Shoot Like A Pro...

[smoke665]

Sometimes it isn't about the equipment, it's about mistakes made. One thing not mentioned is Plan A. I like to plan out out a shot list especially with portraiture. In landscapes/ambient light, I like to look at the area on Google maps to mark locations, check the weather, sun location, sky color, etc., before I leave. Saves time wandering around looking for the right spot.

5 Things Professional Photographers Do That Beginners Don't | Fstoppers

Discover the invisible habits that separate professional photographers from enthusiasts, including ruthless image culling and meticulous background management that elevate portfolio quality.

fstoppers.com

 

[KJ_North]

I like the final thing:

They Shoot With the Edit in Mind​

Unfortunately you sometimes have to just try and get the shot and hope your editing can make it worthwhile.

 

[smoke665]

I like the final thing:

They Shoot With the Edit in Mind​

Unfortunately you sometimes have to just try and get the shot and hope your editing can make it worthwhile.

I've read similar advice and I usually do it as well, I don't do a lot of random or chance type shots. Most of mine I have a plan in place including post processing before I snap the shot. I don't enjoy spending time at a computer trying to fix something. There are those situations where the random appearances of the subject require you to take a less than ideal shot, but even then it pays to limit as much as possible things to fix.

 

[webestang6431]

That couple on the beach photo......HATE IT...!!!!!!! Lots of wasted space, what's up with that, it looks stupid. I print so many photos like that and always in my mind I say to myself WHY...!!!!! I printed one like that at work, it was a 20x30 but the peeps in the photo were about a 6x8, Scotty no like. I don't know, just my opinion.

 

[smoke665]

@webestang64 Meh, I prefer the subject have more prominence in the frame, but there's others that like to incorporate more of the environment in a panorama crop. Resolutions with narrow height to width tend to look better when viewed large.

 

[TJMcG139 23]

I spent a few years in a lab processing film, making prints, and fixing the mistakes of "professional" photographers with Photoshop. When the "professional wedding photographer" called the lab, wondering what those spots were on her negs, they came to me. I said, "Ask her if she stores them in the basement." Of course she did. Mold, fungus, and insects were feasting on her film. A "professional photojournalist came in asking how to take landscape shots, what lens to use, etc. They sent me out to the desk to talk to him. Several of our best wedding photographers would send in 20 rolls of film from a wedding when the average was 4 or 5, and when you process the 220 film you see three or four shots of every pose. Just to make sure in case someone blinked, I suppose...
I'm so glad that I never turned "professional" and I am free to do whatever I want, even if it's editing out a mistake. If I like an angle and I see a yellow trash can, some will say "Wow that would have been a great shot! What a pity I had to let it go." I say, "That's what the remove tool is for." I can do that because I am an amateur photographer.

 

[cgw143 169]

IMHO, just another click-bait listicle.

 

[smoke665]

IMHO, just another click-bait listicle.

Yet here you are my friend. as with all these types of articles, the main purpose is to draw viewers to ads but, every now and then, you glean some useful information.

 

[cgw143 169]

Yet here you are my friend. as with all these types of articles, the main purpose is to draw viewers to ads but, every now and then, you glean some useful information.

Rarely. Topic/problem-specific "how-to" tutorials are one thing but this is just another riff on "Five Things to Make You Irresistible."

 

[TJMcG139 23]

Rarely. Topic/problem-specific "how-to" tutorials are one thing but this is just another riff on "Five Things to Make You Irresistible."

It did seem like a lot of cliché...

 

[smoke665]

It did seem like a lot of cliché...

Maybe to some, but that's the issue, they're so simple that they're overlooked. Truthfully, how many dead images are filling your drives that you chose not to edit, but kept them anyway....just in case. How many times have you opened an image on your computer and saw something in the background, that had you paid attention, you could have kept it out the photo in the first place? Do you take a few minutes before you leave to check sun location, and best times for getting your shot, or do you try to fix blown out or lifeless skies after the fact? Sure I can fix so much now post, but why??? When I first started editing it was new and exciting, but over time, it got to be a PITA.

I'm not saying I do them all the time, in fact I forget a lot, but I will say that my success rate is whole lot better when I do remember. Everyone has their own method, some use the shotgun approach, hoping to get something (even a blind pig finds an acorn every now and then), some are more deliberate.

 

[cgw143 169]

My motto: "Dogs make the stars shine." I chimp and delete flubs quick. Later it's obvious what's worth the effort. My style? Pretend it's film. All cameras set to single shot. Saves me time and frustration.

 

[smoke665]

My motto: "Dogs make the stars shine." I chimp and delete flubs quick. Later it's obvious what's worth the effort. My style? Pretend it's film. All cameras set to single shot. Saves me time and frustration.

I come from a film background, but I will admit when I switched to digital it was exhilarating to fire off all those shots without care, like going through a clip on full auto. However with that freedom came the drudgery of sorting through all the &*&^. Wasn't long before I started moving back to the more deliberate shooting style of film.

 

[TJMcG139 23]

I come from a film background, but I will admit when I switched to digital it was exhilarating to fire off all those shots without care, like going through a clip on full auto.

Well, so do I, and I always had a motor drive on my Canons.

Do you take a few minutes before you leave to check sun location, and best times for getting your shot, or do you try to fix blown out or lifeless skies after the fact?

I go when I can, and the sky does what the sky does. I have more fun in Photoshop than I had in the darkroom, so fixing a sky doesn't bother me at all.

 

[smoke665]

go when I can, and the sky does what the sky does. I have more fun in Photoshop than I had in the darkroom, so fixing a sky doesn't bother me at all.

To each their own. One of the great perks of being my age is I can finally "do what I want, when I want". Very liberating! Where we apparently differ is, I don't mind editing but I hate "fixing things" when my time is better spent "creating".