Pixiq

©Rex Lisman_071106_3041

Earlier we asked our readers in the Your Photo Tips.com Flickr Group to give us some of their best one sentence photography tips and we had a great response! For the next few weeks I’ll be elaborating, in my own words, what those photo tips mean to me and how they can help you become a better photographer. So if you missed the original post you can find it at 16 Quick Tips For New Photographers.

Because this will be an ongoing series this will be where I tell you to bookmark the website or subscribe to our feed so you don’t miss the upcoming posts!

Make Many Mistakes And Learn From Them!

Chica-X throws down her knowledge with this tidbit

Take many many pictures, and don’t delete anything until uploaded on computer.

While it may seem somewhat contradictory to previous posts about taking your time and slowing down when composing, this advice has real world truths behind it.

As with any other craft, hobby, profession, or obsession (as the case may be with some of us) diligent practice and tons of experience will help to push you to the next level.  Simple math really.

As for the deleting part?

This is the true gem of the advice.

I’ve seen many photographers use the camera to delete individual images to “make room” for a couple more shots.  Bad idea!

Using the LCD to decipher which images are “good” or “bad” is a really bad habit to get into.  You’re really not getting enough information to learn properly from your mistakes, and you should know that learning from your mistakes is as important (if not more important) than learning from your accomplishments.

Everybody has a  process for image editing and photo sharing that is different.  Some people keep every image taken and other photographers will only keep those worthy of sharing or printing.  I sort of fall in the middle.  I keep way more than I’ll ever print, but I do delete many photographs that just didn’t come out how I wanted.

I implore you to pause and look closely at your “bad” images before you delete them.  Ask yourself questions;

• Why don’t I like this image?

• What could I have done differently?

• What other manual camera settings could I/should I have used?

It’s introverted questions like these that will help you become a better photographer.

Photograph ©Rex Lisman_071106_3041 by Rex Lisman Photography