Learning from the past

I spent time this morning looking for a particular image and it gave me an opportunity to review images from the past.  In 2006 I decided I wanted to really learn to be a better photographer. I had always been happy as an amateur but I found myself out of a job and thought "what would I like to be when I grow up?" The answer immediately came to me - a photographer because I enjoyed taking pictures so much. A mentor recommended that I shoot for at least an hour a day, every day, and select one image as my favorite and throw all of the others away.  While I was never able to toss the entire shoot, I did learn from the "select the best" method and I still do that today.  Looking back on the ones I should have deleted, I see that I have learned a lot in the past few years.


This should be titled "Things Not to Do."  I was trying to capture a friend's Ichibana creations and thought natural light would help - but look at that BUSY background. It totally takes away from the flower arrangement. This one is a little bit better...



But the background is still competing with the subject.  Today I would bring some solid backgrounds along and  provide some diffuse lighting so that the flower arrangement stands alone.

I just read some good landscape tips by Matt Kloskowski on Scott Kelby's blog (http://www.scottkelby.com/blog) today. Simply put, they are: 1.  Get up earlier than you think (an hour before sunrise) 2. Get ready the night before - this is important - make sure you've got everything you will need and all batteries have been recharged. 3. Shoot and move - don't just stand in one spot. Look around for other sweet light opportunities. 4. Try photographing people and 5. It's all about luck - sometimes it's just being at the right place at the right time. 

Keep shooting!

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