PICK UP THE CAMERA

When I purchased my Canon T5i a couple years ago, the main focus was video. As each month passed, I became a little more guilt-ridden that I hadn’t been utilizing this awesome tool for what it was primarily made for. I decided that this past weekend was the perfect opportunity to flex the shutterbug muscle in me and spend an early evening pursuing creativity in a way that I’ve ignored for far too long.

The power of a photograph is immense. I envy those who have built all the traits of a high-level photographer - composition, lighting, shutter speed, patience, curiosity and creativity. I’ve learned a lot by just paying attention to the way photographers ply their craft and hope that some of their knowledge rubs off on me.

But like any skill, if you want to improve….you need to practice. This is something I’ve been lacking when it comes to taking pictures with purpose.

One of the goals in creating this website is to put me in check with some of the creative exercises that I find important in the bigger picture of my career (pardon the pun). I knew that spending time with my DSLR camera was going to be something I tackled early…and I was looking forward to it.

It’s been absolutely awesome weather here in Calgary over the past couple weeks. Saturday evening saw near record temperatures and it was just a couple minute drive to find myself at the provincial park. I couldn’t believe how nervous I felt about doing something so simple as taking my camera and tripod for a stroll. It had been completely foreign to me and was sure that everyone else was just judging the “guy who had no clue what he doing”.

OK…I might be exaggerating, but I was placing a certain level of expectation on myself. After all, I had been watching enough YouTube videos on how to snap the perfect photo. Couldn’t be that hard….right?

I was hesitant to venture too far down the path for this first exercise. The focus was just getting reacquainted with taking photos and trying a new technique I had researched earlier in the week. Keep it simple stupid.

It took me about 10 minutes to get the feel for things again and soon after that I zoned right in to what I was doing and was having a blast. It reminded me of editing in the suite - just shut everything else out and focus on what was in front of me.

I did struggle with finding compositions I was happy with, but that was secondary. Just taking photos was a win in my books. I managed to hit the shutter 130 times in a little over an hour outside. I spent a lot of time looking for the framings I wanted to explore. Once I found a spot, I told myself not to rush and to practice the skills I told myself I would explore.

I had to take one photo with the theme of “The Path Forward”

I stayed away from the “auto” settings (except to see how the camera would react to certain situations). I was far more pleased with the “shoot, review, modify” mindset I was going with. The other tip I found extremely helpful was the backbutton focus method I was trying. Highly recommended.

With most DSLR cameras, finding your focus involves holding the shutter button down halfway. Once the camera finds its focus, you hear the beep and push the shutter all the way down. The challenge becomes when you want to take a look at the photo, possibly change a setting and snap another pic - usually, the camera goes through a refocusing process as you press the shutter the second time.

With backbutton focusing, you set one of the buttons on the back of the camera as your focus set. This disables it from the shutter button, leaving it with only one function - to take the photo. When the camera is on a tripod, this method makes it extremely easy to set the focus once, take a photo, change a setting and hit the shutter again.

I was really happy with the ease of adapting this workflow into my overall exercise. Again, I highly recommend trying it (I just did a YouTube search for “backbutton focus Canon T5i”).

Backbutton focusing allowed me to hone in on the exposure without having to worry about focus each time I hit the shutter

I made it a point to not complicate things by “trying this” or “doing that”, instead keeping the basics of photo composition front of mind.

Focal points, Rule of Thirds, Depth, Symmetry and Patterns, Background and just good overall framing for when I was taking my pictures.

I would snap a quick pic handheld to see if I liked what I saw in the review monitor. If so, I set the tripod up and hung out there for a few minutes…not rushing things. I would take 10-12 photos with the hope that one of them would be something I could work with on the computer later on.

As I mentioned, I took 130 photos in total. I struggled to find five that I felt were worthy of exploring further. I was a little disappointed by that ratio, but am giving myself a pass this time as it was my first go in a while.

The sunset was something I had in mind…this was the best use of the sun I could find in the limited time I had

The one overwhelming feeling I had while looking for locations - boy it’s brown outside these days.

I struggled with finding those vibrant, feel-good locations that just scream “Take a photo of me!”. I’m sure if I kept exploring I would have found a few gems - and will certainly be marking my calendar for next summer…and fall.

I think this would be something fun to do with the niece or nephew as well. In fact, one of the inspirations for heading out with the camera this weekend came from my niece’s boyfriend who has been introducing himself to photography. I gotta say, family and friends exploring creative outlets are a huge impact in my pursuit. I’m looking forward to “talking shop” with him in the near future.

This photo is my favourite. I love the depth in the pattern that the trees create

So what’s the takeaway?

Picking up the camera and taking a photo is an easy task. Going out with a purpose and finding the shots won’t create a day full of challenges. Honing in on the mindset of trying something new and having fun…that’s the best recipe for creativity.

The next step is deciding how I want to make photography a regular part of my creative routine. Is it something I do once a week? Do I just keep the camera in the trunk for when the opportunity presents itself?

The key will be for it not to become overwhelming and feeling like a chore. Creativity should never feel like a grind. It needs to be an expression.

Until next time.

This was the struggle to find a fifth photo to share. Nothing special here…I just liked the heavy contrast