I recently hosted a photoshoot in Squamish. On the day of the shoot, I wasn’t feeling the most creative self, I’ve had some weird days in terms of where my headspace was at. Before the photoshoot, I did a mini ritual that helped me calm myself down and find that creative space I want to be in, before a shoot.
Like with most challenges in life, the better prepared you are, the more success will follow. Photography can be stressful for any photographer, no matter how long they have been plugging away at this profession. There are just so many variables that sit outside of your control. Once you are hired to expertly perform on a job, you have no choice but to at the very least, meet and hopefully exceed on the expectations that the best of your brand has established. No matter the unfair circumstances that will come your way. For me photography can be funny like that, some of my most relaxed, and therapeutic memories to date early on were spent with a camera nearby. But also when I let poor work habits creep back in, photography can then be at the heart of some of my most stressful days.
I’ll share a few tips with you, where you can do the same.
Meditate
Meditation can help many people clear their minds and focus more on the task at hand. Whether you’re trying to improve yourself or you’ve got a big game to shoot, it is important to concentrate on what you’re doing.
Meditation, clearing your head, and focusing on accomplishment is what will help every photographer out there.
Go Over the Intended Goals
There is nothing wrong with shooting just for fun—but in order to improve, you should have something that you’re trying to accomplish. It can be something as small as trying to ensure that there is no camera shake in your images. Or, it could be something as big as trying to figure out how best to light subjects for a graduation portrait. Accomplishing these goals, once again, depends on your maintaining a clear head.
One of the keys to creating better photos is self-motivation, combined with trying to work on self-improvement.
I knew a photography student that was praised for his composition skills by his teachers. Then, one day he bought a new lens and focused, instead, on creating photos with gorgeous bokeh, by shooting only wide open. Because of his newfound fascination, he lost his composition skills, until one day someone told him to stop the lens down a bit and work on his composition skills again. This way, he was able to maintain the balance between that creamy bokeh goodness—getting his subject sharply in focus—and regaining his composition skills.
If he didn’t set the goal of regaining his skill to compose and to push himself away from the ‘bokeh effect,’ his previously-gained skills would have been lost.
Check Your Gear
One of the worst things that can happen before shooting is discovering that you’ve got a very dirty sensor. What this means is that you’ll have to spend a lot more time in the post-process stage to edit out those pesky problems. Alternatively, you could clean your sensor—if you’re brave enough—or can pay someone to do it. Many people choose not to do it themselves, out of the very real fear of damaging it.
Besides the heart of your camera, there could be loads of other problems that could arise: your pop-up flash may not work, your memory card could be experiencing errors, your lens may not zoom in and out anymore, or it may not be as sharp as it used to be. More obviously, your batteries may almost be dead. Make sure your batteries are fully charged because the last thing you want is for your battery to die when you’ve got plans on shooting some important moments.
Search For Extra Inspiration and New Ideas
A fresh idea is usually appreciated in one way or another. It can be as simple as a new angle of view, different shooting perspective, an extra light, etc. Keeping your ideas fresh can usually help to ensure that your portfolio won’t seem like you’re reading War and Peace. Sometimes a client will want a specific look, in which case this should be discussed beforehand. However, if you’re shooting for yourself, your only limitation is yourself. Why not shoot street photography without looking through the viewfinder and seeing what you get?
Art students will probably make the most use of this in their photographic journey, but that’s not to say that anyone can’t benefit from it.
A great way to search for new ideas is by browsing Flickr and looking at the work of the great photographers. For my work, I tend to look at the work of local Whistler photographers who have been just crushing the scene lately (like Mason Mashon)
Prep for The Unexpected
Some may call it paranoia, but it is always a good idea to be ready for a problem, just in case matters get out of hand. When I first started out in photography, I used to be butterfingers and dropped lenses every now and again. To compensate, I always had another lens with me (though of a different focal length) ready to use.
Now, I’m not going to sit here and preach to you all the marketing pitches that ADT and other alarm companies will tell you in order to buy their product. I will tell you to be cautious, and it doesn’t hurt to have a bit of a backup plan.
What rituals do you do to prepare for shooting? Do you do any of these? What did we miss? Let us know in the comments.
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More about Alenka
“My name is Alenka and I’m a Squamish based photographer. I love using my medium to capture sports, adventures, underwater shots, adventures in the mountains and days on snow! Very simply put, I’m one stoked girl, ready to get up at 2 in the morning and hike for sunrise, go to the airport and take a random flight…you name it!
Photography, web design and digital marketing have been things I’m proud to call my job lately! Very flexible, lots of traveling and even more adventures than when I was a kid. Here, on my website I share tips on photography, spreading awareness about the zero-waste lifestyle and sustainability and crazy stories from my travels. Welcome.”
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