Our Lips are Sealed

So as you can probably tell from this blog I'm an aspiring photographer. One thing that has always bugged me about other photographers on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram is when you ask them advice or you're like,

"Oh my god! That's such a cool shot, how did you do that?" 

They just don't get back to you or they say it's a secret. 

Excuse me? 

I'm sorry I didn't realize photography suddenly turned into the CIA and everything was now top secret. I can understand if it's something you came up with on your own and maybe a secret spot that's all your own that you found out in the woods after hours of searching, but when it's a technique that is used by other photographers and you just refuse to be helpful it's kind of annoying. Whenever I do something new and post it on my Facebook page and someone asks me about how I got the shot or how I edited it I always share. I don't give them a step by step walk through on my exact process of course but I'll tell them something like (ex:)

"Oh I just added a gradient layer then adjusted the opacity then I messed around with levels until it looked the way I wanted it too."

I mean I'm not telling them exactly what I did and they aren't going to be able to copy me step for step but it's still helpful information. I don't understand what the point of keeping your knowledge a secret, knowledge is meant to be shared. It's not like by not telling me I'll never find out, there is this magical thing called Google. I can't tell you how annoying it is to be an aspiring photographer and finding a photographer who's work you really admire and asking them for advice and they're just like "nope it's a secret." 

You are not a magician and this is not 4th grade. 

Sharing your information is not going to compromise your business or your art, because no one can do what you do exactly the way you do it. It's just a huge pet peeve of mine and I thought I would share. That's all and I should probably get to bed because it's 1:30am and I have to get up early. 

If anyone has photography questions or sees a picture of mine that they like and have questions on how I achieved the look of it don't hesitate to ask. I'll try to give you as much info as I can, even if it's just linking you to resources that I've used in the past.