5 Reasons Why You Need to Learn Photography Today – Beginner Photography Course

It’s been on your To Do list for ages, but there’s always something else competing for your time. Your mental energy is limited and after a long day of kids jumping off the furniture while you scrub crayon off of the walls, you don’t really feel like using your brain. I get it. That’s why I’ve done most of the work for you. All you need to do is show up. Need some help finding the motivation to do even that? Here are 5 reasons why you need to learn photography today.

1) The kids aren’t getting any younger.

Your kids, your friends’ kids, your nieces, nephews, cousins, neighbors. They all have one thing in common: they grow up WAY too fast. While you’re busy not learning how to use your camera or compose amazing photos, your kids are turning into teenagers. The cameras on our phones keep improving, but they still can’t match using manual mode on a good old fashioned DSLR and they’re always going to disappoint if you don’t know the ins and outs of composition and light. Why do you want to learn how to make better pictures? To document your kids as they grow up? Let’s get started before they leave for college.

2) You aren’t getting any younger.

How long have you been wishing you could take better pictures? There are obviously better and worse times to pick to sit down and unpack all you need to know about photography, but those worse times are rarely permanent. Be honest with yourself. You don’t need to commit a ton of your time to learning, but you do need to have the mental energy to struggle as you learn. Take a look at the reasons you’re giving yourself for not learning right now and remember that you can’t get this time back. The sooner you start learning photography for yourself, the longer you can enjoy making awesome pictures.

3) We don’t all have photographic memories.

Wouldn’t that be nice? To never have to worry about forgetting a grocery list at home again. Unfortunately, most of us don’t have photographic memories and because our brains are resourceful, we forget a lot of the past so we can make room for new information. What did you eat for dinner on the first Tuesday of last month? What age did your oldest child start walking? No cheating by looking it up on Facebook! What did you get for your birthday three years ago? We remember most of the big moments like holidays, life changing events and milestones, but a lot of the smaller details of our past can be hard to hold on to. Heck, even the details of those big events can be forgotten. But guess what. Your camera can help. If you don’t have a photographic memory, use actual photographs to facilitate your memory.

4) Life is better with a hobby.

Do you read or knit or run or play an instrument? Did you do have a hobby before you had kids or started your new job or moved? Then you know how fulfilling they can be. Hobbies mean spending less of your free time getting sucked into the comparison trap on social media. It means not scrolling through your phone for hours because you’re too busy doing something that you love. It means being introduced to a network of like-minded people and discovering a whole new world. It means life is way less boring!

5) Your brain will thank you.

If you’ve been out of school for a while, using your brain to learn a new skill can be revitalizing. Learning new things causes actual physical changes to your brain as new neural pathways are formed. Our brains change throughout our lives which means that we can do things that hurt them but we can also do things to make them work better. As we age, making an effort to continue learning can help to keep our brains healthy!

Bonus: Treat yo self!

Photography is not an essential skill so it can be hard to justify spending time or money on it. It keeps being pushed to the bottom of your wish list because there’s always something else to do first. You know those hashtags on Instagram? #treatyoself #selfcare #yolo Take some time and energy and set it aside for yourself. Do this thing just for you and then watch how it affects the other areas of your life. Your mood improves because you have some extra quiet time while you read your course materials and talk with other students. You have more confidence because you’re understanding more this week than you did the week before. Go on and #treatyoself.

Interested in a Storytelling Session or online mentoring? Email me at Kayla@kaylamaltesephotography.com to find out more and be sure to follow me on Facebook and on Instagram at @kaylamaltesephotography.