A friend of mine admitted to being a novice in photography. He would constantly make errors and would get prints back with "helpful notes" from the lab on them.

He hadn't a clue about shutter speeds or apertures. He had never used a filter or had the slightest reason to buy a tripod or extra lenses. For me, he was a nightmare.

He infuriated me intensely. I thought I would be able to help him to improve. I thought my experience, which I gained after being in the same position as him, would be valuable and welcomed.

His eyes would glaze over when I tried to tutor him. He had no interest in what I was saying and I became frustrated and, frankly, quite annoyed.

Until, one day, my view changed.

My friend came to see me one day clutching a set of photographs. He was excited and animated. And he showed me the reason.

In his photos were a couple that he was most proud of. "See here" he said "I managed to get the car sharp". I asked him how he did it "By panning" he said.

The images were not of high quality. They would win no prizes and I didn't give them a second glance. He showed me the rest which were also of similar dubious quality.

But, as I looked through them and talked to him afterwards, I realised that he had achieved something that none of my "tutoring" could ever achieve. He had made an improvement in his image taking which was slight and hardly imperceptible. But it had been done because HE wanted to do it and at a moment in his live that HE had decided upon.

He had reflected on his previous shots and decided to improve his technique. The lessons he had learned would stay with him forever whereas everything I had told him never registered.

I had tried to be clever and teach him at moments when he was not ready to learn. I had tried to impress him and impose my will onto his way of taking pictures.

Now he has learned his way, his learning is so much more powerful!

Eric Hartwell is an enthusiastic photographer. He owns and runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums http://www.theshutter.co.uk/forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com Anyone interested in getting involved contact him at shutter@theshutter.co.uk