Choosing to Shoot Less

I know that there are die hard people out there who would say shoot everything and I used to be one of them, but I am being more selective now. I just don’t have time and I want to spend the time that I do have in more meaningful ways. For example in the past, I used to shoot at every school event, but now I have been at my school for 7 years. Sports Days Add Value is an example of some of my previous shooting. It’s not nearly as interesting as it used to be. In addition, my school assigns other teachers and even hires staff specifically for the purpose of shooting and managing pictures and videos. Of course there is nothing wrong with shooting pictures, I’m just choosing to shoot less and invest my efforts into areas that are valued more.

Don’t Sell Yourself Short

In my article, Why Not People, I talk about how in the past people weren’t available for me, so I connected with my cameras. I think my stepping back from taking pictures in certain contexts is more about valuing myself and freeing myself up. I’m an English teacher, so it makes sense that at my school I would focus more on English related activities. What about you? It’s okay to enjoy pictures, music, movies, clothes, food, etc… The list could go on and on, but don’t let it take you away from areas that you should be focusing on.

Asking Others For Pictures

If I really want pictures, all I need to do is ask people for the pictures they took. Maybe you can relate to this. This is true both inside and outside of my school. At school, if I am leading an English activity, I don’t generally do a good job at also taking pictures of that event. Someone else can generally take pictures of it. I am in charge of leading it. Another reason for taking fewer pictures is it takes time. I don’t just shoot pictures and videos. I edit them and organize them on my computer. Our trip to Egypt, Takeaways From Egypt, was an eye opener for me. I was shooting video and pictures almost all the time. Well, at least I felt like I was. I am sure there were aspects of the trip that I just missed or didn’t take in because I was so focused on the camera. After the trip was over, my teammates gave me their pictures and I realized that there was a lot of stuff that I had missed. Oh, it also blew me away that they were all, except for my wife, shooting only on their phones. Yet the quality was still pretty good.

What Are You Looking For

I’m realizing that living in the moment without always having a camera to take pictures with is a good thing. I’m also realizing that other people can help me with that by offering me their pictures. However all of this does not mean that I am going to get rid of my cameras or stop shooting pictures. There is a time for everything. A time for no camera, a time for a phone camera, a time for a pocket camera (above shot was taken on a pocket camera – the Sony RX100iii), a time for M43 camera and a time for my Panasonic S1 Full frame. I encourage all of you to begin with the end in mind. What are you looking for? It’s okay to take your camera with you for a good shooting experience.

Loose You For a Month

Just be honest with yourself about what that means in terms of your availability to those you love in the moment and then later on when you have to edit the pictures or video. My wife likes to joke about how she is going to loose me for a month after we go on trips like our Egypt trip. If your into that kind of thing check out the travel tab. I know some of you are choosing what camera to take for client work and that’s different, but still going to eat up your time. Perhaps it means that you leave your camera at home when you are with your family and just take your phone.

Be Wise and Value Those You Love

For Valentine’s Day weekend I decided not to bring my DJI Ronin S. Why? It was Valentines Weekend, it just would have been too much to lug around. This goes along nicely with my theme of choosing to shoot less. Tracy and I were doing the trip primarily for us, not for me to shoot pictures and video. Still I got a lot of terrific shots and I feel blessed. A lot of videographers consider the Panasonic S1 and Ronin S too old or too heavy. That’s okay, I am not trying to score points with them. It comes down to can I make them work for me. I am sure I will use them. Don’t be shy about using what you have.