What’s Gotta Stay

Digital photography has done many things to the photography world, one of which is increase exponentially the number of photos being taken. Why not, really? If you take a bad shot, you just delete it. Plus, if you take a lot of shots, you are more likely to catch that “perfect” shot in the end. Here are a couple of techniques I use within this philosphy.

Take Photos In Bursts

If your camera has the ability to take multiple photos as you hold down the shutter button, this can be a valuable technique when subjects are moving or expressions are changing. To get this feature turned on, you will likely need to find the right setting, but most SLR type cameras and many higher quality point-and-shoot cameras can do this.

Picture this, you are taking a shot of an entertainer, and just as you take the shot they move to the side or make an emotive expression that coincides with their song. Those things may look good live and in motion, but in a still frame can end up blurry or downright goofy looking. Trust me, I have literally thousands of discarded photos to prove this point. So when I am lining up that superbly composed shot, if I say so myself, I will often shoot 2 to 3 frames at once knowing that one or two of those will likely be discarded and just keep the best one. During my burst of frames, the expression changes and the movement stops and I get my perfect shot. Of course this doesn’t work every time, but it helps.

Another benefit of shooting in bursts of shots is that as you move your finger to take a photo, you tend to move the camera just a tad in the same motion. Give it a try sometime and see how much you move your camera as you find and depress the button. Keeping the camera steady as you shoot a frame is a practiced technique as well, but if you also shoot a couple of frames at once, your second frame tends to be crisper because your camera was more stable as you simply hold down the button.

Retake the Same Scene

Digital cameras have also given us the ability to get a live review of the photos we have just taken. This is a huge benefit that I have enjoyed from day one of shooting digital. Taking a look to see if you have successfully captured the shot and being sure you didn’t over or under expose that shot is immensely powerful. The downside is that we get lulled into a false sense of security by what we see on that little 2-3 inch screen. What you do get is a good sense of color and brightness of your shot; what you do not get is a sense of whether you were spot on with your focus.

I fall into this trap all the time.

I have my camera set to show me a 2 second preview on my LCD after the shot is taken so I can quickly hold up the camera and see if the shot was good. I often can see when things were really bad, but at times I think, “there, that was good” and move on. Even this last concert I snapped what I thought was a great shot, only to come home and see on my computer that the entire shot was slightly out of focus. Had I taken a couple of extra shots of the same scene, I would have ended up with a keeper.

Capture the Same Scene with Different Lighting

Lighting changes, especially at concerts; frequently in fact. In the heat of the moment, you may think that your original shot was the best, but sometimes later a different color might have looked better. By shooting the same scene again as the lighting changes you can capture an entirely different mood. Capture them all and decide later which you like best!

Capture a Sequence

Another fun idea is to take multiple frames to show a sequence of events. In this last concert in SLC I scooted up to the stage during the “In It For Love” performance by Donny. I have seen him perform this song many, many times, so I know what is coming. Of course I had good reminders as well to get my camera ready by Elaine and others in the front row :), but I digress. Donny has his now patented dance move he throws in on the chorus that is a crowd pleasure, to put it mildly. Actually I admit to liking the move. Because I am taking still frames rather than video, one single frame doesn’t do the dance move justice. So instead I composed the shot and at the right moment held down the shutter release and let ‘er rip. I took a dozen frames and created a flip book effect. Here is a compilation of part of one such sequence:

Be Willing to Toss Bad Photos

Another side tip associated to the taking of a lot of photos is that you have to be willing to throw away the bad ones. Be brutal when it comes to judging your own photos. If a shot is bad, admit it and toss it in the virtual round file. Then, move on over and empty that trash or recycle bin and let the bad shots be gone. When you start taking photos en mass, you will find that you can fill up your storage quickly. That’s ok because you can get more, but trying to go back and find the good photos and wading through a lot of bad ones is just a pain.

Conclusion…Just Take ‘Em!

Bottom line is that computer memory is cheap. Get a bigger memory card for your camera. Get a DVD burner for your computer to archive your photos (and make two copies of each burn you do). Get external hard drives to archive photos if you prefer faster access to your files. What you should never do is limit your photo taking because you thinking taking extra photos would be a waste.