I’ve been trying to write this article for the last month, and I keep restarting it as it is much too long and I keep sounding like I’m preaching when I read it back. So I’ve decided to keep it simple and get straight to the point. So instead of three pages of facts and examples it’s going to be very short.
“What is YouTube?“
YouTube is first and foremost an entertainment platform. Creators draw you in with content that matches your search, your interest and your needs. And there lays the problem.
I’ve talked to so many photographers who’ve started or finished a sentence with “I have seen on YouTube that…“. And that is always a warning sign!
If you watch videos where people only use one camera make, or sensor size or you search for videos with people using a particle camera type, then you are instantly in that bubble. Your world and knowledge of the photography world suddenly shrinks. You believe that everyone is using this, or doing that with their cameras, and the reality is, the majority of the time it is simply not true.
“A bit of personal insight…“
I’ve been running photography meets for a decade, been shooting weddings and events and meeting up with other photographers both amateur and professional. I’ve spent endless time helping others with their cameras, learning as much as I can about each make of camera week in and week out. I’ve been tutoring on a one-2-one basis, learning all sorts of cameras layouts and helping others. In this time (and the decades before where I was working with other photographers but not running groups), I’ve met up with probably hundreds of people with many different camera setups and different needs from their cameras.
When you work (or play) with such a variety of people, so often, and you see what cameras people are using and how they use them, you start to laugh at a lot of YouTube photography channels because you can see that they are pure entrainment. 10 minutes of highlights and promotion, creating content to draw you in, because they think something is better, when in reality they have not got a clue.
“Who to watch, who not too watch“
First of all, the ones you can trust on YouTube are the ones who do a bit of everything. They will share knowledge and use various cameras or camera examples, they’ll acknowledge different software or types of photographers and they will never or rarely dismiss a camera because they don’t like it. They will tell you the pros and cons, and understand that everyone is different, with different needs.
On the other side you have the content creators who only use one camera make/model long term, they dismiss other cameras (because of the sensor size, or who it is aimed at etc) or constantly talk up their system making you believe that everyone from amateurs to professionals use the system. They are there because they know they’ve hit that niche audience and they play on it.
“Get Out More With Other Photographers“
It doesn’t matter what type of photographer you are, a hobbyist who goes out once a month, or a more serious amateur who goes out regularly or a professional who is always at it, stop watching (or more importantly believing) entertainment shows on YouTube and interact with real people, because then you’ll see just how much a a false representation of photography YouTube really is.
It really is hard to put into words how awful most YouTube channels really are when it comes to creating a bubble and locking people in to believe things that are totally wrong on every level. We like to say when we are taking out photographers who are new to photography; “Oh no! They are YouTube photographers” because quite often then have learned so much crap from watching YouTube and just do not understand photography.
Rant over…
My name is Mark G Adams. I am a professional photographer from South Wales, shooting weddings, events and portraits as well as running meets and workshops. For fun I like to shoot landscapes, wildlife and occasionally do street photography. Enjoy my website as I share my knowledge learned over decades of working and having fun in photography.
You can find all the latest articles and blogs on my homepage here.
My main photography social media page is my Facebook One Camera One Lens Photography page.
Nikon Recipes for the Z system can be found here.
You can find a complete list of my gear here.
One Camera One Lens Photography 
I no longer use YT but use PeerTube instead, too much advertising and misdirection on YT. Good info in your article 🙂
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Thank you very much. Your see the same nonsense coming out all the time from so many YouTubers.
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Hey Mark, this feels very close to what’s actually happening out there.
That bubble you describe is probably the real issue, not YouTube itself, but how easily it reinforces what people already believe. Once you’re in, it stops being information and starts becoming confirmation.
And you’re right, the moment you spend time with real photographers, that whole online “reality” starts to fall apart pretty quickly.
Well said.
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