Do you want to boost your photographic skills and unleash your own creativity? It’s not hard. Like anything, you just need practice. And the easiest way to do this is to incorporate these simple habits into your routine.

In this episode, Gina and Valerie discuss must-have habits that you need to adopt in order to become a photographic genius. These habits don’t take much extra time and will help to skyrocket your creativity and keep you brimming with ideas. In addition, the habits will improve your photography skills and help you become more efficient.

#ginachallenge #thinklessdomore

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Show notes

Shout outs

Thanks to everyone who shared their images in 2016

We have seen listeners taking the plunge:

• Shooting raw
• Mastering autofocus
• Fill flash
• Studio lighting
• Post-production
• Posing
• +heaps more

In no particular order here are a few of my faves.

Ian Paul Hulme says:

I had a rather rainy photo walk last night in London. The only condition was you had to wear a Christmas Jumper! Though it was that wet everyone had coats on so no-one saw each others jumper until the pub at the end of the night – easily the highlight! 🙂

Scott Stokhaug says:

So glad to be back at mat side! Gina, my son’s high school team thought it would be cool to install a single cheesy LED light directly over center mat and then dim the rest of the crappy house lighting to add drama to home meets. All they’ve done is add complexity to my job. This past week, I decided to go toe-to-toe with them and brought the 85mm on the 5D with me. I knew this was a bad idea due to the SLOW focus on this lens, and PROBABLY not a great ‘carry around lens’ simply due to its cost, but I played around anyway. The idea was to get match start, introductions, handshakes, and finishes with competitors hands being raised with the 85mm and then use the 70-200 on the 6D for the action shots. My daughter asked if she could shoot…so I gave her the 6D with the 70-200 and I shot exclusively with the 5D and 85mm. Anyway, here’s one at ISO2000, f/1.2, at 1/2000. Edited in Lightroom using Gina’s True Grit preset.

 

Pablo Pete‎ says:
I was second shooting a wedding when I got this shot.

 

 

Frank Romano says

True love – Molly and his best friend Ziggy. Feedback most welcome.

 

Sean Saldan says:
Raspberry (our little persian cat).
This is the beginning part of her jumping in the air after her rubber toy mouse attached to a fishing rod. She looks like she is standing and posing but really she is launching into the air and twisting trying to catch the toy mouse. She sometimes gets mistaken for an Ewok from Star Wars.

Ronald Fritz says

Taken at the Melbourne marathon.

Must-have photography habits to boost your skill and creativity

Quote:
‘What you focus on expands. So focus on what you want, not what you do not want.’ 

– Esther Jno-Charles 

List 5 ideas every day of shoots that you want to do

• Don’t limit yourself
• Most of these ideas may suck but it trains your brain to think of new things
• It’s the photography version of journaling
• It’s important to write the ideas down

Plan your shoots old school

• Buy a notebook
• Plan out each shot
• Sketch out where lights go
• Create a mood board
• Make a list of everything you need for the shot
• Go into minute detail
• Time of day
• Exact location
• Clothing
• Vibe
• Props needed
• Timing

Look for images in bland spaces

Each day when you walk into a new location scope it out and find 5 different shoot locations

Shoot like film

• Cover up LCD screen
• Limit number of frames
• Feel the shot
• Learn to trust your gut

Timed photo shoots

• Pressures and deadlines teach you how to shoot instinctively
• Overthinking a shot may kill creativity
• Shooting editorial and high-pressure celebrity shoots with limited time and fast turnarounds helped me hone my skills.
• My favourite and best shots happened very quickly
• Give yourself 5-20 mins
• Find a location
• Come back with 5 shots
• Don’t think, Do

#ginachallenge #thinklessdomore