by Joseph T. Sinclair
Do you ever ask yourself, how do professional photographers get better photos than me? I do. One answer is surprising. They simply take more photos. I can remember back in the days of film going out shooting with a pro. I would take one long roll of film and come home with 36 shots. My pro companion would take six rolls and come home with 216 shots. Did he get better photos? Sure. He had a statistical advantage of six to one. Statistics aren’t everything, but a six to one ratio is nonetheless a significant advantage.
The cost of the film was a consideration. You had to have a lot of confidence that you would get some great shots in order to justify the expense of six rolls instead one. Generous shooting just wasn’t part of an amateur’s normal repertoire.
Today we have no excuse. We can improve our photography a lot just by taking more photos. Lots more. Memory is cheap, and that’s what’s required to take a lot of photos. Most smartphones come with plenty of memory for photos, unless you load up your phone with music. Many phones also come with a slot to add a memory card to increase your memory for both photos and music.
Here’s the only good shot I took of nine that were almost identical.
A pro might have taken two or three times as many shots and gotten a better photo.
Don’t blame a dearth of great photos on your phone camera. Your phone camera has as much (or more) photographic power as professional digital cameras of just ten years ago. And professionals got great photos then. Shoot a lot, and you’ll get great photos now.
When you go out shooting, take a moment at the site to plan ahead to get plenty of shots in order to thoroughly cover the photo op. Then start shooting. Shoot until you cover all the angles (literally). Take your time. Don’t walk away until you’re satisfied.
Of course, using this technique does take some forethought. You need to upload your photos from your phone to your computer, tablet, or storage device at the end of each shooting session (e.g., at the end of the day). Make it a habit to do this so you can shoot up a lot of photos each day without ever running out of memory.
Lots of shots also amplify another great technique: the second look. Many times I’ve gone through all the photos I’ve taken for the day and picked out the best shots. A week, a month, or even a year later I’ve gone through a second time to discover I’ve missed a good shot the first time around. If you take a lot of photos, this possibility is much greater than if you take just a few photos. And I’ve found a second look to be consistently productive.
Here’s a second-look shot that I think is interesting. Discovered it about a year after I took it.
In addition, keep WYSIWYG (what you see is what you got) in mind. You can check your photos on the screen of your phone to determine whether you got the photo you wanted. Couldn’t do that with film. Take advantage of this remarkable technique. You can not only take plenty of shots, but you can also check to see that you got a good group of shots from which to pick a great photo later.
Here’s one shot of four in low light at sunset that turned out to be worth keeping. The first shot is blurry and caught someone’s phone. The second shows the guitar player’s head blurred. Another (not shown) had some blur in it too.The last shot (third below) is OK.
Take four instead of one. More is better. Had I taken only one, I would have missed getting a usable photo.
Hey, shooting lots of photos is just more fun. Something about unrestrained shooting brings more satisfaction. With experience, you also develop the confidence that you’re going to be more successful (in getting good photos).
The nice thing about phone cameras is that the unfettered photo shoot is always available to you on a moment’s notice. When that photo op comes along, pull out your phone and start shooting. Let no killer photo escape.
