Do you pay attention to your photography and how you photograph?  I sure do.  I’m the sort of person who likes to see progress and to look back where I came from to take some pride in how far I’ve come.  I’m what I call a “continual learner”, I’m always striving for information and learning, so that means I hopefully also have continual growth.

On my workshops, of course I teach people how and why and where to take pictures….but an important lesson is also learning when NOT to take a picture.  I’ve walked away from more pictures than I can count.  Perhaps the light is not right, the atmospheric conditions aren’t right, or, I just can’t achieve what I want given the day and the circumstances.

When I was first starting out, I would take the picture anyway, just to see what would come out and if I could learn from it.  These days, I don’t take the shot and instead look for something else that I know will work, or just walk away completely.

Every year I review my body of work for the year and hopefully see progress, areas to work on and all that.  One trend I’ve noticed over the last few years is that my overall shot count is decreasing…..I’m taking fewer shots, and keeping even fewer shots, than I used to.  I attribute this to experience, slowing down, not getting caught up in the moment and knowing when to shoot to achieve what I want, and most importantly, NOT shooting when the conditions just aren’t right.  It’s an interesting concept to teach others, especially those new to photography.  I think that it’s a great skill to have and grow though and one that we all should think about as we’re out in the field with our cameras.

 

About me:  I am a full time photography workshop leader based out of the Pacific Northwest.  For information about my workshops, prints, or podcast, please visit www.johnpedersenphoto.com