I have been on YouTube space for over 5 years now, making new videos week after week, but I don't see myself as a videographer. Yes, I am a content creator, or YouTuber, that part is very true as I share videos of me talking about photography related topics, but that does not qualify me as a videographer. It is strange that many people immediately associate YouTubers as videographers, which I believe are two completely different animals. I am a photographer, I earn a living doing photo shoots and jobs, and I share about my passion in photography through my videos published on YouTube (and of course here, this blog too, in more traditional article format). I am a photographer that utilizes YouTube as a platform to talk to an audience. However, there is a group of YouTubers who make videos about photography, who may not be photographers, and they seem to care little or less about photography at all, and I want to talk about these YouTube photographers.
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| Image by Azul Adnan, used with permission |
There is a big difference between a real photographer who talks about photography and another person who wants to talk about photography but knows less or may not even care that much about photography, but more on the views and YouTube video performance.
Everyone can make YouTube videos these days, the platform is free and open to all. Gear is more accessible than ever, with some money, you can buy any camera or lens and start talking about them - making reviews and throwing your opinion around. Brands love to work with content creators, especially YouTubers because let's face it, that is where the current viewership and reach is at, it has almost replaced traditional media of advertising like newspaper, radio and television ads. YouTube is watched by almost everyone, any time right at their fingertips - viewing on smartphone. YouTube is powerful, hence both the brands who sell photography gear and the creators, who want to reach out to an audience would latch onto this opportunity to make something happen.
I admit, I also take advantage of YouTube as a platform to put my voice out there. It is an effective platform to find like-minded people and share your passion, it can be a rewarding experience being a creator.
Now the problem comes when YouTubers are regarded as experts. They become the golden standard when it comes to camera reviews, and their opinion have swayed decisions worldwide on which gear to purchase. When you really look at the top YouTubers, the ones with massive following, a lot of them make fantastic videos with amazing cinematography, Hollywood grade production (they may use cinema gear for filming, this is known) and top-notch post-editing. Their videos look so polished and professional, the creators themselves have incredible speaking skills that connect directly to the audience, and you instantly believe whatever they want to say, because if they are able to make high quality videos, they must be great photographers, right? Because their YouTube channel has such massive following, they look legit, they must be experts, we should trust them, no?
The unsettling truth is - not many are actually even interested in photography. Their aim is to get famous on YouTube, chasing the following and views so they can get sponsorships and work with brands with lucrative deals. It is all about the number game - not so much on the content itself. I am not saying ALL YouTube photographers are like that, this is generalization of course, I do acknowledge there are some truly genuine photographers with amazing talent and are passionate about what they do, but these photographers are often drowned by the other more popular YouTubers, overshading high quality content with sub-par but super polished 120fps B-Rolls and cinematic look videos.
The biggest problem I encounter with these YouTube Photographers are rushed reviews. I remember back in the days when I still make full camera reviews, I would spend weeks just to test the cameras, shooting sample images and based on the images I derived my experience using the camera, then I can write about it, or make a proper review. Without meaningful images to support my claim, the review is useless. You see many camera reviews today, some show less than 10 sample images, many poorly taken with little regard to lighting and composition, and worse, you know very little effort was put into testing the camera, but 99% of the effort was placed into making the video production look good.
A camera review should not be about how good the review looks on video but should be about testing the camera itself as thoroughly as possible.
Having been in the photography industry for a while now, both in the retail business (working for Olympus Malaysia) and also as a practicing professional photographer shooting for a living, I have to say that there is no shortcut to photography. If you want to be a photographer, you have to put in the work. You have to start from the basics, master the fundamentals. Learn how the camera works, and he only way to grow as a photographer is to spend incredible amount of time shooting with a camera. Making YouTube videos does not count into your experience as a photographer. It does not improve your skills as a photographer. Yet many creators on YouTube don't really care about the quality of photographs, or the artistic side of it. All they did wanted was to take some random shots that are barely passable, and slap on some "film simulation" to make them look "cinematic" or "filmic" and ta-daa, you have some "great" shots. Such non-sense!
Good photography includes great story-telling, they invoke human emotions, they capture real life spontaneity, some important moments, and showcase amazing visual acrobatics. Not some half-lazy shots with heavy filters or editing to make them look "nostalgic" or "film-like". The film simulation craze has gone a little out of control these days, but that is a topic for another discussion. You know things stepped a little too far when film simulations don't actually simulate the look of actual films anymore, and the images look so plastic and fake they might as well be AI generated images, or paintings at best. What happened to real-life, organic, natural look of actual real photographs? Since when did realism go out of date?
The worrying trend in the YouTube photography space is the pushing of the latest and greatest gear. You will see them hopping camp ever so often, thanks to their sponsors. One day Sony is the best. Next day Nikon is better, and they have dumped Sony. Then the next, Nikon is the past, Fujifilm is the next best thing. You don't see consistency anymore; you don't even see any integrity in whatever they are saying. They say what needed to be said to be paid by sponsors in that particular time. If you say Sony was the best thing that ever happened to you that you ditched your Canon, why then then next day Sony isn't good enough anymore? The perpetuity of upgrading to the next best thing is a ridiculous, as the audience is driven to consume more and more.
Talking about gear is fine, I myself am guilty of doing that, and as a photographer, I am also infinitely curious about gear, any camera, any format, any brand, new or old, cheap and expensive, put something that has a shutter button and click on my hands, and I go crazy. To balance the gear talk, normally I'd include dozens and dozens of fresh photographs, and I believe talk is cheap, the photographs should speak more. After all, what is the point of you talking about photography, if you have no photographs to show?
The Internet is an interesting place, truly anyone and everyone can say anything or share whatever they want. We, on the other hand have the freedom to pick and choose what we want to consume. Of course, after encountering some of these YouTube photographers who don't really have much photography substance to talk about, I unsubscribed and stayed away. I guess the reason I am making this blog article, this also serves as a reminder to self to not be drowned in all that gear noise and stay truthful to the reason why I started this blog and the YouTube channel in the first place - to share my passion in photography.
Shutter Therapy goes on!
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