What three ideas, concepts, or things have helped improve your photography the most?

[f16sunshine]

reminding myself to capture a story

Consider the space that should remain empty

Take more than one view if possible.

 

[Roger Hicks]

1 Stopping worrying about kit. Some cameras are better than others for some applications, but the main thing is to use equipment you're happy with and can use quickly and comfortably, almost instinctively. For LF, unless you use it very often, consider checklists.

2 Stopping worrying about pointless pseudo-refinements such as the Zone System. It's basic sensitometry, wordily restated. If you want to know what you're doing, read a real book about it. You'll generally find that it doesn't matter all that much anyway. Much the same applies to real refinements such as MTF curves.

3 Remembering that if you don't play, you can't win. So play as much as you can!

Cheers,

R.

 

[charlesholland]

1: follow this thread
2: practice, practice, practice
3: enjoy the process as much as the result

 

[helen.HH]

its ALL about Light & Shadow
so Just Shoot, shoot, shoot with equipment you are comfortable with
then You will Develop your 'Eye', your way of 'Seeing', and a repoire with your Subject

 

[lynnb]

1. Ideas matter. Equipment doesn't.
2. Emotion matters even more.
3. Learn to see by studying the history of art, and by looking at lots of art.

 

[OurManInTangier]

1. Remember you're a person and not a "photographer" so don't try to hide behind your camera.

2. Enjoy what you do and don't forget why you do it, whatever that reason is.

3. Digital or film a camera records so don't get hung up on equipment.

4. Enjoy the photography of others and let it inspire but don't try to emulate.

Just a few things I try to bear in mind.

 

[zuiko85]

1. Remembering to put film in the camera.
2. Getting off my lazy a** to develop the film.
3. Getting off my lazy a** to make contact sheets to read.

Bonus! #4. Getting off my lazy a** to set up the bathroom to make prints.

 

[Paul Jenkin]

1. Be your own harshest critic. That way, nothing anyone says about your work will phase you.

2. With print film, don't hesitate to halve the box speed and over-expose by a stop

3. Learn to zoom with your feet wherever possible and don't rely on zoom lenses to get the job done all the time.

 

[Dwig]

• Attention to details, both artistic and technical.
• Practice practice practice

The two "events" that had the biggest impact on my skill set were going to art museums as a kid and a desire to always have a camera at hand. The latter led me to a few years of using 16mm subminiatures back in 6th-8th grade. The discipline these required resulted in vast improvement in the technical skills the was visible in a big way when I returned to the "big" 35mm film in high school.

 

[Daniel Teoli Jr.]

1. Practice: Familiarizing myself with the operation of a specific camera/lens so that it becomes second-nature.

2. Exposure: Pictures are not something you take, they are something to which you give. You give imagination and relationship, and the best word for that is exposure.

3. Looking.

Great list!

I sometimes shoot the camera at the TV at night. Keeps me practicing.

 

[Daniel Teoli Jr.]

1. Learning that a camera has only two controls worth caring about (shutter speed and aperture). Three (ISO) for digital. And knowing how to use these.

2. Learning to trust my photographic instincts (TM Noisycheese).

3. Learning to photograph ideas only - and never, ever things.

Hey don't forget the distance scale for zone focus. The trend is for cam companies to dummy down the gear and remove controls and distance scales.