10 things that I think are important to get the most out of the wonderful thing that is photogrpahy.
- Go out and take photographs.
- Think about what you are taking photographs of.
- Look at the scene before taking photographs.
- Think about composition more than anything else.
- Don’t worry about gear, but learn everything about what you have. And use it.
- Don’t spend forever processing.
- Think about the images you have produced.
- Get honest critiques of your work.
- Practise, practise, practise.
- Enjoy taking photographs.
- Print your photographs.
OK I know – that is 11, but 11 is the one that I very rarely do. I cannot give you 10 Tips if I do not do them myself now can I?
Let’s remember one thing.
Photography is defined as
“The art or practice of taking and processing photographs” in the Oxford Living Dictionaries.
Photography is not defined as
Spend all your time looking at gear on WEX Photo Video or Jessops.
Watching used gear on EBay.
Reading endless reviews of cameras, lenses and gear.
Hammering your Amazon Prime account.
No.
The practise of taking and processing photographs.
Practise.
That is one of the key words. The best way to get better at Photography is to practise.
Taking Photographs.
The clue is in there too.
Taking photogrpahs. One thing I have to say here though, and this is something I am still guilty of on comercial shoots.
DO NOT TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES OF THE SAME THING FROM THE SAME POSITON WITH THE SAME SETTINGS.
Why do I do that? I have my camera set up and the first image is always fine (well most of the time) but for some reason known only to me I take another photograph. Fine if the light is chaning, but sometimes it is exactly the same as the first picture.
Sorry – that sort of went off at a bit of a tangent, but between you and I there is nothing more annoying (you know what I mean when I say that – of course there are more annoying things, like peanut butter, politicians and Radio 1) than looking at 2, 34, or more versions of exactly the same picture on my screen in Lightroom.
THe first one was fine. Why not stop there?
I need to get a grip of this – it is wasting my time and filling up one of my hard drives.
And annoying me.
OK – rant over. Get the shot the first time then move on.
Rick McEvoy Photography
