Bad habit of excessive shooting

[siamak]

Hello,

Previously I had a point and shoot camera (cannon) and because the quality of the photos were not guranteed (due to different lighting situations) and offcourse because I was not a good photographer, I developed this bad habit of excessive shooting. I would shoot several pictures of each seen and sometimes would take photos of useless seen hoping that some of the shoots will be good.

Now this habit has been transfered to DSLR photography. As an example, in my recent 3 days visit to Singapore I took almost 3500 photos! I would say only 1000 of them worth it and less than 250 of them are excellent photos which worth showing them to people.

I see some people have used less than 2k shutter counts on their DSLR after 1 year of owning the camera. Considering that an entry level DSLR (like my Alpha200) has limited life (I guess around 100,000), what do you think about this habit of mine?

BTW I am in learning phase. I am reading 5 photography books I obtained recently and intend to become a professional (I will be a computer scientist, so this will be my professional entertainment).

I appreciate your comments.

Thanks
Mac

 

[aryanto]

quick cure: buy small capacity CF or SD card, better still buy slow one so it takes time to write from camera to card, and that will automatically makes you limit the number of shots.

Check your camera settings, if have enable shooting in burst mode (like 3 fps, 5fps kind), change that to off.

Also depends on the subject. if your subject is mainly people or animal or you like action shots like sports, go and change that to static shots, architecture or scenery, limit the shots only on daytime.

Now how much should I carge you for the consultation fee? LOL

 

[krishna91]

there's one great solution to your problem : PREVISUALIZE

don't shoot aimlessly, even if you are shooting candids. Look for a shot, close one eye, use the open eye to visualize the frame, and then shoot! in this way , you will be shooting very economically. If you just get the exposure and technical settings right, you're just going to waste space by aimlessly shooting 20-30 frames and only one of them is going to be perfect 99% of the time. Instead of that, if you previsualize, you will take 3-4 shots of each composition. Also , remember to delete everything except the images you find perfect.

for still life, keep shooting and deleting 1 by 1 until you find the perfect,flawless composition.

 

[LawrenceB]

I do the same.. but i kinda like it. I would rather take more shots then delete ugly shots later, than regret not taking enough photos. Just my opinion, the more shots you take, the more chances you could get better shots. You can easily replace your cam, but you can never bring back those kodak moments.

 

[HuguKYM]

Did the same thing... but then realize that after look at the result photos... most of them are same in term of quality, so I just start to take 1 except for important moment, sometimes I shoot twice...

 

[velovictor]

Since the same topic, can i ask a silly question? How much will it cost to replace a nikon shutter after 100k shutter dead? ;p

 

[NMSS_2]

Geniuses are made with countless hours of self determination on that one thing that they want to do best. Given photography... it would be countless (>30k) shutters that you have click in order to be fairly proficient. And these shutter clicks must not be without going through the thought process that you want to develop as a professional "hobby".

Camera can be considered an expense as they depreciate far more than you can get good ROI back from them, so just shoot. Wait till you get to the more expensive components of photography.

Five books on photography can only get you that far.... get a hell lot more! internet and library books are basically useless as they are either covering too little or have been borrowed out so.... buy buy buy.

 

[madmartian]

Hello Siamak, its good that you are reading up. But pls don't get confused by reading 5 books at 1 go. Read your camera's manual 1st, get to know your camera. Then try out simple shots and concentrate and try to perfect that shot. Then move on. Do it step by step and don't rush thru. Then you realise how rewarding photography is. Hope this helps.

 

[Keenblade]

Well... it's always better to err on the side of caution. I would prefer to shoot extra than to miss that moment, agreeing with the other posters... it is ultimately better to frame mentally first.

Another side effect of excessive shooting is that you have to filter and perform post-processing on far more pictures than usual =)

 

[coolin]

wow i wouldn't mind shooting so excessively if i could get 250 excellent photos in 3 days! most of the time i only get 2 or 3 shots i really like in a whole day of shooting!

 

[siamak]

Thank you very much everyone. Most of the comments were eye opening and precious. I guess I will think more before each shooting and I'll examine whether the photo is good and If I am not sure I'll take additional photos.

One good advise was on learning and then practicing techniques one at a time. I think it makes sense. I wish the books can give me the basic information I need to start.

On the ROI issue, I was thinking the same. I choose A200 because it is cheap and at the same type it allows me to learn most of the features and techniques. After learning enough I will hopefully move to a more professional camera.

I really appreciate your comments and help.

 

[Diavonex]

You'll automatically shoot less pictures per scene when you have more confidence in your camera and yourself.

 

[kkgoxplore]

quick cure: buy small capacity CF or SD card, better still buy slow one so it takes time to write from camera to card, and that will automatically makes you limit the number of shots.

Another quick cure: get a film camera.

No denial, digital photography has made us trigger happy.

 

[reuters]

if you are very confident that the shot you took is the best, then do not regret when you upload into your computer only to find that the image is not what you expect to be.. especially when you are traveling to places which most likely you will not go back again.. because even a slightest jerk during the snap, the lighting at that point of time etc. can have effect on your image shot..

do not worry about the shutter count if you are interested in photography.. buying a camera is about taking pictures.. what's the point of having such a good camera when you are only willing to take a few shots and afraid that the shutter count is exceeded? you can easily save up the money buying such cameras and use your handphone to take too!

 

[CS TAN]

You won't be shooting 1,000 shots everyday, 365 days a year. Try to take an average over a 6 months period. You will then know how long your 100k shutter life will last. I think you will be surprise how long that will be. Most likely it will last longer than your urge to upgrade to a new camera body which usually is around 2-3 years...

 

[shaoken]

The problem with excessive photography is that when you need to select your photos, you will have a hard time.
So I A LITTLE against excessive photography.

 

[hotwork77]

Since the same topic, can i ask a silly question? How much will it cost to replace a nikon shutter after 100k shutter dead? ;p

Won't cost much. It's about $200-$300.

 

[baggiolee]

The problem with excessive photography is that when you need to select your photos, you will have a hard time.
So I A LITTLE against excessive photography.

ya i have this problem....and they are all raw file....once taken i can't bear to delete.

 

[spheredome]

At best minimum, I would still need 3 shots per scene to get it acceptable. I am not talking about composition, just the lighting alone can kill me. Either too bright or one area to dark.

I am not an early bird or evening owl person, so afternoon sun is where I go and is harsh outdoor.

 

[madmartian]

I sometimes shoot pretty excessively too at 1 sitting ;p. One good habit is check your frames in between shoots. Eliminate what you think is not what you want, that's what the preview screen is for. Also there's a vast difference viewing it on the tiny 3" screen your 20" computer screen (if its 20"). So viewing size does matter. This way, even if you shoot quite exessively, at least when you are selecting the better photos and doing PP, you don't have so many to edit.