What are some targeted camera exercises / homework for better technique?

IDontSpeakMonkey · Aug 20, 2025

What are some targeted camera exercises / homework for better technique?

Most of the advice I read is "practice more". Fine, I agree with that.

But to me that is sort of like "exercise more". It does not give me specific advice. Should I be running, or doing push ups, or crunches?

The answer is, "It depends on your goals"? Fine, I agree with that as well.

I've read (well skimmed really) some photography books and watched some online courses. Most of the books talk about composure, which of course is very important for memorable shots. Many of the training videos are very generalized and are usually more about the instructor telling you how smart and published he is and to buy his/her books on this amazon link below. They are OK as a primer, what is A/P/S/M etc.

But if I don't know how to take a steady shot, or focus properly, or expose properly, it does not matter how well composed the scene is, ..... yet.

On the technical side, I'm more of a "learn by doing" guy. I have done my best to read the 900 page camera manual, but after a while it all blurs together. 20 pages on which memory chip supports which speed / format of movies is not that interesting or relevant.

Especially in my case, I have problems with camera shake (either my age, caffeine intake, impatience or technique I don't know). I am generally holding the camera correctly based upon what I read / viewed. I have a wrist strap / grip that locks the camera to my hand. Maybe that is a problem? IDK.

Is there something I can concentrate on that would help refine my overall technical skills?

If I can master "flower photography" or "insects" or "moving waves" then that skill would carry over into the rest of my photography.

Sort of a "Wax on / Wax off" type of question from the original Karate Kid movie.

Show me "focus on bee"
Show me "moving butterfly"
now combine the two and you have "birds in flight".

Should I turn off Auto Focus and only use Manual focus. Like learning to drive on a manual transmission instead of automatic? My MF's seem to better than my AF's. I think partly because it forces me to slow down and concentrate on Focus instead of pointing at a subject, pushing a button and walking away.

I can't / don't want to carry around a tripod and remote control for every situation. I've tried bean bags on safari and that was great for that use case. I want to be able to be out on the pontoon when an eagle flies over (circling) , grab my camera and get a decent shot. But, the pontoon is moving, the bird is moving, I am moving.

What are some tips or practice topic / homework that you can think of to achieve a particular goal and help build that muscle memory?

I'm looking for something like....

Take 100 pictures per day of X under conditions 1 until you can achieve this goal.
Do is again, this time condition 2 (harder, lower light, whatever)
This time, condition 3 (standing on your head making rocks float)

I really don't care what the subject is I want to work on technique / skills / muscle memory. I live by a lake, I have 2 active dogs, we have lots of trails nearby. But I would be fine with a bowl of fruit as well.

I have plenty of gear to experiment with.

G9M2

12 mm f1.4
25 mm f1.4
12-40mm f2.8 (plan to sell it)
10-35mm f1.7 (plan to sell it)
35-100 f2.8
100-400 f4-6.3
Several MF lenses and vintage converted 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.4, 135mm f2.5

Thanks in advance.

Jens_ac · Aug 20, 2025

IDontSpeakMonkey said:
What are some targeted camera exercises / homework for better technique?

Most of the advice I read is "practice more". Fine, I agree with that.

But to me that is sort of like "exercise more". It does not give me specific advice. Should I be running, or doing push ups, or crunches?

The answer is, "It depends on your goals"? Fine, I agree with that as well.

I've read (well skimmed really) some photography books and watched some online courses. Most of the books talk about composure, which of course is very important for memorable shots. Many of the training videos are very generalized and are usually more about the instructor telling you how smart and published he is and to buy his/her books on this amazon link below. They are OK as a primer, what is A/P/S/M etc.

But if I don't know how to take a steady shot, or focus properly, or expose properly, it does not matter how well composed the scene is, ..... yet.

On the technical side, I'm more of a "learn by doing" guy. I have done my best to read the 900 page camera manual, but after a while it all blurs together. 20 pages on which memory chip supports which speed / format of movies is not that interesting or relevant.

Especially in my case, I have problems with camera shake (either my age, caffeine intake, impatience or technique I don't know). I am generally holding the camera correctly based upon what I read / viewed. I have a wrist strap / grip that locks the camera to my hand. Maybe that is a problem? IDK.

