Take better pictures: quantity counts

The absolute best way to take better pictures is… by taking more pictures.

That’s right, take more pictures.

Lots more.

Even more than that.

No matter your level (hobbyist, amateur,  professional, wana-be professional), everyone will benefit from simply taking more pictures.

Learning techniques and trick are good, but ultimately it’s just theory. We all need practice. We need to put that camera up to our face, frame the picture, press the patten, and hear that shutter sound. Then, do it again.

Even when you know the tricks, taking more pictures is a great way to keep from getting board with your ‘mastery’ of the camera. Boredom is the result of turning an art form and fun pass time into a technical experiment to simply get correct. You know how to combat that? Say it with me now: TAKE MORE PICTURES. (Good class)

Here are two fairly easy ways to goad yourself into taking more pictures.

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Set up a still life scene on your kitchen counter, dining room tabe, bath tub, couch, stairs or some other place within your home. Set everything up just so and take a picture.

Go a head a look at it on your screen. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Before you decide to either feel that you ‘got the shot’ or that you should delete this attrocity, go a head and take the picture again… but this time change something. Change your angle slightly, move to the left, get closer, take a step back, add something to the setup… and then take another picture. Then do it again. And again. And again.

Seriously.

This is one of the best practice I have found (and am trying to discipline my self to do). Take the same shot over and over, changing one or two small things each time. Maybe set up some figures and tell a story (I’ve got a monster vs ants idea in mind for my next exercise like this). Maybe be decide to take the same picture from different heights (on a ladder, on a chair, standing, kneeling, sitting, on the floor). Maybe take add something every time you take a picture. There are a hundred different ways to keep yourself busy at this.

When you are done, upload them to your computer and have a look. What’s different about each photo? How does this one change make the picture better or worse? What could have been added? What should have been taken away?

Don’t delete any of the photos. Post them all to flickr with a brief explenation of the excersice, and see what comments you get. It helps to see the changes again and again, take notes and remember the good, the bad, and the ugly. It makes you a better photographer.
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Another easy way to practice taking pictures is by taking a walk.  Two or three times a week, put your camera around your neck and let your feet take you where they will (or maybe just to the store for a cookie or dozen… just sayin’)

As your walking, stop looking for that one amazing photo to capture. It’s probably not there, and while your straining your eyes to find it, you are missing a million beautiful sights all around you. Walk slowly, and look at the ground, the sky, to your left and your right. Go ahead and look behind you… just be careful if you walk backwards. The risk or triping and falling over stuff increases by 130% for every 15 degrees you turn while still moving in a forward direction. It’s true. I saw it on the internet.

As you walk and look around, you are going to see stuff that looks cool, interesting, colorful, odd and a billion other adjectives. Whenever something catches your eye, take a picture of it. Go ahead, take two or three pictures of it. Then walk on. Don’t get caught up with looking at the pictures you just took. If you do that, your walk is going to be extra needlessly long.  If you look at your view screen after every picture, you are probably going to delete 80% of the photos you take… which defeats the whole excersice. Instead, take a picture or five of whatever caught your eye, and keep moving. (Besides, you have cookies to buy, remember?)

When you get back from your walk, go ahead and upload your photos and have a look. Don’t delete any yet, just look at them. What do you like? What’s missing from that shot? Is there a better angle for that photo? Take some notes about the photos. Having another pair of eyes is great at this stage. Let someone look with you. Hear their feedback.

After that, delete the ones you don’t like. Play around with the ones you do like. (BTW a simple increase of contrast can usually turn photos you like into photos you love.) If there aren’t any photos your really like, choose the best of the batch, and get rid of the rest. Always keep at leat one photo. Saving photos like that is a great way to keep track of your progress and development as a photographer.

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These are two quick and easy ways to take more pictures, which in turn will make you a better photographer.

Any other ideas out there?