A few years ago Cynthia Rowley published a book called Swell: A Girl's Guide to the Good Life.
What is in that thing?
I have four lenses, a flash, a tripod, remote, polarizers, warming filters, neutral density filters, macro filters, diffusers and backdrops all crammed into my bag. I have never used all of it on a single shoot and I rarely use more than half of the lenses on a given day. And lets not even talk about my camera. Six regular modes (Auto everything, Program AE, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, ISO priority and Manual), Bulb, “no Flash,” and 14 scene and picture modes. I dont even know all the scene modes let alone what they do. And then there is the in camera processing (sepia, B&W, etc), metering modes, auto bracketing, white balance adjustments, exposure compensation, and on and on. How much of THOSE do I use? Way less than half. You get the picture. Now the plan.
Shop in your bag
What is your favorite lens? If you have more than one, you have a favorite. You can deny it just like you do for your kids but its true. One of the things I like about having my pictures picked up by Pixel Peeper is that it makes me see what I am shooting the most. So here is the first assignment of shopping in your bag - put ONE lens on your camera and go shoot for a day. If it is a zoom, force yourself to use the ENTIRE range, not the limits at each end. Rinse and repeat for each lens in your bag. When you are done each day, pick out your best pictures and put them in a separate folder. At the end of the week (if you have more than 7 lenses you have no right to claim to be on a BUDGET!!!) look at all of them together. Start taking note of what works well in what situations for what result. I promise you will start using the lenses in your bag more.
Next step
If you carry a tripod all the time, make yourself do a “tripod only day.” Every shot. Then do a “handheld only day” and push the limits of your image stabilization and personal stabilization. After three straight days of hand held only, I got to where I could shoot at 1/10th of a second and get better than 50-50 clear results. Prior to that I maxed out at 1/30th. Think about that, I gained 2 stops for nothing. That is like getting the f/2.4-3.6 zoom instead of the f/4.3-5.6. How much does THAT save?
ISO day
This one is a little more structured and can be done in a number of ways. The idea is to learn what ISO you can live with in different situations. On my K200D I normally have the ISO fixed at 100. If I am doing hand held in variable conditions I will change to Auto ISO but limit it to 100-400 (very cool feature on the K200. No idea if other brands have it). If I am desperate for light I will go to 800 but it had better be something I cant shoot with a tripod. 1600 is to grainy for anything I really care about but if it is the only way, I will do it for documenting something (school play) or those once in a lifetime shots that would you would otherwise never get (alien encounter). I suggest setting up near sunrise or sunset and rapidly shoot through every ISO setting with the camera on a tripod. When you get home, decide where your sweet spot is and what you are willing to give up to get a shot.
Flashes and diffusers
This one is a little harder to do in a controlled way but the gist of it is to use your flash(s) and learn when to add light and when to go with what you have by shooting with and without. I am still not good at this and I really struggle with adding or subtracting from the flash strength. I use to ALWAYS use a diffuser. Now I am starting to learn when NOT to use it. This is my weakest area.
By the way, I suggest doing this last in your progression to this point. The lessons of lens, tripod and ISO will all assist in determining when NOT to use a flash.
Modes
The first two weeks I had my K200D I was welded to Autopic. Then I moved to shutter priority followed by Program AE. Recently I have used Aperture Priority to shot an f/8 day. But my new love is Manual mode! Go figure! When I was shooting a K1000 I lusted after the ME/MX/LX guys with automatic modes. Now I have more and more better auto modes than they could ever dream of and I am shooting manual again!! Take a week and shoot ONLY in one mode each day, just like lens day. Again, I promise you that mode dial will start to get a workout. After you have done that, learn to use the exposure compensation to give you “fake” manual. Take a picture manually and than try to replicate it with an auto mode (Aperture or Shutter priority) plus the EV button. Its faster than switching to manual and can often get the same result. F/8 day was a real eye opener to me because it showed me what everything below that was costing me in sharpness. I have significantly improved the quality of my pictures simply by getting away from the low end of the f-stop range.
White balance is a filter!
On the K200D, you can use the white balance to see what the different modes will look like on the last picture. Taking a tip from The Strobist, I have used the Tungsten mode to create some beautiful effects. Shade acts much the same as a 82 warming filter. Didnt cost me a dime of time (Photoshop time) or money.
Get off Spray and Pray!
One of the joys of digital is that every picture is free. Well, not quite since hard drives cost money but pretty darn close. A lot of us have gotten in the habit of pointing and holding knowing that one of the last ten will be good. This is a HARD habit to break. Take a week and leave your camera on single shot for the entire week. Make yourself think through each shot. Frame it, straighten it (my weakness!) and then shoot. Get in the habit of seeing the picture before you even raise the camera to your eye. After doing this I realized that often I was just pointing and shooting because I didn't know exactly what I wanted but when I got home I could find something I liked. Force yourself to make every shot count and you will be a better photographer for it. If you want to get REALLY EXTREME, Shoot um Like You Bought um! Limit yourself to 36 (or 24!) pictures a day for a week. Pretend that each one cost $5 (about the right conversion for mid 90’s processing - otherwise known as the stone age). Subtract the cost of crap shots from your beer (or in my wife's case, yarn) budget. Yikes!
Get a “Prime” for nothing
Most of us have zooms. Some of us have only zooms. Yet inside every zoom is a prime wanting to get out. Take a day and shoot a lens with it “fixed” at one focal length. I REALLY want a Pentax DA 35mm Macro Limited.
Another benefit of fixing your focal length is that it gets you to move more. Zooming in is not changing perspective. Zooming is no different that cropping. To get a different picture you have to move left/right/up down. Moving closer or further is not really changing perspective either. It is just manual zoom. Force yourself to make a different picture instead of a more detailed/closer picture.
*** Yes I know there is a VAST difference between a zoom fixed at 35mm and a 35mm prime. Think of it as "try before you buy" if you are looking for a prime. More importantly, you will get an insight into what having a fixed focal length will mean. Most post-film photographers have never known anything but zoom and while primes certainly have a place in the photographic world, if your personal shooting style doesnt agree with primes, that 50mm f/1.4 is just going to gather dust and weigh down your bag.
Learn your buttons!
Ill confess, I still dont know what the “green button” does on my Pentax. It must be important because every Pentax DSLR has one. And I have never checked my histogram. I was very frustrated until I realized that half press on the shutter only locked the focus and exposure look required me to to press...the exposure lock button! Most of the time the designers put the buttons on there for a reason. Figure them out and you will be happier with your camera.
The Point
The point of all of this is that most of us have WAY more camera than we know we do. We have lenses that are not used or not used to their fullest extent. We dont know that by going with ISO 400, f/8 and 1/120 of a second we can get that shot we didnt think was possible because the automatic modes dont know that your 50-200 is super clear at 135mm and will make up for the 400 ISO. Or when with a little bracing and breathing control (breathe, relax, aim, squeeze) we can get that low light shot without having to go to ISO 1600. Pros can afford to have an “ISO Camera” and a collection of f/1.4 primes tended by a legion of assistants. The rest of us normally have to squeeze every bit out of one body and a few lenses. If you dont know the full capabilities and limitations of your equipment, you are leaving money on the table. Do I really NEED that DA Limited 35mm? Probably not but certainly not when my 18-55mm zoom rarely ends up on 35mm. On the other hand, that 135mm prime is looking like a good buy. So go shopping in your bag. You might be surprised at how much free stuff is in there.
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