Do you photograph very quickly?

Well what do I mean by this? I shoot some many shots that I am sometimes more focused on quantity rather than the quality.

On so many occasions I have to keep telling myself, Denzil slow down. You are shooting to fast and you are making the people in front of your lens very nervous.

Have any of you ever experienced this problem? Well for some they might see this as a problem and others might just consider it as the only way that they know how to shoot.

Well, as you develop through each year of your course you will come to understand that the photographs that you take need some additional attention. What do I mean by this?

Well we are going to seeing smooch more than when we first started. You will be considering the composition in front of you. You are also going to be considering color, texture, leading lines and depth of field. There are a number of different factors that come into play now that you are using a Dslr camera.

Let me explain. On Sunday, yes Mother's Day I had an engagement booking for a couple that I knew. They arrived at my place with their outfit changes and we sat down and started talking about what kind of photographs they were interested in. What poses they would like to see in their book or what prints they would like to get from the session.

Now I was all prepared. I mean really prepared. I had my iPad with my Pinterest suggestions and a list of available prints that I wanted to show them. Just been prepared is not always that great at times as I soon discovered. I started to rush and because I knew that the light was perfect and may be setting soon so I just wanted to get out and start taking some photographs. I ushered them into the garden, knew the location I wanted to shoot in and what type of photographs I want to get, so I just got started photographing immediately.

Here is why this was a problem..

I did not check to see if my flash was to low or to high. I was so comfortable with my "usual" way of shooting that I started making simple mistakes. Here is the first mistake. What do you see wrong with this photograph?

Yes, I did not take a good light meter reading and my flash was positioned far to low. Look at the shadow that formed under his chin.

Now, you might say but if you checked the back of your screen you would have been able to pick that up. Yes, I would have, but the sun was still shining brightly over my shoulder and it was a little difficult. So invest in a great loupe for your back screen of your camera. 

Now, I only had an hour for all the photographing and we still had to go to another location. That is just what I was thinking. I was already on the next set of photographs in my mind. I was already there thinking about what I was going to be shooting next to the lake. That was my problem. I was not in the moment. When you are photographing, you have to be in the moment. Think about only those photographs you are about to take at that present moment in time. Work the scene and the subject and try and get the best photographs that you can. If you do not make it to the next location, at least you got the best from the first location.

Well, I made it to the next location. I had this all planned in my head. I knew it was sunny so I brought my diffuser with. Great job!! 

Well not quite. I am sure many of you are one person photography teams or businesses.You try and photograph and do everything yourself. Well I am such a guy. I do not have much money. I photograph, edit, print and market my entire business.

Well the problem at the new location was that it was to bright and it was very windy. As a result I started to rush even more and with the result I started making a few more silly mistakes. These relate to location, location , location. Can you see the obvious problems in these photographs?

1. The cap cast a bad shadow over his eyes.

2. He is quitting in the bottom photograph.

With the wind blowing I could not hold the diffuser and in my rush I forgot the stand and sandbag to keep it in place from flying away. Slow down Denzil!!

Slow down, think about the next shot only when you are there. If you planned the shot because you knew the location then you would have had the sandbag and the stand in the car.

Well everything was not that bad. I had to turn the bad into some good. So what can you do when you are working alone, it is windy and you cannot use a diffuser or you forgot your stand and sandbag at home. Well look for locations where you can use that sun to your advantage.

I started to slow down. I kept telling myself, "what will work in this situation?" Look around for some solid shade. Shoot at higher ISO's if you have to. Add some fill flash if they are facing away from the sun. Without that it will create a silhouette.

So here are two photographs I felt worked well in these conditions.

I started to focus on what I could do, rather than what I wanted to do.

You have to approach each session with an open mind. Yes it is great to plan, but you have to be flexible enough to know when you have to change. Just going on without any regard for what is happening around you is going to create problems you do not want.

So my advice to you. Slow down and look at the scene. See what will work and what will be a challenge. If you have to work longer in one location then that is just fine, unless of cause the client wants another location, then that is just what you have to do. Don't let your desire to take that great photograph in your mind, result in the missed opportunity that was right in front of you all the time.

Have great day and good luck with all your photography sessions this week. 

Ps: If you would like to see a blog post of your choosing here then please let me know. We will welcome any and all feedback.

Have a great day.

Denzil