Is there something I can concentrate on that would help refine my overall technical skills?

If I can master "flower photography" or "insects" or "moving waves" then that skill would carry over into the rest of my photography.

Sort of a "Wax on / Wax off" type of question from the original Karate Kid movie.

Show me "focus on bee"

Show me "moving butterfly"

now combine the two and you have "birds in flight".

Should I turn off Auto Focus and only use Manual focus. Like learning to drive on a manual transmission instead of automatic? My MF's seem to better than my AF's. I think partly because it forces me to slow down and concentrate on Focus instead of pointing at a subject, pushing a button and walking away.

I can't / don't want to carry around a tripod and remote control for every situation. I've tried bean bags on safari and that was great for that use case. I want to be able to be out on the pontoon when an eagle flies over (circling) , grab my camera and get a decent shot. But, the pontoon is moving, the bird is moving, I am moving.

What are some tips or practice topic / homework that you can think of to achieve a particular goal and help build that muscle memory?

I'm looking for something like....

Take 100 pictures per day of X under conditions 1 until you can achieve this goal.

Do is again, this time condition 2 (harder, lower light, whatever)

This time, condition 3 (standing on your head making rocks float)

I really don't care what the subject is I want to work on technique / skills / muscle memory. I live by a lake, I have 2 active dogs, we have lots of trails nearby. But I would be fine with a bowl of fruit as well.

I have plenty of gear to experiment with.

G9M2

12 mm f1.4

25 mm f1.4

12-40mm f2.8 (plan to sell it)

10-35mm f1.7 (plan to sell it)

35-100 f2.8

100-400 f4-6.3

Several MF lenses and vintage converted 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.4, 135mm f2.5

Thanks in advance.

My goal for this day: An image of a hornet catching a butterfly. Tool: 100-400 on the G9m2 with SH60pre 0.5s. Variation: AF fields / Tracking. Got some sharp images already but not that beautiful - thus I go out again. It depends from where it atacs - very difficult to predict. Thus practicing is learning how the hornet does its job - and it is its work since it does not eat its pray, the meat is all for the queen and her kids.

Have fun!

IDontSpeakMonkey · Aug 20, 2025

Jens_ac said:
My goal for this day: An image of a hornet catching a butterfly. Tool: 100-400 on the G9m2 with SH60pre 0.5s. Variation: AF fields / Tracking. Got some sharp images already but not that beautiful - thus I go out again. It depends from where it atacs - very difficult to predict. Thus practicing is learning how the hornet does its job - and it is its work since it does not eat its pray, the meat is all for the queen and her kids.

Have fun!

For me that is the advanced course. My skill are more at the level of try to get an inanimate object in focus, and properly exposed. Then, try to get a turtle in focus etc.....

Here are my slow moving or almost static butterflies from last week

ahaslett · Aug 20, 2025

1) Unless you need the money, don't sell those lenses until you know what ignites your passion.

2) Decide what you want to photograph. Until then it's only about the basics of aperture, depth of field, shutter speed, motion, and noise.

Photography is about subject engagement, the use of light, and technical skills. Until you engage emotionally and physically with your subjects, the technical skills are all over the place, as is your ability to choose and use gear.

I like landscapes (sweeping and tiny details), cityscapes (interior and exterior) and family unposed. I hardly ever need flash for those, so I have a basic flash kit but limited skills and experience. I have a fair bit of experience of slow bursts, DoF control and FaceEyeAF, also a heavy and light tripod, processing from RAW, 100mm square filter set, and have calibrated my ability to handhold with no IS, IBIS and Dual IS.

Make sense?

For my interests, I would suggest capturing images from an outdoor daytime social event in a way that makes people want copies, and going for a walk with the 10-25/1.7 and finding some interesting things to capture of different scales.

Exercises?

Find something interesting in the garden, and shoot a helpful subject, both many times.

Perspective 1

Perspective 2

Lens test

Playing with a new lens

View attachment 7ea37307554444968890ef2ee1f6f2fa.jpg
Same lens, different scale of subject

--
Infinite are the arguments of mages. Truth is a jewel with many facets. Ursula K LeGuin
Please feel free to edit any images that I post

AshleyMC · Aug 20, 2025

ahaslett said:
Exercises?

