Before YouTube, I Had to Learn Photography by Failing A Lot!

I was about 13 years old when my dad gave me my first camera, a Canon FTb, which had been passed down to him by an uncle who had passed away. At the time, I didn’t fully understand the weight of that hand-me-down. It wasn’t just a camera. It was a legacy, and it became the spark that would eventually lead me into a life behind the lens.

To be honest, my father probably hoped for something different. He wanted me to dream bigger, at least in the traditional sense. He would have preferred that I become a doctor, an engineer, or a businessman, something stable, respectable, not a photographer. But that camera shifted something in me, and I never let go of that creative pull.

Sure, there were times when I hit burnout, fell into ruts, or chased other highs, if you will. But I always came back to being behind the lens and creating.

Of course, I was excited but completely clueless. There were no YouTube tutorials, social media communities, or guides to walk me through the basics. I didn’t even know how to load a roll of film. Still, I grabbed the camera, guessed and fumbled through it, and hoped for the best. I had no resources. I was in the 8th grade, and it wasn’t like our library had a how-to-use-your-camera book.

I remember loading and shooting an entire roll with what I thought were carefully composed photos. I brought it to the local photo finisher, expecting magic. When I picked it up a few days later, I got nothing—not a single image—blank. I hadn’t loaded the film properly. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

In high school, I had access to a bigger library, and that library and its librarian became good friends for a while as I tried to learn more about cameras and photography. Yes, kids, we had to go to the library, look up subjects using a card catalog, and understand what all those numbers and letters meant just to find a book.

But I didn’t give up.

For a few months, I kept using that camera, completely ignoring the dials. I had no clue what ISO, aperture, or shutter speed even did. I left everything alone and just hoped for lucky results. Every now and then, a photo actually came out. It wasn’t perfect, but it motivated me to keep going.

Eventually, through nothing but trial and error, and those books in the library, I started to figure things out. I learned how to load film the right way. I realized that exposure actually mattered. I began paying attention to the dials I once ignored and slowly understood how they worked together to control light and motion.

It wasn’t quick. It wasn’t easy. But every failed attempt, every blank roll, taught me something. And those lessons stuck with me in ways that a video tutorial never could.

Looking back now, I appreciate how much those early struggles shaped me. I didn’t rely on presets, apps, or gear reviews. I relied on instinct, mistakes, and a growing understanding of how to tell a story with a frame.

If you’re new to photography today, you have more tools than ever. But don’t let that stop you from failing a little. There’s real value in getting things wrong. Sometimes, that’s how you truly learn what works.