Slow Down
I’ve always believed photography to be a leisurely hobby. Unless you’re a pro with a deadline, then you shouldn’t be rushing around clicking the shutter every time you see a scene you want to capture. I see a lot of people running around with their camera’s and just shooting frame after frame after frame without really thinking about their shots. Sometimes we get so caught up with getting the right exposure - we check our ISO, we check our depth of field, what aperture we’re shooting at etc.. - but sometimes we fail to really check just how we’re framing our shots.
Image © biscuitsmlp. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
Once you get on location, and you’ve set up your camera, why not just sit back and take in the scene for awhile? I’ve seen it happen a lot of times. I get on location, I set up my camera and then someone comes along, they set-up, fire a few frames, then they’re done. And I haven’t even fired a single frame yet.
Why not try this, when you get on location, or see a scene you want to shoot, don’t bring your camera up to your eye just yet. Just sit back, and enjoy the scene. Take everything in. Ask yourself what kind of shot you really want. Do you think it’ll benefit by shooting lower? Maybe moving back a bit more to add some foreground would work better? What about using a different lens? Horizontal or Vertical?
Once you have a better idea of how you want to capture the scene, then its time to bring your viewfinder up to eye-level and start framing. Try a few different looks. Move back, zoom-in, see what works for you. And before you hit that shutter, check the edges of your frame. You sure there isn’t a tree branch just creeping at the top right there? Maybe you should move to the right or left just a bit more?
Now, this might sound like a lot of work, but it isn’t really. Once you’ve learned to do it with almost every shot, it will only take a minute or two. Now, why not just keep firing like you always do, afterall, with digital you aren’t wasting any film? Well, personally I’d rather get home with fewer shots on my memory card knowing that I’ve worked to make sure I had everything right, rather than having thousands of images and hoping one of them works.
We’ve all done it, we get home, upload our images to our computer only to end up disappointed. Somehow, it just wasn’t how we expected them to turn out. Maybe there are one or two keepers, maybe a dozen or so. But most of them will head straight to the Recycle Bin. But by slowing down, I guarantee you, you’ll not only spend less time slogging through images after you’ve uploaded them to your PC, but you’ll increase your quality shots (keepers) to number of shots taken ratio.
So why not try it? Slow down, and don’t be too trigger happy.
Image © biscuitsmlp. Image used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.