27 Aug Building myself as a better photographer
Sometimes inspiration just happens
Sometimes you are lucky. You don’t search for anything, but inspiration finds you. Maybe you decide, “I’ll try this road, I’ll enter here—let’s see where it leads.”
That’s how many of my best photographic memories began.
Travel is like that too. Surprises, especially pleasant ones, add richness to life.
Slowing down to really see
I reached Sinaia after just over an hour’s drive on a beautiful June morning. Taking the gondola up to 2000 meters, I waited for friends—and found myself reflecting on photography.
Travel often pushes us to see as much as possible. But rushing is the enemy of real experience. You need to look around slowly, study carefully, walk without hurry.
I remember a famous photographer saying: put the camera down and enjoy the moment. If you obsess over the best light, composition, or setup, you miss the actual experience.
And that’s not travelling. That’s wasting precious moments.
Why I simplified my gear
Holidays are short. Budgets are tight. I can’t spend 2–3 days out of seven chasing one shot, or drag my girlfriend into waking at 3 a.m. for a golden hour that may not even work out.
That’s why I downgraded: from an expensive camera, primes, and heavy tripod, to a second-hand Fuji with a zoom lens and a small bag.
I kept the tripod for night shots, but I learned: less gear, more freedom.
Shifting focus closer to home
For years I thought great photography meant faraway places. The Dolomites, exotic landscapes, destinations trending on Instagram.
But reality hit: travel is expensive (€2,500 for a week in the Dolomites), and after all that effort I might only come back with 1–2 strong shots.
So I shifted my mindset: instead of chasing the far away, I started photographing closer to home. A 200 km radius around my city became my playground—Bucegi, Piatra Craiului, Ciucaș mountains.
The advantages:
- Fast access — 1–2 hours’ drive to sunrise or sunset.
- Local knowledge — friends who know trails, weather, hidden gems.
- Repeat visits — I can return in spring, autumn, snow, or fog, until I capture the shot I envision.
- Low cost — diesel, gondola ticket, a homemade sandwich → ~35 euros for a full day of hiking + shooting.
This changed everything.
Building a better photographer through consistency
Instead of one perfect trip, I can:
- Choose 5–10 locations near home.
- Rotate visits across the year.
- Shoot in all conditions: rain, fog, snow, golden hour, harsh midday.
- Experiment with compositions, angles, macro, foregrounds.
- Build real expertise on familiar places.
That’s how you grow. That’s how you build a portfolio.
Ask yourself: which gives more keepers?
- A one-week holiday → maybe 30 good photos.
- Or years of revisiting local mountains → hundreds of images in every season, every mood.
Lessons from my Fuji gear in the field
Two years with Fuji cameras taught me valuable lessons:
- Weather tested — worked in heavy rain, even at -5°C.
- AF + MF combo — a setting I underused, now I love it.
- Printing matters — a 60×40 cm print from my X-T20 + 50-230 looked superb.
- XC 50-230 lens — cheap, light, surprisingly capable for landscapes.
- JPEG workflow — many shots were just tweaked JPEGs, not heavy RAW edits.
- Film simulations — great for travel, but for tripod work I started fine-tuning settings in the field.
All in all, my small Fuji kit keeps surprising me.
Final thoughts
After years of chasing the perfect trip, I realized: the best way to build myself as a better photographer is not through faraway places, but through consistency close to home.
By simplifying my gear, lowering costs, and revisiting the same places in all conditions, I’ve grown more than I ever could waiting for one perfect week abroad.
And at the end of the day, that’s what matters: the joy of going out, seeing, and creating over and over again.
If this resonates with you, explore my photography book, where I share more lessons on gear, vision, and the journey of becoming a photographer. Also, inside the book you will find longer, more detailed versions of all the articles posted here.