There are many aspects to the thought of “teaching” or becoming a teacher.

It’s a journey I, unknowingly, began over 4 years ago when I started blogging.  The first “blog” I had was on MySpace and it was used mostly as a promotional vehicle for the portrait and wedding studio I owned in part.

Teacher.

I’m not a teacher.

I was hardly ever a good student so the thought of actually being a teacher just seemed, to me, like a big fat lie.

During that first stint as a “blogger” I quickly noticed that the posts that happened to gain the most traction or got the most attention weren’t posts on what was going on with the photography studio.  They were blog posts that were “teaching” something.

I guess I had read somewhere in one of my dozens of marketing books that you had to educate your clients so that they would be able to realize your true or full value.

That still makes sense BTW.

So I would write about how the work we were doing in the studio wasn’t just portraiture.  It wasn’t just pretty weddings.  It was rooted in artistic learning and application of aesthetics and design as it relates to photography, art, portraiture, and wedding photography.  We were artists not “just photographers”.

Whatever.

Fast forward to now.

Now I run a fairly successful photography tutorials blog that has allowed me to stay in touch with the photography community while I reshape my own photography career.

I could have written about anything photography related to accomplish that goal.

But something compelled me to “teach” photography.

I’m still not sure why but I’m happy that I do that.

See, to me, photography for the average user is kinda like a gateway drug to a better appreciation of art in general.

Everyone has access to a camera.  Everyone is exposed to photography in their daily lives.  And while everyone is also exposed to art in their everyday lives, they seem not to be able to recognize, or appreciate, it as easily.

So, somehow, I’ve tried to bridge the gap of teaching photography technically AND creatively.  I sprinkle in as much “Art” as I can.

Teaching the rules so they can break them.

I honestly don’t know how successfully I do that or how much of a contribution that I make in the art world but I have to believe that there is some contribution.