I’ve been having these visions lately of sharing photography and photography related tips with… well, honestly, with anyone who will listen. Since I don’t have a classroom (and am not likely to have one other than our little red table here at home), for a while I thought my pearls of wisdom would simply languish right where they are until I have a book deal. So, a long time. Then I realized that I do, in fact, have my very own venue just waiting to be used for such a purpose! Today, therefore, I’m starting a series of infrequent posts about shooting and photography in general. My interests range from what’s behind the camera to what’s under the hood of your computer, so expect to see almost anything here.
Today’s tip is simple: take lots of pictures. Back in the dark ages of film (OK, not dark ages, but back when digital wasn’t thought of), every picture had a cost: you paid your money for the film itself and then again for the developing. A bad picture, whether it was out of focus or had someone’s eyes closed or was just at the wrong moment, was wasted money. Today, the memory cards for your camera can hold hundreds of pictures at a time, even shooting at your camera’s highest resolution. The computer you just bought measures its capacity in hundreds of gigabytes. Getting your pictures onto your computer has never been easier, and once they are there, deleting the bad ones is simple. We really have no excuse not to press the shutter. We have no excuse to miss an action shot. Taking a posed shot? Still, take two. Or three. The more people in the picture, the more likely it is that someone will close their eyes at a crucial moment.
If your camera has a sports setting or a burst mode, try it. If you hold down the shutter, the camera will keep taking pictures until you let go or until you fill up the camera’s internal memory. This is a great way to capture action (which, let’s face it, that’s what you have with kids). If you wait for the “right” shot, chances are good that you will miss the moment altogether. I’ve pulled some images out of our family vault to share.
This one is an oldie but still one of my favorites. I have about 30 pictures from this afternoon in the backyard with my two oldest (who are now 7 and 5). Some are probably candidates for deletion but I just love the exuberance in them. I shot this with our old Sony point n’ shoot. You don’t even have to have a great camera. Yes, it’s blurred, and yes, the old neighbor’s junk pile is clearly visible, but I love it.
Spring break last year. Andy and the kids were jumping off this bit of sand (sand bank?) and I just sat back and shot and shot and shot. It was hilarious.
This one would fall into the category of “missed shots”. Hey, they happen. This is Michael’s turn on the bag swing and this picture was unfortunately just at the bottom of the swing’s movement. You just don’t get a sense of the motion on this, the excitement, the height. But if you don’t keep shooting, chances are good that you end up with a pile of these instead of last post’s keepers.
We live in Florida, so we have a lot of these kinds of pictures. Quite often, they don’t work at all because the camera doesn’t capture just the “right” moment, but when they do, we love them. If your camera has a burst setting, start shooting at the beginning of the toss and see what you get. If it doesn’t have a burst setting, be ready to shoot because this toss doesn’t last long, but hesitate just a moment, maybe half a moment, and get the shot right after the toss.
Seriously, keep taking pictures. Shoot now instead of waiting until the moment is “right”. The “right” moment might slip by while you’re waiting for it!
by robin cornett
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