Sunday, May 10, 2015

Lazy is Better for Taking Good Photographs!

One forgotten key

No matter how much or how little gear you have, you can instantly take better pictures, starting in the next ten seconds.  Here's how to do it:

Only take a quarter of the pictures you're now taking.

That's all there is to it!  With the advent of digital technology, cloud storage, quick editing and endless sharing possibilities, it's so tempting to take more and more that we tend to think not of quality, but of quantity, always hoping that at least one picture might end up better than the rest.  When you decrease the shooting frequency, you force your brain to think more about what it is you're shooting, and how best to take advantage of lighting and composition.  You don't even need to know lighting and composition rules - your brain will help you find the best picture of that waterfall if you know you'll only take one, instead of four.  Or forty.

Will this help you take great pictures?  Well, maybe.  Let's use the reduction method as the first step.  You'll never have  great shots when you get home if all you do is spray and pray.  In addition, you won't have enjoyed the trip if all you're doing is snapping pics, whether it's with an expensive camera or your phone.  Enjoy your surroundings, and live your life.

Once you've decided to take fewer shots, try this as well:  Try to take only ONE shot of any given object or view.  No one wants to see ten shots of anything, and you'll find later on that they're not all that different from each other anyway.  Taking those ten shots prevents you from thinking about the single best shot, and you'll probably end up missing it.

If you're at a car show, you don't need (or want) four angles of every car.  Pick only the finest or most interesting cars, and take just one shot of each, finding a different angle each time.  This will tell a different story for each car.

When taking pictures for posting on Facebook, remember that there are over 250 BILLION pictures on there, with over 350 million being added each and every day.  You cannot compete for the attention of your friends by posting volumes.  You'll have to do it with quality, and with small numbers.

No get out there and slow down your shooting!