Allard's advice to novices

Develop your ability to see. Many people graduate from college or
graduate school thinking they are photographers. They are equipped
with cameras that do everything but park your car. But often these
people can’t really see and understand light. You can’t rely on
technology for seeing a picture.

Know what came before you. Study famous photographers (Paul Strand,
W. Eugene Smith, Robert Frank, Henri Cartier-Bresson are just a few
for example). There are so many. Don’t emulate these people, but
appreciate how they looked at their subjects.

Study paintings too. Painters teach us about organizing space. What
you exclude is as important as what you include. Pay attention to
light and shadows. A painter can manipulate them and his palette is
endless, but a photographer has less control. I usually can’t control
the conditions under which I take pictures.

When I was shooting the blues I could see pictures everywhere. But I
had to focus on one picture. It’s just like hunting quail. When a
hunter sees a covey, he has to pick one bird or he probably won’t hit
anything. It’s the same with pictures. Slow down, and pick one shot
at a time.