Because I had watched a few random YouTube videos about photography, likely because of the algorithm that the site uses through Google, there are some photographers who have caught my attention and that I now follow by subscribing to their channel.
The hosts of these channels don't talk about specific equipment or go into details about camera settings, though occasionally one of these photographers will provide general tips that you can do with your camera to improve your shots. But I don't subscribe to them to get advice on how to use my cameras.
I watch them to become inspired.
Sometimes, seeing the work of a photographer or hearing background stories about how a photographer achieved a particular shot—through choice of lens, lighting, aperture, subject, composition, interest, or more. Two of these YouTubers often show examples of other peoples work to illustrate a style of photography, such as colour versus black and white, while the other YouTuber only shows photos that he's captured to illustrate his topic.
After watching videos from these channels, I get ideas for photography of my own. Not just to copy, but to get inspired to go out and photograph nature, or capture shapes and patterns, or commit to a project, such as photographing strangers (again) or limiting myself to a fixed lens, versus a zoom.
If you're into photography, these YouTube channels may be for you. If you're not a photographer but want to see the world through another set of eyes—maybe, to give you a new perspective of life—these channels may still be worth a watch.
Here are the three photography YouTube channels that inspire me to be a better photographer:
The Photographic Eye, with Alex Kilbee
I have to admit: I'm not really impressed by a lot of Alex's own photographs. As a photographer, I can sort of see what inspired him to take the shot but I don't really feel is execution to be particularly great*. Fortunately, his channel isn't really about his work.
Alex talks about the art of photography, from the use of black and white, to capturing negative space, to street photography, and more. And he primarily uses examples of some of the world's most renowned photographers, such as Annie Liebovitz, Ansel Adams, Eve Arnold, Helmut Newton, and so many more to illustrate his topic.
Alex presents his videos in his living room with a fixed camera on himself, and lectures. B rolls come on screen to illustrate his points. He has a relaxing style and I enjoy listening about the subject. His videos generally run 10 to 20 minutes but a few of his videos can run up to an hour. I haven't been able to commit to any of the longer videos but I'm sure I'll make some time to do so.
Simon is a nature and wildlife photographer who lives in Nova Scotia. His videos focus on how to take the best shots of birds and animals, as well as landscapes. He uses his own photos as examples and they are breathtaking.
Topics also include how to improve your photography by adjusting various settings on your camera, such as increasing the ISO or using exposure compensation. He does review equipment but that is not his primary goal. (I did, however, buy a solid-state external hard drive that he recommended).
Simon's channel gives lots of great tips and I've followed his advice. I've always wanted to improve my nature photography and I find Simon truly inspiring.
Not only does English YouTuber Jaime Windsor have great ideas for photographic projects, he's also a brilliant videographer and graphics designer. How he puts his videos together, alone, is inspiring. Not only do I watch his videos to be inspired to take better photographs, I watch his videos to be inspired to create better YouTube videos, myself.
His videos are also well thought out and well written.
Like Alex Kilbee, Jamie often uses examples of inspiring photography from famous photographers. But he also imparts inspirational quotes from all sorts of artists. And when he does use his own photos to illustrate a point, I find most of them inspiring and well-composed. (Sorry, Alex.)
Jamie has slowed down on his work due to some health issues but has vowed to continue once he is able. His last video talked about creativity and he even quoted David Bowie, which I found truly inspirational. If you want to know that quote, watch the video.
Now, Jamie also creates preset filters that mimic various camera film stock (if you want your digital shot to look like it was shot on Kodak or Ilford film, for example) and has videos where he shows the resulting effects. If you like them and use Lightroom for photo editing, you can purchase those presets from him (if he ever develops presets for my editing software, I'd be all over them).
He certainly makes me want to play with colour settings more often.
Those are the three YouTubers who have given me inspiration to take better photos. Do you follow any YouTube channels to improve your photography? Let me know in the Comments section.
* To be fair, I do find Alex Kilbee to be a very good wedding photographer and many of his portraits are excellent. It's his abstract and street photography that doesn't capture my interest and I often wonder why he decided to use his own photo as that sort of example when there are other photographers to choose from.
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