100 things I have learned about photography

(Originally posted Jan 2012 – reposting Feb 2015)

Actually I havent learned 100 things according to this article, I have learned about 58 things.

Still the good news is I *have* learnt something. And many of these are things I didn’t know before I took up photography seriously, and some of them are things I didn’t know about myself.

Here are some of the key things I personally have learned in the last couple of years:

Check your gear BEFORE you leave – arriving with no battery or no memory card is a bad move.
Check your settings before you shoot, no need to shoot at ISO1000 in the middle of a sunny day.
Buy the most comfortable camera bag you can afford (you will buy several over time, there is no such thing as the perfect bag, its the Holy Grail)
Don’t buy the fanciest lightest carbon fibre tripod (unless you make megabucks) they aren’t really that much lighter, and not that stable in a windy environment.
Always have good footwear
Pack sunscreen and water
Stash a torch in your bag somewhere
Keep an umbrella in your car
Participate in your local photographic community, those other photogs are groovy people who know stuff you can learn from
By all means suffer from gear envy but if you have the nice stuff, don’t be a dick about it
Sometimes you lose your mojo, do whatever feels right at the time to deal, eventually it will come back but don’t beat yourself up about it
Printing is LOTS more complicated than you think
Be honest but nice when critiquing others work
Even if it doesn’t feel right, go out anyway, the strangest things can inspire you
Its *all* about the light, everything else is just icing
Have a process that works for you, some like RAW some don’t, experiment so you know what works for you
Sunsets are cool, but the best ones are almost always the ones you stay home for
Sunrises involve getting up waaaaaay too early in the morning
Be Prepared
Remember its supposed to be fun
Push your boundaries
Have structure in your process
Don’t overuse whatever effect du jour you are using (HDR as an example)
Have a map and use it
BACKUP!

Seagull taking a bath in a pond – I was there shooting something else but saw this opportunity and had a play with faster shutter speeds.