Find something interesting in the garden, and shoot a helpful subject, both many times.

This!

+1000

Photographically explore the same subject many times, again and again, using different focal lengths, apertures, compositions, subject distances, angles of view, and especially, under different light conditions, in different times of day and year.

One never learns and improves (and develops one’s style) with the “snap, done, move on” attitude.

Remember: (1) Photography is not about being a gear operator, and (2) Photography is not about the subject being photographed — although (a) one must be competent with the gear used, including technical photographic principles, and (b) one must visually appreciate the subject at hand, which is known as the “photographic eye” independent of gear.

Many people struggle with (a) for years, trying out gear and taking test shots. GAS is related to this point. Most of the DPReview forum questions revolve around this point.

Have fun.

I happen to like bicycles, so I keep a digital album of hundreds of photographs on the one “bicycle” subject. Here are some of them:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/68358556

Sam Bennett · Aug 20, 2025

There's a lot of different ways you can approach this, but since you seem to be struggling with hand shake, one way you could approach this is by thinking of "magnification".

Imagine a rose bush in your backyard. With that subject, you could start by taking a photo of the bush in relationship to your house. As you magnify (either by physically getting closer, or zooming) the composition starts being more about the bush itself, closer still it could become about interesting groupings of flower, closer still about an individual flower, closer still it could be about a bug on a flower.

The more you're magnifying a subject...

Your composition choices change.
Handshake becomes a bigger and bigger problem
Depth of Field, and how you utilize it changes
The way you choose to focus may change

If this sounds interesting to you, I would try "magnifying" both using a single focal length and moving your position in relationship to the subject and staying in the same position and zooming in to magnify - that will result in fundamentally different looking photos.

Atho · Aug 20, 2025

IDontSpeakMonkey said:
What are some targeted camera exercises / homework for better technique?

Most of the advice I read is "practice more". Fine, I agree with that.

But to me that is sort of like "exercise more". It does not give me specific advice. Should I be running, or doing push ups, or crunches?

The answer is, "It depends on your goals"? Fine, I agree with that as well.

I've read (well skimmed really) some photography books and watched some online courses. Most of the books talk about composure, which of course is very important for memorable shots. Many of the training videos are very generalized and are usually more about the instructor telling you how smart and published he is and to buy his/her books on this amazon link below. They are OK as a primer, what is A/P/S/M etc.

But if I don't know how to take a steady shot, or focus properly, or expose properly, it does not matter how well composed the scene is, ..... yet.

On the technical side, I'm more of a "learn by doing" guy. I have done my best to read the 900 page camera manual, but after a while it all blurs together. 20 pages on which memory chip supports which speed / format of movies is not that interesting or relevant.

Especially in my case, I have problems with camera shake (either my age, caffeine intake, impatience or technique I don't know). I am generally holding the camera correctly based upon what I read / viewed. I have a wrist strap / grip that locks the camera to my hand. Maybe that is a problem? IDK.

Is there something I can concentrate on that would help refine my overall technical skills?

If I can master "flower photography" or "insects" or "moving waves" then that skill would carry over into the rest of my photography.

Sort of a "Wax on / Wax off" type of question from the original Karate Kid movie.

Show me "focus on bee"

Show me "moving butterfly"

now combine the two and you have "birds in flight".

IDontSpeakMonkey said:
Should I turn off Auto Focus and only use Manual focus. Like learning to drive on a manual transmission instead of automatic? My MF's seem to better than my AF's. I think partly because it forces me to slow down and concentrate on Focus instead of pointing at a subject, pushing a button and walking away.

I can't / don't want to carry around a tripod and remote control for every situation. I've tried bean bags on safari and that was great for that use case. I want to be able to be out on the pontoon when an eagle flies over (circling) , grab my camera and get a decent shot. But, the pontoon is moving, the bird is moving, I am moving.

What are some tips or practice topic / homework that you can think of to achieve a particular goal and help build that muscle memory?

I'm looking for something like....

Take 100 pictures per day of X under conditions 1 until you can achieve this goal.

