You read the title right. Study to learn to keep studying (not “how” to keep studying).

I get a lot of questions. Here are a few:
Page, what is your degree? B.A. in Theology and Ministry from Lipscomb University.
Oh… So, when did you start doing music? Before I got that degree.
Sooo… How did you learn how to do the video stuff? That’s my other degree.
Ah… Where did you go for that? Google and YouTube.

If it’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s how to study (something that happens by default if you take Greek I and II with Dr. Williams).  But more importantly, I’ve learned TO study.

A lot of us tend to think that a college degree is the only path to knowledge (formerly guilty), and sure, before the glorious internet, this may very well have been likely (although books were fairly prevalent).  However, the tables have turned, and the effects are rippling all throughout society.  Now, anyone with a Macbook can be a musician with Garageband.  Anyone with a Wal-Mart flip cam can make a viral video with a cheap editor.  Anyone with a job can purchase a Canon 18mp crop sensor behemoth.  How do you punch through the noise to professionalism?  What separates the Apple enthusiast from the professional for hire?  Studying.

I know a lot of people that have learned a few things about photography so, they buy a camera and have at it and call themselves professionals by the cost of their priceless gear and days of picture tinkering.  Now, if you turn on the news, some of them are getting sued because they didn’t really know what they were doing.  The same goes for the videographers.

Obviously, that’s an extreme case and quite dramatic.  Most aren’t getting sued for taking a few bad wedding pictures, but within that realm are literally hundreds and sometimes thousands of competitors.  So, how do you stand out?  I’m a big believer in there always being something more to learn about everything.  The more you learn and apply, the more your work will stand out on its own.  The best and most successful graphic designers are the ones who continue looking at others’ designs and trying to recreate them, just to see how they did it.  The best videographers are the ones who relentlessly continue to make their videos have the professional look and polish of a Hollywood film, despite their pathetic budget.  The best photographers are the ones who continue to study others’ photos and attempt to achieve the same sharpness and bokeh with no noise while always learning more and more about the latest editing software and the possibilities with it.

Most helpful to you now would be this: Whatever you’re interested in doing, go to Google or YouTube and type in “how to [blank]” and I can 99% guarantee that someone has written an article and probably even made a video on how to do it.  That’s how I started learning, and it’s worked pretty well for me so far.  Sure, the more advanced you get, the more time you’ll spend digging through search results… But that just proves my point, doesn’t it?  Everyone knows the basic stuff so, the tutorials for it are everywhere.  It’s the experience and knowledge of how to make your work shine with that extra time spent in study and practice that will set you apart.  You will advance.  You will become the few.

This isn’t easy.  I get up around 6:30, make a cup of coffee and get straight to work.  I work 10-12 hour days, many weekends, and have very little money to show for it, but I’m getting better fast, and it’s getting harder for me to find tutorials to show me something I haven’t learned yet, and the YouTube videos are giving me the practice and experience I need to improve.  There will always be gear limitations.  There will always be time limitations.  There isn’t much you can do about either of those limits.  But there is a whole lot you can do about your own self-discipline and determination… Your only limit there is yourself.  Trust me, you don’t want to look back on life and realize you’re not somewhere you want to be just because you couldn’t make yourself get up in the mornings.  Learn to appreciate the sunrise.  Learn to keep studying because college (or high school) was only practice.  Also… learn to appreciate coffee.

See what happens,
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