The same reason you'd want to increase your skills in any subject. In photography, to get the perfect shot irrespective of the conditions/equipment you have. This is the technical ability that is actually fairly easy to master, but there's a lot more. The more techniques you master either in camera techniques or in post processing will literally alter where you point your camera. You will have more options, be more creative, it increases possibilities. The difference between a 'snapper' and a photographer is a photographer has ideas in their head before they even get the camera out of the bag. An experienced photographer will realise that this subject is perfect for a High Key or Low Key shot, or bracketing to make a HDR, or convert to a high drama B&W or any of a myriad of available techniques. In short the photographer can see the resulting print in their minds eye before they press the shutter, they have a goal to aim for, the randomness is gone. How do you get to this happy state of affairs? Look at other good photographs, in photo mags, in galleries, in old films (every shot of Alfred Hitchcock was perfectly framed), in advertising (some of the best photographers work in the lucrative advertising industry). Find out the technique and copy it. Once you've mastered it its another variation in your arsenal of techniques. Set yourself a task, for instance photographing people, after a while when the technical side is mastered, you can begin to look for the 'decisive moment' a'la Bresson. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Carti... Now your photographing people in the style of...... you determine 'the decisive moment', and so you continue to grow as a photographer. Every picture has some of you in it, the camera in your hands has gone beyond merely recording it's a tool to explore the world with, and it's very powerful. You can do this for a lifetime and still not touch all the bases. Chris

Answered By : mohan.v   Posted : Jun -15- 2009 12:00 am