GamerTotoy's Lessons for Jay Tablante

It's very difficult to contest that Jay Tablante is as good as it gets in the field he specializes in. However, since someone pointed it out and it piqued my interest, I must say the "industry lessons [he] learned the hard way" are a few sessions short of life's workshops. I'll keep this quick and simple.

1. You're just as good as your imagination takes you.
This is only true if you have all four working limbs and a healthy mental condition. Man is still severely limited by physical circumstances, no matter how wild his imagination may be.

2. Photography should be the last thing you're studying.
I'm not sure what he means by this. If he's saying that photography as an academic pursuit should be of least priority, I can somewhat agree. Photography is not the most rewarding profession straight out the gates of college. If he's actually implying that the technical aspects of photography should take the backseat in approaching the art, well, I would like to see his protegé produce excellent works without learning the ropes.

3. Old school is the best school.
From a photographer, I would imagine this means manual is still the way to go. However, Jay's forte is clearly digital photography. Is this merely an idealistic notion that you yourself wish to realize in your life?

4. Your camera is nothing but a recorder of what you see and imagine.
I would have to agree here. Your camera should be nothing but a canvass, with everything else in the world as your paint.

5. Holding an SLR doesn't make you a photographer; you're just a monkey with an expensive clicker until you learn how to imagine.
Another good one. Food for thought for the Chanemperor and his fellow scum.

6. Perfect practice makes perfect.
This applies to everything, doesn't it? Working hard doesn't mean much if you're not working the right way. It's the same idea that debunks the myth that your dick will grow if you wank it frequently enough.

7. You can either keep on proving to your delusions that you're right, or you could actually go out there and improve your work.
Another one for the self-help books. Proof that you don't need a PhD in anything to write one.

8. Sourgraping about somebody else's work is admitting that yours ain't as good.
Or your preferences simply contrast with that somebody else. This statement is rubbing off as a mouthpiece for an elitist afraid of criticism.

9. Leaving it to "personal interpretation" to some extent is a sorry excuse for not doing your homework properly.
I guess Picasso was a huge slacker.

10. Thou shall not steal somebody else's light.
Yeah, I definitely sense underlying insecurity problems here.

11. Don't take pictures; make images.
This is absolute truth as far as photography goes. Unless you argue that pictures project images by definition, composition is very important. A good image has all the elements in it working for a common goal. Pictures are what you can find on Chanemperor's and RG's photo albums: garbage by "monkey(s) with an expensive clicker" connected to plastic penis extensions.

12. Imagination makes you reach for the stars, but it's reality that keeps your feet on the ground.
Jay, this is one lesson you should implant into the empty skull of a certain friend of yours.