Take less photos

Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera – Yousef Karsh

Make each photo count.

There are times when doing less is much more conducive to our creativity. With our digital cameras nowadays, there is literally no consequence for taking each photo. We can snap freely without thinking about the cost for taking each photo unlike the old days of using film cameras. When we shoot quickly without putting in much thought, most likely there is less intention behind the image we take.

I am drawn to photography because I enjoy the process of thinking through in my head of how to process what I see in front of me, and to construct an image that reflects how I feel about what I perceive. I find it very difficult to make an image that satisfy my curiosity if I simply rush through the process. Thankfully for the images I enjoy taking, they don’t usually require any snap judgment. I enjoy taking my time merging my artistic and technical considerations. I find it gratifying to go through the methodical sequence of constructing an image. It gives me great satisfaction when the image I take reflects the consideration I put in, and it is even more satisfying when the audience can see and appreciate my effort. When people’s perception of my image matches up with my aim of constructing the said image, I know right then and there my effort has paid off because my intention has come through.

I have started limiting myself the number of images I take during each photo outing in recent years. I believe being more intentional with the images I take have helped me sharpen my focus in creating images that are more consistent to my vision. When you allow yourself to take only five images for each photo session, you better make each of them count and be more thoughtful about what you do. Back in the days when I used a film camera with limited exposures, I would pause first, took a good look at what I wanted to photograph, and asked myself if it was truly worth using up that exposure because there were limits. If we are to stick to this practice of limiting the images we take nowadays, we will soon discover that a lot of what we want to photograph is mostly just because we can, not because we really think it is worthwhile. With digital cameras, the number of pictures you can take is almost endless, often resulting in mindless snapping away at the world without any intentions.

Working with a lot less images also help with our post processing. Instead of spending lengthy amount of time wading through thousands of images, we can focus our effort on making good edits with the selected few. I think by making fewer images and aiming for better quality, we are more likely to come away with work that reflect what we are capable to achieve.