Why Craig Roberts’ Photography Advice Sticks
A short thank-you note to Craig Roberts for cutting through the gear noise and focusing on what actually makes photographs better.
There’s a lot of noise in photography education right now.
Open YouTube and you’ll find a thousand channels arguing about the “best” camera, the sharpest lens, or the latest spec sheet. If you believed the thumbnails, you’d think great photographs live and die on autofocus modes and dynamic range charts.
That’s exactly why Craig Roberts’ work has been so refreshing for me.
Hands-on, not hype
What I appreciate most about Craig is how relentlessly practical his teaching is.
He doesn’t start with gear. He starts with:
- Where to stand.
- What to include and what to exclude.
- How to read light and weather.
- How to work with the landscape you actually have in front of you, not the imaginary one from a travel ad.
The advice is the kind you can take on a walk this afternoon. It’s about moving three steps to the left, waiting ten more minutes for the light to drop, or simplifying a busy scene until there’s a single, clear idea in the frame.
That kind of guidance has done more for my photography than any new body or lens.
The quiet rebellion: not talking about gear
Craig isn’t anti-gear. He just treats it as what it is: a set of tools, not the subject.
In an era where “content” often means unboxing videos and affiliate links, it’s genuinely rare to find someone who can talk about photography for a long stretch without drifting into brand wars. Craig manages exactly that. He’s far more interested in:
- Composition choices than camera choices.
- Weather, mood, and timing than megapixels.
- How an image feels than how it performs at 400% zoom.
And he does it all with a dry, occasionally mischievous sense of humour. There’s something very human about hearing him explain composition while an absolutely awesome album cover from a favourite band is half-visible on a shelf behind him. Those little nods to music in the background make the videos feel less like “content” and more like hanging out in a real person’s space while they talk honestly about photographs.
As someone who is thoroughly burned out on gear chatter, that’s a huge part of why his work resonates with me. It’s a reminder that the most important upgrades are usually behind the camera, not inside it.
E6: learning in layers
I’m also a subscriber to Craig’s E6 program, and that’s where his approach really clicked for me.
Without getting into the details of the curriculum, what stands out is the structure: lessons build on each other in a way that feels like you’re layering skills, not just collecting tips. There’s a throughline from seeing → planning → shooting → editing that makes the process feel coherent and repeatable.
The biggest benefits for me have been:
- Intentionality – going out with a clearer idea of what I’m trying to say with a photograph, not just “seeing what happens.”
- Editing restraint – knowing when to stop, and how to keep the final image in tune with the mood that drew me to the scene in the first place.
- Confidence in “ordinary” locations – learning to make honest, personal work close to home instead of chasing only dramatic bucket-list spots.
It’s the opposite of a quick-hit tutorial. It feels more like a long conversation about making better photographs, one decision at a time.
A different kind of influence
There are plenty of photographers whose work I admire because of the final images alone. With Craig, it’s both the photographs and the way he talks about them.
His influence on me looks like this:
- I slow down more.
- I chase light and conditions instead of novelty.
- I think harder about what belongs in the frame, and what doesn’t.
- I worry less about what I’m shooting with, and more about why I’m shooting at all.
That’s a different kind of inspiration than seeing a dramatic image and thinking, “I should go there someday.” It’s closer to having a patient mentor in your ear while you’re out with your camera, nudging you toward better decisions.
Closing thanks
This post is really just a small thank-you.
Photography can easily drift into a gear hobby with a picture-taking problem. Craig Roberts has been one of the people pulling me back toward the part that matters: seeing, feeling, and making photographs that are personal and honest.
You can find more of Craig’s work and teaching at craigrobertsphotography.co.uk.
If you’re tired of spec sheets and shopping lists, and you want advice you can actually put into practice on your next walk, his work is well worth your time.