Exercise your photography muscles

By Martin Joergensen | November 4, 2008 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0)

You should eat fresh fruit every day!
You should be out of breath once every day!
You should kiss your spouse every day!
You spend time with your kids every day!
You should take pictures every day!

Yep, I truly think you should exercise your photographic muscles every day. In this digital age, there are no problems in shooting at will, and just "wasting" images on things less important.

As I mention in my latest podcast - Storage Blues - the only problem with shooting a ton of pictures is that they take up space.

I am known in the neighborhood as the guy who brings a camera when fetching a croissant at the local bakery, when shopping groceries, when walking the dog and when going to meeting with clients (non-photo clients, that is). I highly recommend you to do the same. Photo opportunities  pop up when you least expect them, and not having your camera will often leave you frustrated.

The advantage is not only getting to shoot when the chance is there and hopefully produce some nice shots, but that you get to shoot lots of different subjects under a wealth of different circumstances. This will hone your skills and make you a better photographer - both in a creative and a technical sense.

You can put your daily photography into system by giving yourself an assignment. It could just be "shoot and post a photo every day". Such 365-day-projects are numerous on the web, and any photo forum usually has several.
You can also challenge yourself by narrowing the scope: 365 days on my street, 365 self portraits, 365 house numbers and signs, 365 leaves. You can make any assignment that you want and know you can fulfill. Make it easy or difficult as you please. You can of course just shoot at random when you get the chance. That's what I do.

The images that accompany this entry were all shot this morning. I stuck my 10.5mm fish eye on my D40, which gives me a very small package, perfect for convenient shooting during a morning stroll. One is taken on a local playground, empty this time of day and year, and one was taken two houses away from my own. There are literally thousands of subjects right here on my small street, no more than 10 house numbers long and less than a quarter of a mile from end to end.