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The photographer's biggest mistake
There are many things to consider when setting up a shot; composition, exposure, colour, lens choice, flash positioning...the list goes on. This can all be a bit intimidating to the new shooter, but it's something that you just learn to work through on instinct, as you gain experience. With all these aspects to think about before you even press the shutter button, there are plenty of opportunities to make mistakes, but the biggest one you can possibly make will happen before you even try!
"I'll shoot that later." That well-used phrase we have all uttered at some point or other. Maybe you're running late to catch your favourite TV show or perhaps you're just a little hungry and can't wait to get home for a snack. Whatever the reason, it's very easy to see a potential shot, um and ahh about whether it's worth taking your camera out and make up an excuse for why you'd be better off waiting for "the next time". KEY POINT: the IS not next time! Nothing will be exactly the same again. It might be similar, but you'll never be happy with what you get if you know you've missed a good shot. It's just a fact of life.
I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me and I still don't learn from experience. I couldn't begin to count how many photos I've missed because of this mind-set. Either I didn't bring my camera (which is bad enough) or worse still I had a camera on me but left it packed away. This stings even more!
The image at the top was taken on a quick morning walk. I was heading somewhere else (to take photos actually, so it's almost forgivable that I nearly missed it!) and when I looked back along this path I saw the mist was settling low to the ground, as you can see here. The sun was up above the horizon, I'd already bagged quite a few nice pre-dawn shots and I had another few in-mind, before heading home. I was running late, had stuff to do back home and was very tempted to just leave the camera tucked away in its bag. I liked the look of the shot before me, but was it really good enough to justify hauling out my tripod and setting up my whole rig? TIP: it's always worth the effort. This shot has recently proven to be one of my most popular, several years after I made it. I'd have been looking back and kicking myself if I'd walked away. The initial planned shots turned out to be not that good, so I'd have let this one go for nothing.
Wisdom of the week: never walk past a potential photo if you value you're sanity. Trust your ability to spot good shots: if it caught your eye, it's probably worth slowing down and taking a closer look. Even if you snap a quick shot on your phone, you might be able to use it in a design a few years down the line, or it might win you best camera phone shot in a photo competition!
You never know...