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

[IDontSpeakMonkey]

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.

 

[Art_P]

Take notes! Shoot lots of pictures and take notes of what worked and what didn't.

Me? I'm terrible at taking notes, and lack the patience for spending hours perfecting my art. I do take lots photos on occasion, and some are even worth saving.

But I have been playing with cameras for nearly 60 years, so I've probably learned something in all that time.

 

[IDontSpeakMonkey]

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.

Amen to that. The Jinglish terminology and contextual style makes it all the more difficult. The contents page and index are woeful. For example, in the table of contents for the OM-1, there is item 2 "Shooting", item 4 "Shooting Settings", item 7 "Setting up the Camera", ???

I recall that as well on the OM-1 Manual. G9II is not much better.

 

[IDontSpeakMonkey]

Take notes! Shoot lots of pictures and take notes of what worked and what didn't.

Me? I'm terrible at taking notes, and lack the patience for spending hours perfecting my art. I do take lots photos on occasion, and some are even worth saving.
But I have been playing with cameras for nearly 60 years, so I've probably learned something in all that time.

I am horrible with notes as well. I count on the metadata to help remind me what was going on. But then I switch to a vintage lens and I have virtually no metadata.

 

[AshleyMC]

…

We should mention shadows, like your example in the middle. I envy some shadow shots posted here, maybe one day…

I am also fond of shadows, especially the long dramatic shadows in late afternoons and the “patchy” shadows created when light is randomly and partially blocked by certain objects like leaves and window panes (therefore the subject is unevenly lit).

Without light, there are no shadows. For me, it has been an on-going process of observing and understanding light since I seriously picked up a camera 50+ years ago.

 

[IDontSpeakMonkey]

…

We should mention shadows, like your example in the middle. I envy some shadow shots posted here, maybe one day…

I am also fond of shadows, especially the long dramatic shadows in late afternoons and the “patchy” shadows created when light is randomly and partially blocked by certain objects like leaves and window panes (therefore the subject is unevenly lit).

Without light, there are no shadows. For me, it has been an on-going process of observing and understanding light since I seriously picked up a camera 50+ years ago.

Amazing Inspiration Thanks

 

[SelrahCharleS]

Not exactly technique, but one of the forums I frequent has a monthly "single in" challenge where you use just one lens you own for the month.

 

[IDontSpeakMonkey]

Not exactly technique, but one of the forums I frequent has a monthly "single in" challenge where you use just one lens you own for the month.

I just noticed the "contest" forums. I think that is a good way to get practice ideas

 

[No Time To Lose]

Taking a slightly contrarian approach - you are getting a lot of input on technique from others better qualified than me.

I do identify extremely well with your use case - virtually all of my photography to date has been travel-related. I am an amateur but herewith my 2 cents worth:

With travel, the single most important thing is to get a shot before the opportunity goes. If you have more time, then try to get a better shot. To get the shot, you need to have the camera with you, out and a suitable lens attached. Sounds obvious but, in our scenario:

• if there is too much gear, it gets in the way; and
• I find swapping lenses tedious while sight-seeing, especially when with others and it can cause you to miss the shot.

You list a lot of gear. I would recommend nailing down your travel (and therefore most used) gear and then practicing with that. Put the rest aside and worry about it later. So what do you need for our kind of travel? IMO:

1. Main lens with the maximum flexibility and adequate IQ. I use the Oly 12-100 (thanks to a great recommendation from the camera shop). My wife uses the 14-150 and there’s the Pana 14-140 (some copies are very sharp).
2. Wide lens. I use the PL 8-18 but there are multiple alternatives.
3. Long lens. You have the 100-400. Lightest around for that length so job done.

An alternative to 1 and 2 would be something like 8-25 and 40-150. Oly has the f4 Pro which would work well and you have 35-100. You might need to switch lenses more often this way - or not - I would recommend looking at your historical shots and seeing what FL you use most often. The only problem with a WA lens on your camera is it’s not much use when something more distant comes into sight for 30 secs. I normally find there’s time to switch to WA and get images.

3 lenses covers almost everything unless there’s something special you like to do. Often times, you only need to take two out. You’ve got to pack the gear, transport it and carry it around with you.

As an aside, do not do cities with a dedicated camera bag. You’ll be safe in the middle of most tulip fields but tourist spots and cities are much more risky. I would recommend a comfortable, nondescript backpack or sling bag (you also need water, rain jacket, hat, etc).

For more specialised cases you might want:

• Macro - you can get an OM 60mm quite cheaply and it’s excellent.
• Wide and bright. I have 9mm f1.7 - you have the 12mm f1.4.
• Ultra wide - e.g Laowa 6mm f2. I’ve thought about this but usually just use my phone instead for UWA so I’ve never bought it.

I find I rarely use these.

I never use a flash while travelling so I’ve stopped bothering with it.

I keep my 12-100 on my camera (or 150-400) and if it’s not the right lens and I’m in a hurry, I grab my phone. As noted before, first and foremost I want a shot.

IMO you don’t need any more than this for general travel unless a special trip opportunity arises. I virtually never use a tripod when travelling - IS is so good these days - and even then I use a tiny folding one - e.g. long exposure.

Then, practice swapping lenses and figure out the best way for you to do this. Dropping a lens on vacation is distinctly dull and time taken with lenses reduces the time available for shooting.

I didn’t see mentioned but with to freeze motion - yours of the subject - e.g. moving wildlife, you often need a much higher shutter speed than you think.

 

[cc99]

I've not tried P or Auto on the G9M2. On my prior body it seemed the solution from the camera was always push the ISO beyond what is acceptable, so I stopped using it.

This happens on Olympus too, and it's really an Auto-ISO problem.

