Want to Improve Your Photography? Here Is the #1 Thing That You MUST Be Doing...

I get lots of emails, tweets, and comments from aspiring photographers asking me how they can improve their photography. They will typically reference some tutorials that they have watched on YouTube or some articles that they have read. These resources are awesome and must be taken advantage of, but so often people will sit, staring at their screens, watching tutorials or going on "help forums" trying to figure what they must do differently to improve as photographers. Once again, the online educational resources for photographers must be taken advantage of, but in moderation.

Answer this question: what is the ratio of time that you spend taking photos to the amount of time that you spend on the internet watching and reading on how to improve your photography? If you are like so many people starting out in photography - and if you answered honestly - you likely spend more time online than you do actually shooting.

While I am not bashing utilizing these wonderful online resources as a whole, I am always slightly confused when people ask me how to improve their photography when they barely take photos in the first place. You will never improve if you don't shoot. So here is my challenge to you: the next time you catch yourself binge-watching photography tutorial videos or reading articles, go out and shoot instead. Afterwards, go through the photos that you take. Pick the ones that you like and analyze the ones that you don't. Why don't you like them? Why are you drawn to the ones that you like?

Spend more tie doing this than watching videos and reading articles. This method of learning will not only speed up your development as a photographer, but it will also allow you to create an artistic style that is uniquely your own, rather than learning from dozens of photographers on the web. This will also allow you to being researching more specific things about photography when you notice things that you want to change in your own photos.

That is my challenge to you! Give it a try for a couple of weeks and let me know how it goes. I promise that you will see difference. Good luck!

Also, I want to apologize for the mess that the layout of this blog currently is. I have a new layout in the works and will be taking over soon. I cannot wait to unveil it for you. It'll be sweet, I promise!

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"My First Exhibition!" Photo of the Day: August 24, 2015

Well this is one of the coolest things to happen on my birthday! I am excited to announce that the first ever exhibition of my photography opened today at a lovely cafe in Minneapolis. I am extremely excited for this opportunity and to have 21 (the number not intentional, a complete coincidence!) of my favorite photos on public display! If interested in seeing it, it is located at Bordertown Coffee at 315 16th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55414. 

Photo of the Day June 7, 2015

READ FIRST (yes I know its long...): Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. So here is the thing: if you are following me on social media (which you probably should be but hey, I'm super biased) you already know this, but as for the rest of you I want to let you know that I will be starting to post a single photo everyday. Thats right, seven days a week 365 days a year. Most of these I imagine will be photos that I took on that specific day and will help act as an actual daily blog. Every once in a while I will obviously share photos NOT taken on their respective days as there are many photos that I like of mine that I would like to see incorporated into this. These photos of the day will be dispersed throughout my social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram) along with being posted here on my blogspot blog. I hope you enjoy my photos and getting a more accurate peek into my everyday life! I will continue posting longer, less frequent (my goal is weekly) posts that are more in depth and focused on conversation rather than just displaying images. Without further ado, here is the first one.....

This photo was taken in Yellowstone National Park this past August. The way that water has shaped the landscape is incredible.

Sydney - Part 1

Hi everyone! In case you did not read the title of this post, I am excited to announce that  I am currently in Sydney, Australia! The end of the semester was chaotic with finals back at the U of MN, then I was packing and preparing for my summer of interning here in Sydney. I am quite blessed to be interning at an architecture firm here and am meeting all sorts of wonderful people and am learning so much along the way. I return to the States in July and have been here since May.

In the grand scheme of things my visit here is not very long so I am doing everything in my power to cherish every second that I have. With that said, I am going to starting blogging about my time here, particularly all things photography related (duh!). I will do a couple of post in rapid succession to catch you all up on my time here so far, then I will begin blogging in stride with the present time.

I apologize for the absence of posts over the past two months. To be honest, I was not certain of what I wanted to do with this blog upon the completion and unveiling of my website. I no longer want this to be strictly a place where I display my work - I have my website for that. Rather, I will use this blog to track my photography adventures along with a place to share some thoughts and tips along the way. Thank you for looking!

Cheers,

-Wyatt

Today is the Day!