Do is again, this time condition 2 (harder, lower light, whatever)

This time, condition 3 (standing on your head making rocks float)

I really don't care what the subject is I want to work on technique / skills / muscle memory. I live by a lake, I have 2 active dogs, we have lots of trails nearby. But I would be fine with a bowl of fruit as well.

I have plenty of gear to experiment with.

G9M2

12 mm f1.4

25 mm f1.4

12-40mm f2.8 (plan to sell it)

10-35mm f1.7 (plan to sell it)

35-100 f2.8

100-400 f4-6.3

Several MF lenses and vintage converted 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.4, 135mm f2.5

Thanks in advance.

You don’t mention light.

IDontSpeakMonkey · Aug 20, 2025

ahaslett said:
1) Unless you need the money, don't sell those lenses until you know what ignites your passion.

Don't need the money per-se but hate to leave a depreciating asset on the shelf. I do really like the 10-35 but it is big and heavy. And I tend to shoot at extremes. (10 or 35) so if I replace the low end with a 12mm f1.4 and then use my 35-100 f2.8 it might make a nice compromise of focal distance vs weight for every day travel.

ahaslett said:
2) Decide what you want to photograph. Until then it's only about the basics of aperture, depth of field, shutter speed, motion, and noise.

ahaslett said:
Photography is about subject engagement, the use of light, and technical skills. Until you engage emotionally and physically with your subjects, the technical skills are all over the place, as is your ability to choose and use gear.

I like landscapes (sweeping and tiny details), cityscapes (interior and exterior) and family unposed. I hardly ever need flash for those, so I have a basic flash kit but limited skills and experience. I have a fair bit of experience of slow bursts, DoF control and FaceEyeAF, also a heavy and light tripod, processing from RAW, 100mm square filter set, and have calibrated my ability to handhold with no IS, IBIS and Dual IS.

Make sense?

For my interests, I would suggest capturing images from an outdoor daytime social event in a way that makes people want copies, and going for a walk with the 10-25/1.7 and finding some interesting things to capture of different scales.

Exercises?

Find something interesting in the garden, and shoot a helpful subject, both many times.

Perspective 1

Perspective 2

Lens test

Playing with a new lens

View attachment 7ea37307554444968890ef2ee1f6f2fa.jpg
Same lens, different scale of subject

Geo Wharton · Aug 20, 2025

Here's two different directions to go:

1. About composition. More important than technical operation of the camera. Set your camera in automatic. Full automatic. Go out and compose. Use your zoom. use your angle of view. Concern yourself only with composition. Practice composition. Practice the "S curve" (the beauty curve). Practice seeing layers. Practice seeing converging and diverging lines. Look for colors and contrasts. Look for reflections. Do not concern yourself with technicalities. Nearly any modern camera for the last 20 years can do the tech. Strengthen you eye and mind in art.

2. Different day, do the opposite. Camera operation. Go back to basics. Go back to 1972. Put on a single focus length (prime) lens. Set your white balance to daylight. Set your sensitivity to ISO 100. Set your focus to manual. Limit yourself to a couple frames of a subject and go on. Go out and shoot using your brain instead of the camera's processor. Get to know how the camera works. How light works. Learn what f-stops and shutter speeds are just as great photographers did 50 years ago. Yes, there were great photos when the camera would not do it for you.

Make it a point to make your photo something YOU did. Not something an expensive camera did for you.

g.

AshleyMC · Aug 20, 2025

Atho said:
IDontSpeakMonkey said:

I have plenty of gear to experiment with.

G9M2

12 mm f1.4

25 mm f1.4

12-40mm f2.8 (plan to sell it)

10-35mm f1.7 (plan to sell it)

35-100 f2.8

100-400 f4-6.3

Several MF lenses and vintage converted 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.4, 135mm f2.5

Click to expand...

You don’t mention light.

+1000

IDontSpeakMonkey · Aug 20, 2025

One of my responses got cut off

What am I passionate about?

I've given this question a lot of thought since I saw it. I would have to say I am passionate about "travel photography" people and places that are vastly different from my lower middle class midwestern up bringing. Unfortunately, this means I have to be ready for everything from the plains of Serengeti to a local village to hot air balloons all on the same date / outing.

