I’d like to think that as I age I get wiser. I sure hope so because I want to be a better person every day! Lately I’ve been pondering about Principles. For most of my life I’ve been chasing after the 1-2-3 approach only to realize that things so complex, I would have been better off knowing the principles of life rather than going in without any guiding principle.

Since I am a photographer, I’ve compiled a few principles that I’ve discovered that are beneficial for photographers, I hold them as true because they’ve always been true for me and I am sure will be for you too!

1) The Pareto principle

The Pareto principle was discovered when an Italian dude discovered that 80% of the wealth was owned by 20% of the population and the crazy thing is, it’s the same applied to the whole of life. 20% (it can be more or less, it’s just that there is a HUGE disparity between the two) of what you do accounts for 80% of your happiness. When applied to photography in general, it means The more cameras you have the less each individual one will be used. 20% of what you do as a photographer counts for 80% of your results, etc.

This principle is my master principle for absolutely everything I do. I always think in terms of 80/20. When it comes to photography, there’s multiple implications: 20% of the whole selection of images accounts for 80% of the impact the series will have. I derive 80% of satisfaction out of 20% of the images. I use the same 20% of the tools 80% of the time. Again, it doesn’t mean a clean cut 80/20 but it could be a 5/95, the main point being the disparity is great.

This principle, one taken to heart helps you focus on what works and just helps magnify it.

2) If you always do what you always did you will always get what you always got

I remember two main episodes in my photography, before and after my mother passed away, all I did was to change the way I though of photography and I exponentially grew as a photographer. Simply stated, if something doesn’t work, change it! If you always wake up at 7 and are late to work, change things and set the clock earlier. Applied to photography, if you are not satisfied with what you do as a photographer, change a variable, try shooting with another lens for a while, change your subject matter for a while, explore. if you always shoot the way you always did, you will always get what you’ve always got….if nothing changes…..NOTHING changes!

3) Where focus goes energy flows

Whatever you have your attention on, will grow. Say you have your mind on photography, the more you think and put it in front of your mind, the more you will become a better photographer. No, not magically, but your mind will start putting ideas in your mind about improving…. why if I tried this? Why don’t we read this? Get this training here!, etc.

Your mind has the crazy cool feature of bringing you closer to whatever you envision, by telling you how to bring it about. So if you are not too satisfied with your photography, focus on it, on your images, and let your mind guide you to what is the best next step. I can tell you for sure that if you are reading this, Photography IS in your focus, because those who aren’t interested in photography will not read it.

Fact is your brain told you to read this because it believes it will be beneficial for the growth of your photography focus, proving the principle. I found it true when my mother passed away, I suddenly started focusing more and more on my photography and grew from there.

4) The principle of the slight edge

This is a powerful principles that is especially good news for those of us who are busy. The principle simply stated is that little efforts prolonged over a large period of time will create amazing results, the other side of that same principle is that at the very top only a slight edge differentiates top performers like a few seconds between runners.

For photographers it means that a little photography everyday goes a long way. Read a photography magazine everyday, edit your images for 15 minutes a day, shoot for a few minutes everyday (how about a 365 day project?), etc. It’s not how much you do everyday, but the compound effect of all that you did everyday that’s impactful. I read about 300 books in a few years so far and it doesn’t feel like it.

The slight edge also works for buying cameras. You can probably save $3 everyday by not buying that super-mocha-nada-cappumachino every day. Do that for a year and you have more than enough for any respectable camera. I know it’s easier said then done, but if you have a goal to get a camera and think about it, you will pretty much automatically avoid temptations along your way.

Ask yourself: What can you do everyday to get you closer to your photography goal? And you will be on your way to gaining the slight edge. Ths questions really helped me grow forward.

5) Your images are right in front of your nose

A bad mindset I used to have was to have a definite idea of what a photograph was to look like, while it is good to have an idea of what you are doing, the biggest issue is that I would ignore the images that were right in front of me. Now I have a camera wherever I go, I’ve learned that your images are right there in front of you if you are attentive. If you think about a radio, all the radio stations are all present at the same time, but only the station that you tuned in you can hear.

Likewise, I believe images are everywhere, and one needs to be in tune for them to start popping in your mind. You can find interesting stuff in the most boring spaces. Because truth of the matter is, an exciting place is only exciting for a little while and then becomes boring! Blame human nature :) Another visiting photographer can come to where you live and find some nice images, so it means that they are there and always will be.

I always keep this principle in mind when I want to start complaining about where I live, I start focusing hard on my surroundings and tell myself to find some nice images. Because it’s not that images are not there, we’ve been dis-sensitized to them when the visual novelty faded away. So put yourself in attentive mode and let this principle be true for you too!

Conclusion

So here you have it, 6 principles for photographers that help you focus on what’s important and go from there. I had to learn these on my own but I have found them true every single time. I hope they serve you well too! What do you think about them? Which one resonated with you most? have any of yours to share? hit the reply button below and let me know!

About The Author

Olivier Duong is a Haitian-French-Vietnamese graphic designer and photographer. Check out his work here. After his gear addiction he went on to create Inspired Eye Photography Magazine, where it’s all about seeing what can be done with a camera, not just getting them. This article was also published here and shared with permission