In this article, I discuss some of the different things that I’ve personally decided are bad ideas as an artist. Let’s dive in.

1.Steal Other Photographers Work

To some of you, this might seem obvious, however, when you’re starting out you might hear the advice “fake it till’ you make it,” or see another photographer who uses photos that aren’t their own to make money.

This is a bad idea on multiple levels and isn’t just a problem with amateurs. Award winning photographer Souvid Datta just recently got caught doctoring and appropriating photos. We’ll get to the doctoring part in a minute, but it goes to show that not even the most successful and well-established reputations can get away with this. Here’s the punchline; people will figure you out. How many times can you show a client an amazing portfolio, only to deliver mediocre work before the reviews start coming in and the conversation starts happening behind your back. Once your reputation is damaged and you are seen as a fraud, its extremely difficult to recover, and there is a high likelihood it will be game over for you.

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