Stop Doing This to Improve Your Photography

I am usually a pretty positive guy but today I am coming to you with a short and sweet list of DONT’S that can save you frustrations and improve your photography. 

STOP Adjusting your tripod without loosening the knobs.  What!? Yes, I see it more often than I like. Here’s the scenario -you set up for a shot on your tripod and realize that the composition would improve if you shifted your angle a few degrees. Just give the camera a little muscle - it will move. This creates a serious issue- something has to give to allow you to move the camera and it usually results in the tripod plate becoming loose or the head of the tripod becoming loose. The end result is the same - your tripod is no longer providing a stable platform and eventually, your camera can just fall off. I have seen it happen more than once.  

DO - when you need to adjust your camera take a couple of seconds to loosen the appropriate knob, position the camera and tighten the knob.   If you are frustrated with your current tripod head consider upgrading just the head. I personally like the models with just one or two knobs Oben makes an affordable option and Really Right stuff has an expensive head but it will likely last you a lifetime.  Both of these heads have different sized or shaped knobs which makes it easy to know which one you need to turn without even looking.  I have one tripod head with three knobs - one for panning, one to loosen the ball head, and one for setting the tension on the ball head. After finding the perfect tension I place a piece of tape over the tension knob so that I don’t accidentally use that one in the future. 

STOP Automatically setting up your tripod at your eye level.  I know, it’s easy and comfortable to stand upright and not crouch over but too often you are missing impactful compositions if you just default to what is easiest for you.  

DO - When you walk up to a scene take a moment to hold your camera near ground level and slowly raise it watching how the composition changes - where is it most impactful?  Setup the tripod for that height.   

STOP taking a photo as soon as you bring the camera up to your eye.  The common scenario I see, and it happens to me too- something catches your eye, you bring your camera up - focused on that subject and snap a photo before moving on.  Later when you review the photo you realize that there is lots of other stuff going on that you missed - stuff that can potentially distract your viewers from immediately recognizing your subject and just presenting them with a busy scene.  

DO - When bringing that camera to your eye take a moment to take in the whole scene, not just fixate on what caught your eye. And now arrange your composition to avoid distractions and use elements in the scene to lead your viewer to the subject - this might include but is not limited to framing and the use of leading lines.  If you want to take this one step at a time - first just focus on removing distractions from the scene. Several years ago I became much more conscious of this and saw a noticeable improvement in the quality of my photos.  Distractions could include something poking into the frame, a bright spot of light or different color, or something awkwardly intersecting with your subject.   Move your feet, change your focal length or aperture to reduce and remove these distractions. 

NOTE -If you see a fleeting moment absolutely capture as soon as the camera is up to your eye - this is the safety shot and that was the subject of a tip back in 2019. 


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