Look at Your Photographs, Before You Take Them.

I just got back from a real nice vacation and in looking at, and learning from my own photographic successes and failures, it’s pretty clear that a good number of potential great photos are handicapped by a bit of  “photographer laziness”. What I mean by that is, had I simply taken a moment or two to really examine what I was taking a picture of, I mean all of it, not just the subject, I might have noticed:

• A hotspot
• crooked horizon line in the background
• that bag of pretzels
• that guy back there
• someone’s foot
• clipping of a cool cloud formation
• my shadow
• etc.

Get my drift? It seems pretty basic, but we get so caught up in camera settings before taking the picture, that when it comes to taking the picture you forget to slow down and really see what you’re about to capture. Imagine the time you’d save by seeing the unseen, noticing the unnoticed? I know, some of these things are correctable, but your own shadow? Besides, what did you miss to the left or right…a little physical rotation might have dramatically cleaned up or even enhanced the shot.

All I’m saying is, yes you need your pre-shoot checklist, (you didn’t leave it at ISO 6400 did you?!) but you also need take a moment before capturing “the moment”.

creative commons image via: tomhe

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1. 

   John Roberts says:

   July 25, 2009 at 4:40 am

   Excellent points and reminders. I think most view camera photographers are better photographers not because of the superiority of their equipment, but because of the time and effort their equipment requires of them for each photo.

   reply
2. 

   Patrick says:

   July 25, 2009 at 9:24 am

   john,
   I think you’re absolutely right about the view cameras, still it’s amazing how many shots can get killed by the little things. Afterwards you’re like “how did I miss that”?

   reply
3. 

   Mei Teng says:

   December 29, 2009 at 1:10 am

   You have a great site here. I enjoy reading this post and yes, I totally agree with not taking the time to assess before hitting the shutter button. The most common problem I have shooting landscapes is forgetting about the crooked horizontal line in the background and it really bothers me when I look at my photos.

   reply
   • 

     Patrick says:

     December 30, 2009 at 2:48 pm

     Thanks, and I hate the crooked backgrounds too…well sometimes I do.

     reply