We recently connected with Abbas Amir and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Abbas, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

How did you learn to do what you do?

With a passion for the art of photography, I consider myself a dedicated and fast learner. My intense fascination with photography ignited a relentless drive to enhance my skills. Over the course of 15 years, I pursued knowledge from various sources. It all began in 2006 when a relative introduced me to the basics of a camera, laying the foundation for my photographic journey.

In 2008 I moved to London for a few months which is when I bought my first DSLR. I spent the next 6 months shooting incessantly without any feedback loop or any other modes of instructions given the lack of technology / social media back then. Later that year I moved back to India and spent the next two years shooting a lot as well.

During my early stages of photography, the most significant learning experience came in the years 2010-2011 when I moved back to my hometown and joined a local photography community. Engaging in group photo walks, exhibitions, zoo visits, and rural portraiture expeditions allowed me to meet photographers of varying skills and genres. Eager to improve, I actively sought knowledge from these talented individuals, asking questions, participating in discussions, and critically reviewing each other’s images. Additionally, I dedicated time to acquiring various digital resources, including e-books and video tutorials. I embraced the exploration of different tools, such as Google’s Nik Collection, to enhance my craft. This period laid the foundation for my continued growth in photography.

In 2013 I moved to the US and had developed a good eye for composition but was severely lacking advanced photography techniques. I had developed a vision for art but had no idea how to translate that vision to reality in the form of a tangible piece of art. That began my next phase of the photography journey where I spent the next 5-7 years honing my art even further. You would ask how I realized that gap existed? Well, in my hunt for a ‘photography’ focused web platform I had used several websites (like flickr, 500px etc.) but nothing stuck or helped me, but then one day I found out about 1x.com, a fine art gallery where you as a photographer could submit your work and it would be curated by admins. If your image gets selected it would be published on their homepage. The gallery was (and still is) full of brilliant images of exceptional technical quality. I could never get even close to getting published there as their take rate was very, very low even for professional photographers. But I never gave up. I would submit a photo every week and fail.

Then I started doing the one thing that I can undoubtedly consider as my biggest learning weapon that I also recommend to everyone in a similar boat. I started submitting photos for getting critiques (on the same gallery). The critique feature of that website was brutal to begin with. I would be disheartened to hear several shortcomings in my photographs from experts there that I didn’t think existed at all. They would talk about micro contrast, local editing, masking, balance, harmony, rhythm and a lot of other esoteric stuff that I couldn’t easily comprehend. But it brought me immense awareness of how much better my work could be from what it was. We as artists from time to time go through phases where we live in a dilution thinking our work is awesome and wonder what’s the scope of improvement, if any. And when someone breaks that myth and brings you to the ground, it’s a very disturbing yet empowering feeling because now you know your next goal and I guess that’s a journey almost every artist goes through.

With these eye opening critiques I would go back to my images and re-edit them with a fresh perspective. I would also go through a ton of youtube videos to learn certain photography/editing techniques. Eventually, I started getting my photos published in the gallery. I also started critiquing other people’s work that also helped me immensely in improving my own work. I became so good at it that I served as an admin critic for two years on the same coveted platform.

Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process?

I think given my limitations I did my best to learn what I did in the past decade or so. If I didn’t have a full-time job or a family to look after, I would probably have improved a bit faster but I am a strong believer of whatever happens is for good and therefore I like to believe that this is definitely the fastest, rather the best way I could have learned what I did. Do I wish I had worked closely with some of the best photographers out there in the world to learn faster and improve even further? Yes, of course. But that’s impractical for most of us unless we have an unlimited pool of money. So all in all I am content with my learning progress so far. It’s just that the pace of learning decreases as you advance up, which is inevitable.

What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

The most important skill according to me is developing an eye for good composition/art. I think it’s the most crucial thing for any artist. The technicalities are the easiest and can be learned several places in different ways but the compositional eye is something that can’t be taught easily.

For me time and motivation (or lack thereof) was the biggest obstacle. I have gone through phases where I would either not get enough time to shoot and then later as I became better and better, had more equipment than I needed, the motivation of shooting more started coming down. I started surrounding myself with other great photographers to keep up the motivation but living in Texas as a nature photographer does challenge you in a lot of ways as I have to take flights to see some of the most beautiful natural places. If I was living in say, California or Washington, I could just drive to a national park and shoot there often.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born and raised in India, a country filled with vibrant colors and cultures all around. But I never appreciated its diversity as much as I did in later stages of my life. I got my first camera in 2006 at age 22, which is when my photographic journey began. Though I had an artistic bug in me from my childhood when I used to love sketching. I loved doing photography for the pure joy of it. But as I grew up and started exploring the world, my extreme love for nature and photography started converging . Photography became an expression of what I saw in the world.

Around a decade ago when I was in my late 20’s and an amateur photographer I was told by my mentors and colleagues in the industry that my compositions evoked a sense of peace and tranquility. I couldn’t understand it then. I spent the next 7-8 years honing my skills incessantly by watching a lot of youtube videos and getting into different genres of photography. Many senior photographers had advised me not to venture into genres that weren’t nature or landscape but I am so glad I didn’t listen to them. The various kinds of photography I tried helped me immensely in growing as a nature photographer.

Today, I continue to look out for opportunities to learn and grow further in my artwork. However, I have also realized that there is a lot of value in the experience I have gained over the last few years. Hence, I have started doing nature walks and outdoor workshops where I take a few aspiring photographers with me out on an adventure and teach them the art of photography.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Perhaps it’s an unconventional viewpoint, but I find the two most rewarding aspects of photography (or any art) to be paradoxically opposed. The first is the intrinsic satisfaction of creation. When immersed in nature’s beauty or wildness, composing a captivating image feels like a culmination of that experience.

The second is the external acknowledgment and appreciation. While not validation in the sense of dictating my style, it brings immense joy to know others connect with my work. A recent comment from a Facebook friend, detailing how my photos offered solace during a health crisis, was incredibly moving. It’s a profound realization: my work can touch lives on a personal level. Countless comments also echo a newfound appreciation for places they’d never considered visiting before seeing my photos.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

To truly nurture a thriving creative scene, I believe society needs to invest in arts education early on, create more opportunities for funding and grants, and ensure fair pay for artists’ work. We also need platforms for artists to showcase what they create, both online and in the real world. With platforms like Instagram constantly changing their algorithms and often favoring video content over still images, it’s more important than ever to support artists in navigating this evolving landscape. And, of course, we need to encourage the public to engage with art in their everyday lives. It all comes down to fostering a culture that values and supports creativity, no matter the medium.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://abbasamir-photography.mypixieset.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amir_naturephotos/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abbasaliamir