight forward as my stills work.

My level here is about 1.5 so I am the “try anything I can do to improve the feed to my camera, with no ambition to replace a sound pro” guy. I have realistically gone well past the videographers pale, which usually stops at a pro grade shotgun mic, but this is fun, new and nothing will be wasted.

My ambition is probably a solid 3 which is to explore what I can realistically do and let it grow naturally, maybe indulging my hobbyist side along the way. If I can assess a situation, apply the best fix and walk away confident I have better than just adequate results (and have results), I will be happy. I must admit, having a powerful mic on my H8 and just listening is also fun, even therapeutic.

*

The balance of these three fields is not yet right, but it will come.

My photography is not floating my boat at the moment, but the new school will fix that I hope. My video is ok, getting better every day and my sound has big ideas and I hope big capabilities, even though many are only theoretical at the moment.