7 Bad Habits Photographers Should Stay Away From
We all have bad habits as human beings, but as photographers you should really check yourself if you have these bad habits. These are sure to ruin your photography career, even if you’re a hobbyist you can make sure you’re more productive and take better pictures if you stay away from these.
1. Leaving the Camera at Home
There is nothing bad than a camera sitting at home when you find an exceptional stuff to shoot – be it a nice weather, a person or an object.
You have to get a little dirty to shoot exceptional pictures. Don’t hesitate to kneel down or lie on ground to shoot a picture from the perception it requires. Kids require you to almost always kneel down before taking the picture. Wear comfortable clothes so that you don’t waste precious time setting your clothes. Don’t forget the belt – nobody wants to see your rear while you shoot photos!
You must always backup your pictures. No exceptions. You cannot reply just on the memory card. Also remember if you export your pictures and wipe the memory card clean you must also backup the picture to an external hard drive or something. The pictures should always be on two or more storage devices.
Remember the rule of the thirds and place your subject accordingly. Centering the subject almost always takes the art and beauty out of the scene.
5. Don’t Read the Camera Manual
RTFM! Even if you have used 10 cameras in the past, it is advisable to read the manual at least once to get familiar with the parts and working of the camera. It also wouldn’t hurt to carry the manual along at least for the first few days with the new camera.
Auto mode is for beginners. Though most modern cameras can produce amazing results in auto mode, you have to use semi-auto and manual modes to produce exceptional pictures. Some events like wedding may require several shots be taken in changing lighting conditions and you might lose important time changing settings in manual mode so semi-auto and even auto mode might work. But, do remember to switch back to manual to shoot those important moments that require finer tuning.
Almost all dSLRs and some PnS have RAW file format shooting capability. Remember JPEGs are irreversibly compressed so very fine details are lost especially in low light conditions. Remember to switch to RAW mode before taking very important photographs, this format takes than 10 times more space than a JPEG of the same resolution but today’s high capacity memory cards (128GB, 256GB) give you the freedom.
