Bad Habits...

[Deleted Member 5045]

What bad habits do you regret holding onto in photography which you feel held you back at some point?

Me, in the first year of doing it I always thought that over saturating and over sharpening would make my images look great. It wasn't until I laid it back on these two things that I really felt truly pleased with what I was producing. I came to the conclusion that less is more most of the time.

It would be great to hear what everyone has experienced in this regard.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Rushing. Sometimes that can't be helped with wildlife, as it doesn't stick around, but I do find I rush and don't pay attention to the background/foreground all of the time, which I should. Also, back in the day, shooting too slow a shutter speed.

 

[Landshark99]

shooting for work was usually under a lot of time pressure, so I am still learning to slow down and not rush, no matter what I am shooting these days.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Rushing. Sometimes that can't be helped with wildlife, as it doesn't stick around, but I do find I rush and don't pay attention to the background/foreground all of the time, which I should. Also, back in the day, shooting too slow a shutter speed.

What was the logic behind low shutter speeds Kev? Were you stressing about high ISO?

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

shooting for work was usually under a lot of time pressure, so I am still learning to slow down and not rush, no matter what I am shooting these days.

Probably similar to when I was racing. It's stressful, the real enjoyment was going to a jump trail or a motocross track for fun and having the freedom to do whatever I felt like on the day.

Did you ever have times where you were mentally exhausted and just needed a break from behind the camera Bob?

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

What was the logic behind low shutter speeds Kev? Were you stressing about high ISO?

Yeah mostly and a bit of inexperience with digital. Remember, coming from film ISO was whatever the film was and noise wasn't an issue, it was totally different, so yeah, once I started seeing noise creeping in on high ISO I tried limiting shutter speed or aperture to limit noise.

 

[Landshark99]

Probably similar to when I was racing. It's stressful, the real enjoyment was going to a jump trail or a motocross track for fun and having the freedom to do whatever I felt like on the day.

Did you ever have times where you were mentally exhausted and just needed a break from behind the camera Bob?

Yes, many times, during the shoot one is on a kind of high, but at the end it could be exahusting, people forget that when you shoot 8,000 frames in a day you are making 8,000 decisions, obviously not all of them great. Even though a lot of the shoots were exhilirating it still came with a lot of stress, to shoot quickly, make the talent and client relaxed, to be accurate on exposure and focus, to keep the crew engaged watching for issues with lighting. On top of that were the demands on travel, flying with 20 cases of equipment, customs, work permits, rentals and locations. I do not miss the stress, miss a little of the travel but mainly miss some of the people and hanging with my crew.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Bad habit: Using center auto focus mode instead of using zone, wide, or manual focus. Works well for most floral photography, but doesn't foster good composition practice.

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Bad habit: Using center auto focus mode instead of using zone, wide, or manual focus. Works well for most floral photography, but doesn't foster good composition practice.

Interesting. I always use centre, regardles of subject, unless it's birds in flight.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Yes, many times, during the shoot one is on a kind of high, but at the end it could be exahusting, people forget that when you shoot 8,000 frames in a day you are making 8,000 decisions, obviously not all of them great. Even though a lot of the shoots were exhilirating it still came with a lot of stress, to shoot quickly, make the talent and client relaxed, to be accurate on exposure and focus, to keep the crew engaged watching for issues with lighting. On top of that were the demands on travel, flying with 20 cases of equipment, customs, work permits, rentals and locations. I do not miss the stress, miss a little of the travel but mainly miss some of the people and hanging with my crew.

Crazy stuff! I guess people take it for granted just how much goes into a job like that when you are at that level!

 

[Brownie]

Bad habit: Using center auto focus mode instead of using zone, wide, or manual focus. Works well for most floral photography, but doesn't foster good composition practice.

Center focus on subject, half press, recompose, complete press. That's how everyone did it before tracking, wide, etc. It's also how we did it before AF. Focus on your subject, recompose, shoot. I don't trust the camera to choose what I want in focus.

I have far too may bad habits to break down, but most can be lumped into a single master heading: Laziness.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Yeah mostly and a bit of inexperience with digital. Remember, coming from film ISO was whatever the film was and noise wasn't an issue, it was totally different, so yeah, once I started seeing noise creeping in on high ISO I tried limiting shutter speed or aperture to limit noise.

