How to Simplify Your Photography Process
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Taking photos can be a lot of fun as well as a lot of work...
In order to simplify your photography, and thus possibly make it more enjoyable, we’ll take a look at our workflow, habits, and maybe at some of our gear, too.
Simplify Your Photography Habits
To make photography simpler, oftentimes we can start by looking at our habits concerning the photography process. So many of us, myself included, first learned photography by just picking up a camera and shooting with it.
Which is fine, but learning as we go allows us to develop habits based on how we finally figured something out rather than being based on sound photography processes.
Too Much Gear
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As an example, something I am still constantly working on myself, is how much gear to take when going out on a location photoshoot. While a certain amount of redundancy is a good idea, especially for a paid photoshoot, taking too much gear will slow you down.
I have a walkabout kit now that I use for my fun photo outings. It consists of a camera body and a faster wide to tele zoom lens instead of the basic kit lens. If I’m unsure of exactly what conditions or subjects I’ll run into, I’ll expand this kit by adding either an ultra wide lens or a tele zoom, a small LED light, and a couple of filters.
Over Thinking
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Another habit that is actually a good one to have but can slow us down and complicate things is over thinking composition and exposure. After a while, I’ve learned what situations deserve more thought and when I should I just go with the settings my meter suggests and a good enough composition.
That one can be tricky, though. A lot of times, it’s exactly that photography process of examining the scene and figuring out what might work better that is part of my fun. So, balance and discernment can help. If I'm out with my friends and family, I’ll spend less time fiddling with placement and settings than if I’m solo.
Social Media Worries
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Another habit that can diminish our overall enjoyment of photography is overusing social media. If we are a professional photographer, this can also weaken our brand. While social media is an excellent tool for pros and fun for amateurs, constantly checking our likes on that last pic will slow us down and can discourage us.
Used properly, social media is fantastic for amateurs and pros alike. Too much worry, though, could take up too much time and cause undue anxiety.
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Simplify Your Gear
Well, we already talked about some gear choices like trimming down our camera bag by carrying less, now let’s see how we can actually do that.
Sling Packs Are Nice
While I love my large gear bags and cases for storing my cameras, lenses, and accessories, I want a more convenient way to take out my fun photography kit mentioned earlier. Whenever I need to carry more than just a camera but less than a working kit, I grab a sling pack.
Sling packs come in a wide variety of sizes from compact to full size but I like to use the mid sized sling packs. A sling pack blends the ease of access of a shoulder bag with the comfort of a backpack. See our bag articles for some ideas of good sling packs to choose.
Revo Ring For Filters
Since I feel naked without at least a good C-POL or ND filter in my gear kit, I usually find a way to pack them into my sling pack. Instead of having a couple of filters for each lens in the bag, I started using the new filter adapter from H&Y Filters, the Revo Ring.
H&Y Filter Revo Ring is an innovation that will help simplify your photography filter use whether out shooting for fun or professionally. Instead of multiple step rings, it’s a variable adapter that lets you fit one size filter to lenses of various sizes.
Simplify Your Photography Processing Workflow
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The photography process doesn’t end once you click the shutter release, post processing is where we can make our well crafted images stand out with just a little bit of work. But post processing is definitely work, especially if you’re new to it. A couple of hints can make your photography simpler.
Lightroom Presets
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FIrst off, to really simplify your photography post processing workflow, you will likely have chosen as your primary program one with non destructive editing. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is among the top choices for non destructive editing post processing.
Lightroom will already speed you up, setting up presets for repeated actions will help you out even more.
Keyboard Shortcuts
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Well, there it is right in the subheading, shortcuts. I learned a few keyboard for the most used and most repeated actions of my programs, even the non photographic programs like Excel for my booking, and it really does smooth out any work session. The keyboard shortcuts are easily found on the program’s websites.
Enjoy Taking Pictures
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Whether involved in a paid photoshoot or event or just photographing for your own portfolio or for fun, you will simplify your photography most of all by relaxing and enjoying the photography process.
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