13 BAD HABITS THAT CAN RUIN YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY by Ray Salisbury
Do this simple test below. See if you have developed some of these nasty habits.
They are easy to pick up, but hard to shake off! For each bad habit, give yourself
a test score. Finally, resolve to drop at least one of these habits this year.
13 Bad Habits ... and how to break them
__ 01 LEAVE THE CAMERA AT HOME
The best camera is the one you have with you – even if
it’s on your smart phone. Not every photo you take is
photography competition material, or is of commercial
value. Regardless, a huge megapixel count and optimum
lens quality on a DSLR is useless if left at home.
__ 02 RELY ON A SINGLE MEMORY CARD
Those little storage cards are hugely expensive, but
the temptation to be frugal will bite you on the bum.
Murphy’s Law states that your memory card will fill up
precisely when you’re shooting that ‘money shot’; when
the light is right; or when the entire group is all smiling at
you. The remedy? Buy more memory cards.
__ 03 DON’T BACK UP YOUR PHOTOS
I know a friend who fills up a memory card with images,
then buys another, fill that up, then buys another – a
dangerous habit! He recently confessed he’s lost some of
his precious photos. Personally, I have experienced the
pain of having a hard drive fail, losing more than a year’s
commercial photography work. To be super-secure, you
really should store your photographs in three different
locations.
__ 04 CHIMP
Constantly checking your images on the LCD display is
called chimping. Nothing wrong with it, except if you’re
into street photography, or at a wedding or party. You
may miss that decisive moment, as you’re too engrossed
in the perfectionistic tendency of chimping.
__ 05 SHOOT FROM EYE LEVEL
Amateur shutterbugs tend to hold the camera at head-
height. However, this will produce predictable results.
When shooting in a location, learn to ‘work the scene’.
Drop to your knees, or even lie on the ground, searching
for fresh angles. An aerial perspective can be stunning.
Remember that the best tool of composition is your feet.
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__ 06 FAIL TO CONSIDER THE BACKGROUND
Look for a simple background behind your subject. For
example, avoid having a telephone pole (in the distance)
that appears to protrude from a person’s head. If you have
a long lens, you can employ a narrow depth-of-field to blur
the background. This will isolate your subject from the
clutter beyond, achieving a degree of separation.
__ 07 CENTRE THE SUBJECT
Ignore the rules of composition at your peril. If you want
your photos to stand out, learn and use the Rule of Thirds,
rather than place your focal point bang in the middle, like
most folks do, (in blissful ignorance). Or, add dynamic by
tilting your camera at an angle. Don’t forget to try different
types of framing: portrait orientation versus landscape
orientation. Or even a really wide panoramic crop.
__ 08 SHOOT ONLY IN BRIGHT DAYLIGHT
Confession time … I am guilty of this. Because I trained
back in the bad old days of film, when strong light was
necessary to capture good images, I became a fair-weather
photographer. Also, I used compact digital cameras for a
decade, which were hopeless in low light situations. So I
was infatuated with clear, blue skies, as cloudy skies often
washed out into a white haze.
However, under a harsh, midday sun, shadows are short
and therefore objects do not look three-dimensional,
lacking form. Human subjects may squint into the sun, or
blink. Worse, they may have an ugly ‘sun-dial’ effect under
their noses! Better to pose people in the shade.
Landscapers should learn to work with softer, diffused light
– this is mandatory for waterfall scenes. Thunderclouds
overhead will introduce a sense of foreboding that blue
skies cannot. Golden hour lighting will exude warmer
tones and longer shadows.
__ 09 DON’T READ THE CAMERA MANUAL
Same old story: you buy a new camera, put the box away
and the camera’s manual stays inside the plastic bag.
Perhaps you were too eager to use your new gadget.
Well, now it’s time to dig out the manual, and attack it
with a highlighter pen.
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13 BAD HABITS THAT CAN RUIN YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY by Ray Salisbury

Be methodical, and diligently work through each
function of your camera. You may find features you
didn’t know existed!
__ 10 SHOOT ON AUTO
If you haven’t read the camera manual, your photos may
suffer from the restrictions of shooting in Automatic
mode. Modern cameras are amazing, and can produce
great results on Auto, but not consistently. Better to
take control yourself. Learn the semi-automatic shooting
modes, such as Shutter or Aperture Priority. Then, if you
are brave, try shooting on Manual.
__ 11 THINK THAT POST-PROCESSING CAN FIX ANYTHING
This is a lazy habit to fall into. It’s much better to get a
shot right in-camera, including the correct exposure, as
blown-out highlights cannot be retrieved later. Another
consideration is ensuring that the horizon is straight, or
you will lose the edges of your image when rotating then
cropping it on a computer. Use the 3x3 grid on your LCD
display, or a spirit level fitted on the hot shoe.
If you shoot landscapes, buy some ND and ND Grad filters.
The most useful filter is the Polariser, the effects of which
cannot be replicated using software. Finally, it’s better to
do a bit of gardening, removing distractions from a scene,
than be forced to clone them out in Photoshop – tedious
work!
__ 12 SHOOT ONLY JPEGS
JPEG files are compressed. Unfortunately, this narrows
the dynamic range of your photographs, and changes the
colour, according to the camera’s presets. This can’t be
undone. Shoot using the RAW file format, as this is more
forgiving. RAW allows you the latitude to correct exposure
and colour, as well as sharpen the image, on computer
software. Think of RAW files as digital negatives, that
need processing and fine tuning.
So, what’s your score? How many bad habits can you
identify with? Tick these habits and tally up your total.
SCORING
1–3 habits. Wow! You are disciplined, and must have
done a few photography courses.
4–6 habits. Not bad. But there is room for improvement.
7–9 habits. Don’t despair; there’s still hope for you.
10–13 habits. You need professional help!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hi there. My name is Ray. I’m a
trained photographer, qualified
teacher and graphic designer
living in Nelson, New Zealand.
I’ve been snapping scenic photos
for over 40 years, and this
obsession has now become my
business. I also write for magazines, sell stock to web
libraries, design e-Books, and teach on-line courses.
Email me if this article has been helpful.
DO MY COMPOSITION COURSE
Learn the artistic side of photography with self-
paced video training & practical homework
exercises to get you out-of-doors.
Video tutorials, a quiz, & Facebook group
Practical exercises & print-able worksheets
1-2-1 critique of your images
Read more here: The Art of Composition

__ 13 POST TOO MANY PHOTOS

We all take poor pictures, badly exposed or blurry … but

there’s no need to inflict these on the unsuspecting public!
Carefully select only your best images, then process these
on the computer.
Also, display a variety of images on social media, or online
galleries, but limit these to 3–5. Essentially, don’t submit
minor variations of the same shot.

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