Hi everyone! I am extremely excited to say that early this morning I launched my professional photography website and online portfolio! It was quite a process putting together and I have invested countless hours into it over the past month to ensure that it would be up to my standards. I am overjoyed to have it finally published and look forward to hearing what all of you think about it. I have linked the image below to it, so just click on it and it will take you to the site. Thank you for looking!

Conservatory Plant Life

Hey everyone, this is just a quick post on some photos that I got on a recent trip to a local conservatory. Since Spring is taking its sweet time to arrive here in Minnesota, it was nice to spend some quality time shooting indoors in a tropical environment. 

I also want to say that I have been busily working on creating my own online portfolio website (I am using smugmug). It is quite a process to get it up to my standards but it is beginning to take shape... Regardless, I hope to have it up and running this weekend and will obviously post a link to it here. 

Finally, I did something that I should have done a long time ago and that is change the url of this site. Back when I first started my photography blog back in 2008 it was called "WP Nature Photography" and the url coincided with that and was "wp-nature-photography.blogspot.com". As my experience grew and my love of photography spread to much more than just nature, I changed the name to a much more appropriate "Wyatt Prosch Photography". However because of some obvious negative results (lost comments, lost bookmarks, etc.) I put off changing the url to the proper title. 

I finally did the other day, so I apologize for some of the setbacks that you may notice as a result. In due time the blog will be back up to full speed! As always, thank you for looking!

Packing up my Gear...for a Trip to the Ozarks!

Right after publishing this post I will continue the long process of packing for my upcoming week-long adventure in Ozark National Forest in Arkansas! While most people in college flock to the beaches of Florida or California for a "crazy" spring break, I am going to a much more secluded spot in the world. I have never been to the Ozarks and am very excited to photograph the incredible land. With everything from waterfalls to caves, Ozark National Forest has something for everyone. I cannot wait to share my photographs with you when I get back!

P.S. With this said, do not expect any posts from me from this upcoming Sunday (3/15) though the following Saturday (3/21). 

Something New

I find it hard to believe that it is only a couple of weeks away from the six year anniversary of when I started this photography blog...wow!!! It has been an honor to display my work here; there is no doubt in my mind that I have grown immensely as a photographer because of it. I also cannot believe that there are still so many people following me who have been here since those early days. When I first started this blog I was not even in high school yet, so when I began to see my audience of frequent readers grow so dramatically I was honestly kind of freaked out. It was one of the last things that I ever expected! All that I can say is THANK YOU! 

With that said, you will notice some changes, as changes were in order. This blog has been stagnant for a handful of months and I am resuscitating it now! My passion for photography is as strong as ever, the busyness of being a full time Architecture student at the University of Minnesota has simply kept me from being as involved with this blog in the past as I would have liked! As for the changes, there is obviously a new layout (a cleaner, more professional look...let me know what you think of it!), a new name, and new content. Nature photography will always hold a very special place in my heart and remains as one of my favorite things to photograph, yet I have developed a fierce passion for other forms of photography as well. Since my love has spread beyond just nature, the name "WP Nature Photography" has been retired. I will begin displaying other forms of my work as well, and I am extremely excited to share them with you!

Thank you for nearly six years of support everyone! My journey is still just beginning. 

-Wyatt

New Layout

Hey everyone! If you've been following WP Nature Photography you'll notice the new layout that I have. With that said, not everything looks 100% "normal" on it yet (the right hand side of the images in my posts are cut off, along with all sorts of problems on the sidebar). However in the next couple of days I'll be working on it and adjusting it so that it will look better then ever! Just thought I'd fill you guys in!

Nonetheless this is a nature photography blog, so here is a picture of a North American River Otter that was swimming around in his exhibit at a zoo that I recently visited.

Please accept my sincere apologies...

Ok, so lets get this straight. I realize that I have said - many times in the past - that I will no longer "abandon" this blog and will start to post consistently again. Nonetheless I continually find myself in the same hole over and over again...I find myself ignoring this blog for a long period of time.

Please accept my sincere apologies for this!

My life has been insanely crazy the past couple of months and I am sad that I haven't had more time to post. So don't worry, WPNP is still up and running...I'm just very busy with perhaps a small bit of laziness! Thank you for sticking with me through this!

-Wyatt

Reboot!