I always think how lucky I am to come into this at this time. Photography must be sitting really pretty today from a long term photographer's view!

 

[Brownie]

I always think how lucky I am to come into this at this time. Photography must be sitting really pretty today from a long term photographer's view!

Most people who shot film gained tremendous benefit from learning the process. I would never trade the experience of yesterday for technology.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Bad habit: Using center auto focus mode instead of using zone, wide, or manual focus. Works well for most floral photography, but doesn't foster good composition practice.

What do you use now Chrisso?

I use flexible spot M for general shooting with human tracking on/off set to joystick click in. And I use tracking wide for wildlife.

 

[spudhead]

Rushing. Sometimes that can't be helped with wildlife, as it doesn't stick around, but I do find I rush and don't pay attention to the background/foreground all of the time, which I should. Also, back in the day, shooting too slow a shutter speed.

That Kev is a common problem but many dont learn from it so no worries, it not an issue for you mate

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

I have far too may bad habits to break down, but most can be lumped into a single master heading: Laziness.

Definitely! The amount of times I've wasted a shot by not simply spending one minute to take the tripod off my backpack and set it up is ridiculous!

 

[Brownie]

Definitely! The amount of times I've wasted a shot by not simply spending one minute to take the tripod off my backpack and set it up is ridiculous!

That's not lazy. Lazy is sitting in the recliner instead of going!

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

That's not lazy. Lazy is sitting in the recliner instead of going!

Oh, too funny!

 

[Brownie]

I dropped 2 lbs over the weekend from waking around at the track for 2 days and living on sandwiches. Not even enough time to hit the concessions and order something.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

I dropped 2 lbs over the weekend from waking around at the track for 2 days and living on sandwiches. Not even enough time to hit the concessions and order something.

Proof that there is hope for you yet..!

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

What do you use now Chrisso?

I use flexible spot M for general shooting with human tracking on/off set to joystick click in. And I use tracking wide for wildlife.

If its people, I use wide and keep human eye af on.
When its not a moving subject, I use wide and touch the screen to focus, which is almost like your use of the joystick (as you remember the APSC and A7C lineup don't have a joystick).

However, I also assigned manual focus to custom button C1 (the one by the shutter button) so I can quickly "do it myself" when I find that the AF isn't getting me what I want.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Center focus on subject, half press, recompose, complete press. That's how everyone did it before tracking, wide, etc. It's also how we did it before AF. Focus on your subject, recompose, shoot. I don't trust the camera to choose what I want in focus.

I am going to try that, it seems like it would be faster than what I'm doing most of the time.

 

[Brownie]

I am going to try that, it seems like it would be faster than what I'm doing most of the time.

Do it enough and it becomes second nature.

 

[spudhead]

Well I have plenty of bad habits, one I have recently developed is, I have left iso on the a9 only for some reason on the centre wheel and have have started to catch it with my right hand somehow, easy fix just move it but I have not done it yet

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Well I have plenty of bad habits, one I have recently developed is, I have left iso on the a9 only for some reason on the centre wheel and have have started to catch it with my right hand somehow, easy fix just move it but I have not done it yet

Another mark on laziness hey mate...

 

[spudhead]

Another mark on laziness hey mate...

Well I suppose but having had the camera 4years or so it only just started to be an issue in the last few months which is possibly old age and the carpal tunnel issue getting worse . Anyway how is that lens hood phobia

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Anyway how is that lens hood phobia

If one day I have an image suffer because of it, maybe then I'll see the point of using one. I won't be holding my breathe though...

 

[spudhead]

If one day I have an image suffer because of it, maybe then I'll see the point of using one. I won't be holding my breathe though...

Oh Clint not feeling funny today? I guess you pretty much use the dinky little lenses anyway so those hoods are so small they will not be doing much anyway

 

[AlphaWorld]

I am going to try that, it seems like it would be faster than what I'm doing most of the time.

Just don’t do it if you are shooting wide open in an f/1.2 or wider - recompose can mean you shift your subject out of the depth of field. Move the focus point to where you want to compose your subject (or use centre focus + tracking, THEN recompose and verify your focus point is still on the subject).

Am I speaking from bitter experience? Um, would believe me if I said no?

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

Am I speaking from bitter experience? Um, would believe me if I said no?

Lol...