Becoming a good photographer is a complicated thing that requires a wide range of factors to come together, and rarely is the journey a straight line. If you find yourself on this journey, check out this fantastic video essay that features an experienced photographer that discusses the truth about growing as a photographer. 

Coming to you from Joshua Peg, this awesome video essay discusses the truth about growing as a photographer. I think Peg is touching on something particularly important when he discusses the amount of effort and perseverance that goes into growth and that there are no shortcuts. We live in an age when we are conditioned to expect instant gratification. A lot of products are geared toward this with the idea that they will allow us to bypass the sort of effort and practice that goes into finding success. Things like presets and automated editing promise us quick results that will look like the pros, and while it is true that under the right circumstances, they can provide a boost in efficiency, there is a vast chasm between increasing efficiency and replacing technique and creativity altogether. And even if they could do that, would you really want that? After all, we all picked up a camera because we enjoyed the creative process, so why surrender it to a machine? Check out the video above for the full rundown from Peg.