Tuesday’s Guest Blogger with Andie Smith

Back to the Very Basics

Do you hold your camera correctly? Do you think about your camera settings? Do you make pictures on auto pilot? (it’s okay to admit it) I know I had gone into auto pilot recently. After years of school and shooting, my camera was just an extension of my hand… I had no idea if I held my camera correctly. I never thought about it. Why? I was in auto pilot. That’s a good thing, right? I’d gotten to the point where Mr. Gatz (my principals of photography teacher) voice was no longer in my head every time I shot. I saw the light, saw the shot, fingers set the camera, and fired. My images were good…clients loved them.

Then it happened…I was at a workshop, and the speaker was telling everyone how to properly hold the camera. Mmmmm….how do I hold my camera?? I go to grab my camera to see how I hold it, and the speaker stops; “Andie, what are you doing?”, “Getting my camera to make sure I hold it correctly”, “You do. I know because I’ve never corrected you”. I grabbed my camera to make sure (If you care…I do!). Then he went on about composing them focusing…mmm I know I am guilty of focusing and then recomposing…bad Andie. By the time the speaker was done with his talk (one I had heard so may time I can regurgitate it…and this was a watered down version) I was questioning myself on a lot!

I made a deal with myself that night. “Self, you need to go shoot this week and slow down. Think about the basics when you shoot”. I made sure to check all my settings, including my custom picture style (kids this is how I get the bang of color in my images!). Double checked my composition, then moved my focus point with the “joystick” (because we compose then focus)…and shot. Asked myself through out the day, “if I turned this image into Mr. Gatz for a grade, what would I get?” I know if I would give it an A, he wouldn’t even give it a C! Wash, rinse and repeat through the day.

MMM guess what happened?? My keep:toss (no i don’t really toss them!) ratio went up…WAY UP!!! I’m not just talking ”yeah its okay lets keep it” images either. I’m my toughest critic. Some of these images made my heart beat a little faster…some of them made me want to send the file to a lab and ask “how big can I make this?!” Don’t get me wrong I love photography, and I enjoy the images I take, but….going back to the basics made things click (yes, pun fully indented) again. Made me re-think how I was “seeing” and shooting things.

Did going back to the basics make me a better photographer? Maybe. It re-energized me, and made me re-look at images. So the moral of the story: Don’t be afraid to go back to the basics and slow down….no matter how long you have been shooting.