Stepping Back
One of the hardest things to do is step back. Not literally, I’m sure most of them are quite capable of that. But with our photography, how much time do we spend reflecting. It’s a little ironic that we get better at photography when we are not taking photos. Think about it for a second - if all we ever did, over and over, was take photos then two things would happen. Firstly, we would a huge volume of images, HUGE… secondly, how much progress would we have made? I see this with people on safari or photography trips where taking images is the priority, editing images is certainly less interesting than photography lions and feeling the buzz of the wild through your lens. To edit and review images you need time and this is often in short supply when on location. I can pretty much guarantee that if you invest time in reviewing images (not necessarily editing any or many) then you will learn things that can help your current shooting and will help overall.
Let’s look at the complete opposite scenario and this is wonderfully encapsulated in a recent study I read about. They asked half of an art class to photograph every day, all day and the other half to reduce their shooting right the way down to just a few frames. Then they assessed the project outcomes and… those that practised a lot produced a better project.
So now that I have completely contradicted myself, here is how I feel about this topic and my advice. When you shoot, shoot consciously, challenge your nature framing, play with exposure and make sure you build in pauses. Look at digital images as you go, look at them critically and force yourself to do this. Personally, If I have a lion pride playing or leopard on the move, I find this so difficult. I just want to shoot shoot shoot. Decades of being in this scenario have taught me, if I don’t pause and check progress then I will not have made the most from the opportunity.
So ‘stepping back’ comes in various shapes and sizes, let me share what I do
1 - I add in mini pauses during an import opportunity - painful but productive. This maximises the moment
2 - On location, I will always download my images daily (this is also for storage, general workflow and backup reasons) but I always skim the images with a critical eye. I very often see little surprises that can be applied the following day. Like I notice bad lens flare with s new lens, that the one backlit shot was better than the 999 ‘others’ or that my panning shots worked best with 1/15th second shutter speed. My tip here is NOT to find the best one to show around the campfire to friends but to work out what your bad ones are bad and why your good ones are good. This maximises your trip
3 - Then there is time to really step back. You are home, you are rested and fresh and it is time to plan the next trip, edit your wishlist and answer ‘what next?’ This is where you rebaseline your ambition level, evacuate shortcomings in your gear or technique and really think about where you want to take your photography next. These decisions can be minor but can ask significant as a change in your photography journey. For myself, these times of reflection lead me… drove me to hone Black & White, pushed me to learn remote photography and more recently brought me back to film photography. This maximises your talent and potential
I believe if you want to grow as quickly as possible as a photographer then all three are important. Taking number 1 - think about it, if you maximised every single opportunity you ever had, making real-time adjustments. Well, we’d never have to say again ‘I wish I had…. ‘.
So no matter the situation, shoot consciously, engage the brain on every shot. Reflect on what you are doing, be a progressive photogrpher.