“The way I learn the best is just to do stuff,” Wu said. “So I will just take an assignment and learn along the way.”
This thought from Tony Wu came near the end of my post yesterday, and I thought I better elaborate on it, both for the sake of clarity and to fend off the likes of Gail Mooney, a photographer who has spent years mastering video and multimedia and who has told me more than once (understandably) that she gets very irritated by photographers (and clients) who downplay the difficulty of creating video and multimedia.
Where did I learn to photograph on a train at high altitude? Um, that would be, on a train at high altitude. (Nearing 15,023 ft., heading to Huancayo, Peru, from Lima.)
Tony Wu is as conscientious of his professionalism and the difficulties of creating multimedia as Mooney. Also, to be clear, this was just one brief thought from him in a very long conversation. Wu didn’t make a big point of the idea that photographers should take on new challenges while on the job. However, I will.
I don’t think it goes against best professional practices to suggest that on-the-job learning should be a critical strategy embraced by still photographers venturing into multimedia. As Wu suggests, why not go out an get jobs that require a slightly higher level of expertise?
Professional Photography IS On-The-Job Training