This is why I'm trying to focus on the basics. The inspiration will come not from my backyard, but from a different continent. London City at Christmas then Germany, Amsterdam (tulip time), Belgium river cruise in the Spring. So I need to get the skills for city scenes (another reason the 10-35 is just too big) and landscapes of tulips and windmills, and everything in between.

IDontSpeakMonkey · Aug 20, 2025

I have a small OM System Flash that I really love for fill flash it is small and portable. But I don't see myself ever carrying a big clunky flash for travel.

Olympus FL-LM3 Flash

I had to mod it a little to fit on the G9M2, but it works great and I love it

AshleyMC · Aug 20, 2025

Atho said:
You don’t mention light.

…

IDontSpeakMonkey said:
I have a small OM System Flash that I really love for fill flash it is small and portable. But I don't see myself ever carrying a big clunky flash for travel.

Olympus FL-LM3 Flash

I had to mod it a little to fit on the G9M2, but it works great and I love it

Atho mentioned light and you replied in terms of gear.

IDontSpeakMonkey · Aug 20, 2025

Geo Wharton said:
Here's two different directions to go:

1. About composition. More important than technical operation of the camera. Set your camera in automatic. Full automatic. Go out and compose. Use your zoom. use your angle of view. Concern yourself only with composition. Practice composition. Practice the "S curve" (the beauty curve). Practice seeing layers. Practice seeing converging and diverging lines. Look for colors and contrasts. Look for reflections. Do not concern yourself with technicalities. Nearly any modern camera for the last 20 years can do the tech. Strengthen you eye and mind in art.

2. Different day, do the opposite. Camera operation. Go back to basics. Go back to 1972. Put on a single focus length (prime) lens. Set your white balance to daylight. Set your sensitivity to ISO 100. Set your focus to manual. Limit yourself to a couple frames of a subject and go on. Go out and shoot using your brain instead of the camera's processor. Get to know how the camera works. How light works. Learn what f-stops and shutter speeds are just as great photographers did 50 years ago. Yes, there were great photos when the camera would not do it for you.

Make it a point to make your photo something YOU did. Not something an expensive camera did for you.

g.

Leaning towards #2. A attached my my MF 50mm Vintage Minolta Rokkar and going out shooting while I wait for my brother to get out of dental surgery. Should give me 2 hours to focus on this topic.

My gut is telling the Prime + MF will help me concentrate on both technical and creative, instead of just zooming on the face of a bee as close as I can.

I just feel more connected with MF, as long as the subject is cooperative.

IDontSpeakMonkey · Aug 20, 2025

AshleyMC said:
Atho said:

You don’t mention light.

Click to expand...

…

IDontSpeakMonkey said:

I have a small OM System Flash that I really love for fill flash it is small and portable. But I don't see myself ever carrying a big clunky flash for travel.

Olympus FL-LM3 Flash

I had to mod it a little to fit on the G9M2, but it works great and I love it

Click to expand...

Atho mentioned light and you replied in terms of gear.

Guess I don't understand the question then?

ahaslett · Aug 20, 2025

IDontSpeakMonkey said:
One of my responses got cut off

What am I passionate about?

I've given this question a lot of thought since I saw it. I would have to say I am passionate about "travel photography" people and places that are vastly different from my lower middle class midwestern up bringing. Unfortunately, this means I have to be ready for everything from the plains of Serengeti to a local village to hot air balloons all on the same date / outing.

This is why I'm trying to focus on the basics. The inspiration will come not from my backyard, but from a different continent. London City at Christmas then Germany, Amsterdam (tulip time), Belgium river cruise in the Spring. So I need to get the skills for city scenes (another reason the 10-35 is just too big) and landscapes of tulips and windmills, and everything in between.

Have a look at how Albert photographs places https://www.albertdros.com/netherlands . I don’t think he does anything extreme, so translate his gear and settings to MFT.

I’m not a travel and street people person, but agott in this forum does a lot of street.

I can see the 10-25/1.7 doesn’t fit - it wouldn’t work for me either. 100-40mm is good, so is 35-100/2.8. I’m an UWA sort of shooter, so my lightest travel kit is OM5, 10/2, 12-45/4 and 25/1.4.

Instead of the garden, wander round cities near where you live.

