Pam Goldsmith, world-renowned violist [Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 5600, ƒ/4.5, 1/125]
An étude (a French word meaning study, French pronunciation: [eˈtyd], English pronunciation: / ˈeɪtjuːd /), is an instrumental musical composition, most commonly of considerable difficulty, usually designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular technical skill. —Wikipedia
I grew up playing trumpet, and after learning your scales, I learned études. Each one focused on a particular skill, and as they became more difficult, I thought they were just a way to torture a musician, but they were like tongue twisters for the musician.
Every trumpet player will, at some point, acquire the famous Arban book. The Arban Method is a complete pedagogical method for students of trumpet, cornet, and other brass instruments. The original edition was published by Jean-Baptiste Arban in 1864 and has remained in print since. It contains hundreds of exercises, ranging enormously in difficulty. The method begins with basic exercises and progresses to advanced compositions, including the famous arrangement of the Carnival of Venice.
While professional musicians practice every day for 6 to 12 hours, so too must professional photographers. They must learn to see. They may not use a camera all the time, but they must learn to see with an inquisitive eye.
You need to practice to perform as a musician does. They draw on all their practices to play the music with such artistry that its nuances are evident, even though they had never seen it. But in reality, they had, in a way, seen the music. All those scales and études, along with other performances, are being drawn upon. Their well is deep because of the time they devote to their practice.
Most of the music in movies and TV shows isn’t rehearsed before it is recorded. That would just be too expensive to play through the music a few times with professional studio musicians. They know how to play the music as written and, with their experience, can bring it alive.
The professional photographer doesn’t practice a few times, taking your portrait, and then says OK, this is for real. No, they perform right away.
If you photos are not that great–have you considered you might not have practiced? I know my trumpet teacher would ask how much I practiced when they heard me play–it was a good sign I wasn’t doing it right if he asked me that question.