Believe it or not, I'm actually going to start posting more. Seriously! This blog has been dead for a while but I'm "rebooting" it. I've had limited access to a desktop computer recently resulting in me ignoring my blog. Nonetheless, I have recently purchased an iPad which, to my joy, means that I'll have the Internet with me nearly at all times throughout the day. So...yeah. That means much more posting! So, welcome to the rebooted WP Nature Photography!

These two pics were taken on my recent trip to Poland ( which I'll be talking about in detail in upcoming posts).

Hey everyone!

Okay, I admit it. I haven't posted in like, forever. Oops. BUT I have a good excuse! I just recently returned from an amazing trip to Europe. While on my travels I very rarely had internet access and never for a long enough time for me to write a post. However now that I'm back home in the States I'll start posting again regularly. This is obviously a place for me to post my nature photography, but I want to begin to spend more time writing about how YOU can improve YOUR photography. All in all, I had an incedible time on my trip but am glad to be back on Blogger!

Don't worry, I'm still alive!

Hey everyone! I'm posting this message just to let you all know that I'm alive and well and plan on posting alot more in the near future. I havn't been paying much attention to my blog recently as I have been crazy busy (new job, lots of college classes, etc.). BUT my schedule will even out in the next week or so and now that there is a handy laptop which I can use I can be spending alot more time updating this blog. Thanks for sticking around!

-Wyatt

A New Look

Alright everyone. If you're reading this then you must be on my blog and if you have ever visited before you will have already noticed some massive changes.
First off, the new layout. This IS a nature photography blog and being able to display photographs properly - in my opinion - means that they are large enough to see in detail. Everyone will obviously agree with me. My old layout however didn't allow that, as my images had to be posted a very small size if they were to fit in the post column. This layout allows my images to be posted nice and big which makes viewing easier and allows for much great detail in the individual photos.
Also up near the blog title you will see tabs which go to individual pages of my blog ("About", "Contact", "Links"). This feature allows for a lot easier navigation (for example if you want to send me an email, jump to the "Contact" page and you'll be ready to go...no more scrolling around looking for stuff randomly placed on sidebars). I will update the pages with time and will add more in the future.
All in all I think that this new layout with lots of new features fits perfectly. My old one was several years old and was very outdated. This new one is great for displaying photography (the whole purpose of this blog) and is designed around making it a much smoother ride for you, the reader.

This upgrade is long overdue!

-Wyatt

Facebook

Hey everyone! I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas! Just letting you all know that I'm on facebook, so if you have a facebook account, make sure to "Like" WP Nature Photography! Its a great way for me to get feedback...what you like and don't like about this photography blog. Have a great rest of your holiday season! -Wyatt

Computer issues...SOLVED!

I'm happy to say that the computer issues that I have been having over the past couple of weeks have been, for the most part, taken care of so I'll be able to return to my usual posting routine. Thanks for sticking around everyone!

A Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao).

A male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)

A Saddle-billed Stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis).

Computer issues......Part 2

Alrighty folks, computer technology can be completly annoying sometimes...this is one of those times for me. The computer issues that I'm having are being delt with, but its taking a while. In the next couple of days (perhaps even tomorrow) I'll be able to access my camera files and put up some more photos. Thanks for sticking around!

An Indian Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus).

Computer issues

Hey everyone, sorry that I haven't posted for a couple of days. The computer that holds all of my images has been down and I'm having a hard time getting it up and running again (hopefully it will be working in the next couple days). For now, here is a photo that I already had saved on a seperate computer.

This is a Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla). This photo was taken at a wildlife park.

1,000!

It has come to my attention that this blog has now been visited over 1,000 times and has been viewed in over 100 countries! This is huge, considering that I started it as a way to share my photos with family and friends. It has definitely grown! Thanks to all of you for you support!

The Grand Canyon

WP Nature Photography improvements

If you've been to WPNP before then you will notice that there have been some changes when it comes to the layout of the page. Well after some html work we have a third sidebar (on the left) along with some cool new "gadgets" to play around with. This blog's popularity is growing right now, and I feel that I have to say thank you to everyone who has been around since this sites beginning, nearly a year ago! Also, I encourage you to go into the archives and look at some "older" posts for there is plenty of stuff there to entertain you if your new. Enjoy!