Category: Tip of the Week

You are asked to do a photo shoot in a particular environment, and you haven’t a clue where to find the right place. This is where scouting comes in. You should be scouting locations wherever you go.

My youngest daughter and I love to go on ‘rambles’. We just pack up our cameras, pick a direction, and go. Sometimes we might have an idea of a destination; often we don’t. What we are doing is finding places we might use in the future and filing them away.

The opportunity to capture something doesn’t have to be with photography in mind either. A while back I was downtown for a meeting. I passed this wall and thought how much character it had. I took a quick picture with my cellphone and filed it away labeling its location. At some point if someone asks about an old wall, I will have this.

Always have that photographers’ eye. Wherever you go use it as a scouting opportunity. You never know when it will come in handy.

As a photographer you can NEVER stop learning. This is true in a lot of professions. You would never want your surgeon to hold onto techniques from the dark ages as medical science keeps moving forward. Now I’m no doctor, but I do want to be the best at my craft that I can be. So here are a few thoughts to ponder:

• Try new things – don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone.
  Street photography has never been my thing, but I went to NYC with my cousins and tried. Still not my thing, but it taught me to appreciate how hard it is.
• Ask for Constructive Criticism – and take it with grace and gratitude. 
  Do not take offense – learn from it. It is never easy to hear criticism of your work. Remember you can only get better with the input given.
• Put your ego away – there is nothing worse than a photographer snob.
  And I have known some doozies! You will look at their work and wonder how can they not see what you (and everyone else) sees? 
• Learn editing restraint. When using sliders to edit, pick your number, and then back off a little.
  There is nothing worse than over-saturation or clarity! Other photographers know the tricks, so don’t try to say you didn’t, when we can obviously see you did.
• Remember, Art is subjective. What one person loves, another may not –
  When you ask for constructive criticism you may get some critiques you don’t agree with, or they might be totally wrong. Even the best of photographers might not see your concept (refer back to bullet #two).