Above all, have fun, study your keepers and losers, and delete the losers without regret.

A

--
Infinite are the arguments of mages. Truth is a jewel with many facets. Ursula K LeGuin
Please feel free to edit any images that I post

ahaslett · Aug 20, 2025

IDontSpeakMonkey said:
AshleyMC said:

Atho said:

You don’t mention light.

Click to expand...

…

IDontSpeakMonkey said:

I have a small OM System Flash that I really love for fill flash it is small and portable. But I don't see myself ever carrying a big clunky flash for travel.

Olympus FL-LM3 Flash

I had to mod it a little to fit on the G9M2, but it works great and I love it

Click to expand...

Atho mentioned light and you replied in terms of gear.

Click to expand...

Guess I don't understand the question then?

Outdoors look for a photographer’s sky and find something to shoot beneath it!

A

--
Infinite are the arguments of mages. Truth is a jewel with many facets. Ursula K LeGuin
Please feel free to edit any images that I post

AshleyMC · Aug 20, 2025

IDontSpeakMonkey said:
AshleyMC said:

Atho said:

You don’t mention light.

Click to expand...

…

IDontSpeakMonkey said:

I have a small OM System Flash that I really love for fill flash it is small and portable. But I don't see myself ever carrying a big clunky flash for travel.

Olympus FL-LM3 Flash

I had to mod it a little to fit on the G9M2, but it works great and I love it

Click to expand...

Atho mentioned light and you replied in terms of gear.

Click to expand...

Guess I don't understand the question then?

You don’t.

Look closely at the beautiful photographs Andrew shared, in the two posts right above, and appreciate how he made best use of the quality and direction of light in each one.

There was no flash involved.

ahaslett · Aug 20, 2025

AshleyMC said:
IDontSpeakMonkey said:

AshleyMC said:

Atho said:

You don’t mention light.

Click to expand...

…

IDontSpeakMonkey said:

I have a small OM System Flash that I really love for fill flash it is small and portable. But I don't see myself ever carrying a big clunky flash for travel.

Olympus FL-LM3 Flash

I had to mod it a little to fit on the G9M2, but it works great and I love it

Click to expand...

Atho mentioned light and you replied in terms of gear.

Click to expand...

Guess I don't understand the question then?

Click to expand...

You don’t.

Look closely at the beautiful photographs Andrew shared, in the two posts right above, and appreciate how he made best use of the quality and direction of light in each one.

There was no flash involved.

I shoot almost entirely in natural light but we should be clear that flash, light modifiers, shades and reflectors are part of the craft of high skill photographers. Far too much kit for someone interested in travel.

A

IDontSpeakMonkey · Aug 20, 2025

ahaslett said:
IDontSpeakMonkey said:

One of my responses got cut off

What am I passionate about?

I've given this question a lot of thought since I saw it. I would have to say I am passionate about "travel photography" people and places that are vastly different from my lower middle class midwestern up bringing. Unfortunately, this means I have to be ready for everything from the plains of Serengeti to a local village to hot air balloons all on the same date / outing.

This is why I'm trying to focus on the basics. The inspiration will come not from my backyard, but from a different continent. London City at Christmas then Germany, Amsterdam (tulip time), Belgium river cruise in the Spring. So I need to get the skills for city scenes (another reason the 10-35 is just too big) and landscapes of tulips and windmills, and everything in between.

Click to expand...

Have a look at how Albert photographs places https://www.albertdros.com/netherlands . I don’t think he does anything extreme, so translate his gear and settings to MFT.

I’m not a travel and street people person, but agott in this forum does a lot of street.

I can see the 10-25/1.7 doesn’t fit - it wouldn’t work for me either. 100-40mm is good, so is 35-100/2.8. I’m an UWA sort of shooter, so my lightest travel kit is OM5, 10/2, 12-45/4 and 25/1.4.

Instead of the garden, wander round cities near where you live.

Above all, have fun, study your keepers and losers, and delete the losers without regret.

A

These are exactly what I want to acheive.

I'm watching ebay for a cheap used macro and I already have a 12 and 25 so I think I could replicate the feeling of most of these. At least that is what I aspire to.

What are some targeted camera exercises / homework for better technique?

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