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What Would Make It Better?

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Photo by Steve BerardiOne of the habits that can lead to better photos is to ask yourself a very simple question after you take a photo: what would make it better?

Every time you take a photo, take some time to review it on your camera’s LCD, and look for ways you can make it better. It could be simple things like “wait until that flower stops moving in the air” or it could be more artistic stuff like “change my position so the image has more natural lines to guide the viewer through the frame.” Just look for something, anything.

And then, make that change you thought of, and repeat the process again: asking yourself “what would make this photo better?” Keep doing that until your answer is “nothing” or “I have no idea!” — but think hard about it! You don’t want to get home, review the photos on your computer and say to yourself, “oh no! I should’ve composed it like this instead.” [Read more…] about What Would Make It Better?

Reviewing Old Photos

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Photo by Steve Berardi
Photo by Steve Berardi
In a previous post, I talked about why you should periodically review old photos. In the post, I specifically referred to photos that you originally overlooked and didn’t think were “good enough” to process and share.

Well, I’ve recently realized how valuable it can be to also review all your photos that made it to the “good” pile, especially concentrating on your favorite images. Once we take a photo we’re proud of and post-process it and share it online or print it, we usually stop thinking about it. But, I think it’s really helpful to review these photos periodically for a variety of reasons.

Here are some things to think about when reviewing your old favorites: [Read more…] about Reviewing Old Photos

Three Reasons To Periodically Look Through Your Old Photos

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Photos by Steve BerardiOne of the great things about digital photography is that memory is cheap. We can take lots and lots of photos without ever having to worry about expensive film. You can buy a big memory card once, and use it over and over again.

As a result, you probably have a big stockpile of photos somewhere. Maybe it’s in some obscure folder on your computer, or maybe it’s on a big external hard drive somewhere.

With all these photos, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. When you get back from a long day out on the trails, you might go through all your photos quickly, and grab the really good ones to process and share online. But, in this process you might immediately label a lot of those photos as “bad” — and bury them in that giant stockpile of photos you have hiding somewhere.

Since we’re always adding more and more photos to this stockpile, it’s easy to forget about them and never look through them again.

But, it’s a good idea to browse through all those “rejects” every once in a while. Here are a few reasons why: [Read more…] about Three Reasons To Periodically Look Through Your Old Photos

In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World (Book Review)

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In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World / Eliot PorterEliot Porter was a famous nature photographer, who gained widespread attention after publishing his great book, In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World, back in 1962. It’s still known as one of the most important nature photography books ever published, but until recently it was out of print.

Luckily, Ammo Books just started publishing this book again, and I was happy to accept a review copy to check out this new edition.

The book is much more than a simple collection of photographs. The photographs are organized by seasons of the year, and each photo is accompanied by a journal entry from Henry David Thoreau. [Read more…] about In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World (Book Review)

Three Great Resources For Comparing Cameras and Lenses

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Photo by Martin TaylorIt’s always hard to make a decision about purchasing a new camera or lens. There seems to be an endless amount of things to consider: everything from ISO performance of a camera to the sharpest aperture of a lens you’re thinking about buying.

Well, luckily there’s some great resources for helping you compare all those cameras and lenses: [Read more…] about Three Great Resources For Comparing Cameras and Lenses

Why You Should Keep All Your Photos

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Providence Mountains
Photo by Steve Berardi
When you get back home with your camera after a long day outside, do you rush to your computer and inspect your photos immediately?

I think that’s a healthy obsession, because it simply means you’re passionate about your results and dying to find out if you captured that sight just the way you saw it with your own eyes.

However, this rush to review your photos will often cause you to overlook some of your greatest shots. That’s why it’s important to keep all your photos and look at them again–a few weeks, or even months after you first took them. [Read more…] about Why You Should Keep All Your Photos