Ken Rockwell vs Jared Polin vs Granger vs Northrup vs Andrew vs..

Today i will speak about Ken Rockwell versus Jared Polin versus Matt Granger versus Tony Northrup vs Michael Andrew Shiffler (AKA The Maven and he name himself also the mentor) versus whomever i saw on Youtube or by their website.

 

Those professional photographers might be some of the most popular on internet about photography tips, reviews, online photography courses, photography workshop, cameras and lenses review, and so on... Or at least you already heard or read about one of them in this particular field which is photography.

Why them? I know there is plenty more pro photographers out there and they are a lot more "famous" if i can say that, like the one who sold a picture $6.5M (yes 6.5 million US dollars just for one picture!), but them (Ken, Jared, Tony, Matt and Michael) you can see them every single day just by connecting your computer to internet and those guys are accessible to answers your questions.


So which of them is the best teacher ? are they always right?

Ken Rockwell said to shoot JPG, but Jared Polin said to shoot RAW... Rightly or wrongly Jared Polin said that "Ken Rockwell is dangerous to photography"... So what about?

 

Tony and Chelsea Northrup give tips and tricks about photography, material, but Matt Granger do it also... What about ?

 

Michael Andrew The Maven sell a lot of DVD about learning photography and learning a particular camera model, but on Youtube i can find everything... are those DVD worth it ? What about?

And so on...

 

I just want to speak about them today and give my thought on how they "evolved" mainly by their Youtube channel (at least for four of them) because Ken Rockwell do not have a Youtube Channel and i understand why...

 

Why Ken Rockwell does not have a YouTube channel ? Ken Rockwell is "A Band Apart" in this photography internet microcosm where almost everyone know everybody.

For the Ken Rockwell's readers they should shoot JPG, not RAW and it is where Jared Polin didn't understood the readers of Ken!

 

Very different point of view for more very different readers, they are at the two extreme of the line!

Jared Polin is oriented advanced and expert photographers, where Ken Rockwell is oriented very beginners, snappers and anti-learner! Oh crap, i said anti-learner ...

 

Yes ! A lot of people out there do not want to learn photography but want to do better pictures and i am OK with that, i even understand that!

I so very agree with that, i even say high and loud: You can shoot better pictures without passing all the process of learning each single part of photography, and i mean it seriously!

 

Ken Rockwell is writing for those extreme beginners which often do not want to spend even one minute on Lightroom or alternative photo editor.

His readers are completely different than the usual beginner photographer and Jared Polin seems to not understand that some people do not want to post process theirs pictures at all nor to learn something.

 

So is it better to shoot RAW or JPG? If you are sure about what you are doing and know your camera's presets or styles and do not want to post process your pictures at all or just add some contrast, i agree with Ken Rockwell, Shoot JPG.

 

But if you need to master every single step and aspect of your photograph or you do not care to spend time on your computer, sure i agree with Jared Polin, shooting RAW is not an option!

Some photographers are also jealous about the popularity of the Ken Rockwell's website, here i am not speaking about Jared Polin, he have his own followers, he does not need that at all, i am speaking about those jealous photographers, or i should say fauxtographers, that will never get popular because they are fauxtogs, and instead to be jealous they should try to understand what Ken Rockwell did to be so popular, but most important, for who he is so popular and the amount of work he did to be where he is now.

 

So what did Ken Rockwell? Look at his family's pictures on his website, they are snapshots about everyday, not well composed, but the people who see those pics can say to themselves "hey, i can do it and Ken is a professional photog"!

 

In fact Ken Rockwell on his website put himself down at the very level of those very beginners snap shooters who do not want to learn photography, and by doing so, in my opinion, he is the smartest of all those internet popular online photographers.

 

Why? Because there are a lot more beginners who have no idea what is photography than everybody else, and by putting himself down he is making himself and his "knowledge" reachable, very reachable for his readers, not everyone want to spend thousand dollars for a camera or a lens for example!

 

Why he's always testing the stars that can do the diaphragm/iris when he speak about a lens? Because his readers will do it also without really learning photography, and without spending time in post processing! The Ken's readers will be able to buy a lens which is doing stars... Can you see the meaning for his readers?

 

So Ken Rockwell or Jared Polin? Me, i will chose Jared Polin without any question because if i needed to learn it's the way to go, but my wife which do not want to spend even 1 seconds in post processing has already chosen Ken Rockwell!

 

In 2009 or 2010 i switched from Panasonic to Canon for many reasons, so i bought a 5D2 and a 7D but when i saw the thickness of the user manual, i got scared.

 

Like everybody i went on Youtube to search some video about the 5D2, the results: a lot of crap and very badly made video, so i searched to buy a DVD, for sure a cheap one, in fact i bought 2 or 3 very cheap DVD, results, the user manual was a lot more interesting to read, after 5 minutes of watching those video, i was just loosing interest and time, fall asleep, etc...

 

And few days later on youtube i saw a video of Michael Andrew (he call himself "The Maven" ... whatever) and the price of one of his DVD (Canon 7D crash course) was a lot more expensive than the average (i do not recall the exact price) but after the 2 or 3 cheapo crap DVD i received, i told myself to give it a try, at this price it can be only better, and in all cases i needed to know a lot better my cameras.

First at all it arrive a lot faster than any other cheapo DVD, sent from USA to the Philippines!

Secondly the start of the DVD was quite very cool, the guy is in his kitchen making pan cake and speaking about camera, pixels, well about photography, Michael Andrew catch instantly my attention, and you know what, i spent all the day watching this DVD, doing the exercises in live (yes he got many exercises for your fingers to find their places without looking, it's nice) and the length of the video was more than 6 hours!

 

On all the video tutorial i ever watched to learn how work a tool for example, it was the most complete, the most inter-active, the most funny, yes he try to put some fun in it, over all the best tutorial ever, and you can believe me i knew my 7D even better than myself, just after few hours of watching his DVD and with a great time learning that way.

So if you are hesitating to buy a video from Michael the Maven, you can go ahead and buy it, you will not regret it!

 

I will finish this blog page with Tony Northrup and Matt Granger.

I like them both, i saw their beginning on youtube with some video tutorial or material reviews.

 

It's nice to recall how shy they was or nice to recall the lack of "presence" they had before in front of the camera, and how now they are confident, very pro but still very available and very reachable or accessible to their viewers and students, answering to their questions directly online and no need to say that their youtube channel is just getting better and better year after year. So i just wanted to tell them Bravo!


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Write a comment

Comments: 2
  • #1

    DARKO GORENC (Friday, 17 November 2017 15:03)

    Why does anyone need to choose , review it all and determine what your goals are in learning photography....take all you can from the information given freely ....keep shooting and keep practicing and get as far as you can in your craft.....who cares about internet squabbles....try RAW , try only JPEG ....do both ...most cameras can.....

  • #2

    Brighto (Tuesday, 29 May 2018 04:22)

    "Jared Polin is oriented advanced and expert photographers"

    Hahaa! You honestly think that experts watch Jared Polin's rants? Why should an expert need YouTube rants? You know, experts are busy with earning money on photo shoots, they don't sit in front of YouTube. And as an expert, you know about cameras and lenses *yourself*, because you are an expert. That's what this term means -- " expert" .

    All the YouTubers you mentioned are oriented to novices. For example, they talk about depth of field or how crop factors work. Do you honestly think that people who have a grip for photography need this kind of "advice"? Don't fool yourself ...