Learning through Study vs Learning by Doing

You may have noticed I haven't posted any pictures here yet.  "Yet" may be optimistic.  I seem to be stuck in the learning stage as I frequently am when I take on new projects and hobbies. 

I like learning new things and I try to learn as much as I can about the subject but somewhere along the line I usually get caught up in the learning and never get around to the doing.

1. I become intimidated by seeing what the experts can do and fear I can never become half as good so I don't even try. 
2. Or I try a little but then realize I can never be that good so I don't even try to become as good as I could be.
3. I catch 'shiny quarter' syndrome which is where something new catches my attention and I forget what I was doing.
4. I decide to wait till tomorrow to actually do anything.
5. Somebody tells me I can't and for some reason known only to Sigmund Freud or Dr. Ruth, I believe them. 

That's why I was intrigued by these two articles by Alex Garcia that I found on his Chicago Tribune blog Assignment Chicago: Tuesday Photo Tips Are You A Perpetual Student  and Conditions Of Learning Photography.  I thought maybe he was speaking to me.

I think the points he made in both articles was that you can't really learn how to do anything without doing it and the more you do it the more you can learn if you try.

A List of Lists

A reader recently commented that she had to read many books to supplement what she learned in the NYIP course because it only gave her the bare bones and she needed more meat.  She can buy at least 20 - 50 new photography books for what the NYIP course costs, but the trick is in knowing which ones to buy. 

Here is a list of 12 lists of books recommended by experienced photographers.  They are in no particular order so I'm not favoring one list or list author over another.  

• 7 Digital Photography Books for Beginners, on Photoble
• 10 Photography Book Recommendations By DIYP Readers, on DIY Photography
• 12 Great Digital Photography Books for Your Christmas Stocking (or anytime of the year) on Digital Photography School
• Wedding Photography Book Reviews  (scroll down on the page) on christopher maxwell phographer
• 4 Photography Books for Beginners at Steve's Digicams
• Suggested Books and Magazines at Ken Rockwell
• Best Photography Books of 2010  (not how-to's but books of photographs) on Elizabeth Avedon's blog
• The Best Books of 2010 on photo-eye Magazine 
• The Top Ten Digital Photography Books (includes Photoshop books) on Varis PhotoMedia Seeing
• Digital-Photography Books on Squidoo
• Architectural Photography Books Top Ten List on Clayton Studio
• The Best Digital Photography Books on Anne Darling Photography

These lists vary widely in book titles and authors, but the two more mentioned books were Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure and Scott Kelby's Digital Photography (which comes individually or in a 3 volume set.)