I pulled out the camera a couple times on our trip up into the forest to cut firewood over the weekend, and I realized I’ve allowed myself to get horribly out of practice. I spent about 10 years lugging that camera everywhere I went, taking pictures of anything that looked interesting, and I picked up a lot of tricks along the way. But for the last couple of years, I’ve barely taken the camera out of the bag.
Photography is like any other skill. You have to stay in practice to be any good at it. I realized last weekend that things about taking photos that used to be more or less instinctive now require me to consciously think about. It’s time to start practicing again.
A few years ago, I was urged by another photographer friend to try a Photos 365 challenge. That’s where you take photos every single day for a year, and you post the best photo of the day on Facebook. It requires you to stretch your limits, figure out ways to get decent photos in all conditions, and pay attention to your surroundings at all times so you don’t miss any opportunities.
Doing a challenge like this is a great way to rekindle my photography techniques, but it’s also another excuse to get outside. I’m hoping to get some photos of the day from the goose pit, the elk camp, the pheasant fields and several good fishing holes in the next 12 months. As an added bonus, it will be great if I can get a couple photos of the day of my sons posing with their first deer.
If you follow me on Facebook, though, don’t go look up my pictures for a few weeks. Give me a month or so to get back into practice.