My E-M1.2/3 would often choose 1/2000 at ISO 2000 instead of 1/200 at ISO 200. The only solution is to lock ISO on sunny days, as Auto-ISO can affect all control modes.

 

[IDontSpeakMonkey]

Taking a slightly contrarian approach - you are getting a lot of input on technique from others better qualified than me.

I do identify extremely well with your use case - virtually all of my photography to date has been travel-related. I am an amateur but herewith my 2 cents worth:

With travel, the single most important thing is to get a shot before the opportunity goes. If you have more time, then try to get a better shot. To get the shot, you need to have the camera with you, out and a suitable lens attached. Sounds obvious but, in our scenario:

• if there is too much gear, it gets in the way; and
• I find swapping lenses tedious while sight-seeing, especially when with others and it can cause you to miss the shot.

You list a lot of gear. I would recommend nailing down your travel (and therefore most used) gear and then practicing with that. Put the rest aside and worry about it later. So what do you need for our kind of travel? IMO:

1. Main lens with the maximum flexibility and adequate IQ. I use the Oly 12-100 (thanks to a great recommendation from the camera shop). My wife uses the 14-150 and there’s the Pana 14-140 (some copies are very sharp).
2. Wide lens. I use the PL 8-18 but there are multiple alternatives.
3. Long lens. You have the 100-400. Lightest around for that length so job done.

An alternative to 1 and 2 would be something like 8-25 and 40-150. Oly has the f4 Pro which would work well and you have 35-100. You might need to switch lenses more often this way - or not - I would recommend looking at your historical shots and seeing what FL you use most often. The only problem with a WA lens on your camera is it’s not much use when something more distant comes into sight for 30 secs. I normally find there’s time to switch to WA and get images.

3 lenses covers almost everything unless there’s something special you like to do. Often times, you only need to take two out. You’ve got to pack the gear, transport it and carry it around with you.

As an aside, do not do cities with a dedicated camera bag. You’ll be safe in the middle of most tulip fields but tourist spots and cities are much more risky. I would recommend a comfortable, nondescript backpack or sling bag (you also need water, rain jacket, hat, etc).

For more specialised cases you might want:

• Macro - you can get an OM 60mm quite cheaply and it’s excellent.
• Wide and bright. I have 9mm f1.7 - you have the 12mm f1.4.
• Ultra wide - e.g Laowa 6mm f2. I’ve thought about this but usually just use my phone instead for UWA so I’ve never bought it.

I find I rarely use these.

I never use a flash while travelling so I’ve stopped bothering with it.

I keep my 12-100 on my camera (or 150-400) and if it’s not the right lens and I’m in a hurry, I grab my phone. As noted before, first and foremost I want a shot.

IMO you don’t need any more than this for general travel unless a special trip opportunity arises. I virtually never use a tripod when travelling - IS is so good these days - and even then I use a tiny folding one - e.g. long exposure.

Then, practice swapping lenses and figure out the best way for you to do this. Dropping a lens on vacation is distinctly dull and time taken with lenses reduces the time available for shooting.

I didn’t see mentioned but with to freeze motion - yours of the subject - e.g. moving wildlife, you often need a much higher shutter speed than you think.

All good tips. Certainly this is not my carry around bag, this is my closet of potential.

What I did on Safari

Brought with me (in luggage)

• 100-400
• 10-35
• 9mm

Then depending what was on the schedule for that day, I only brought that lens attached to the camera. So Game Drive Day was 100-400, but Hot Air Balloon Day was 10-35. and so on. I was going to use 9mm for stars, but we were not allowed to leave our tents without armed guards (due to wildlife), so I never saw a night sky in Africa.

There were times on a game drive that 100mm was too close as the animals were practically in our jeep at times. But my wife and son had super zooms that got the job done. So while I could barely fit an eyeball in my frame, they could get most of the animal. But these were outliers.

My plan is for my "city vacation kit" to be as light as possible

• 35-100 f 2.8 - for general tourist stuff
• 12mm or 25mm f1.4 - for indoors or close spaces (churches etc)

Again, depending on what is on the schedule for that day determines what stays in the room safe and what goes with me.

I have gone back and forth on considering variations of zooms between 12 - 200, but I don't think I want to trade reach for weight or aperture.

I think I have optimized weight / size as best I can while trying to travel light.

I sold the 9mm, everything was purple fringed, and I have having to post process 85% of my pictures to get rid of it.

I examined what I shot with each lens and I am usually at the extremes. 10 or 35, and then 35 or 100 and then 100 or 400. I have very few in between.

The LM3 flash is so tiny, I bring it just as a safety. There were native dancers at one of the lodges and F1.7 was not getting it done. When there were "posing" for pictures I used the flash.

Finally I just invested in a flagship phone, to fill in the gaps if something happens that I don't have the right lens for.

 

[SterlingBjorndahl]

An old joke. A foreign musician lands in New York and gets lost walking to his rehearsal. He asks a nearby busker:
Q: Excuse me, but how do you get to Carnegie Hall?
A: Practice, man, practice

You mentioned several ideas in your post and they all look good. Maybe the thing to do is tackle them one at a time and practice, man, practice. For your pontoon boat & eagle scenario: Dedicate a day to shooting your long lens at 400mm as though it were a prime. Shoot near and far. Concentrate on steady subjects before trying moving subjects. All sorts of lighting conditions. Try all the shutter speeds, all the apertures, all the ISOs, and get some deep knowledge of how that lens works at 400mm. Try to take a thousand shots (or whatever, just a really big sample size) at 400mm. You don't have to keep any of these long -term but spend enough time reviewing them so you develop a deep understanding of how it all comes together at the long end.

Another day, do the same thing with your 12mm. Then another day for macros. Then another day for all the auto-focus options (I'm a hypocrite, I haven't forced myself to do that one yet, sounds tedious.)

Work through all of your equipment that way, methodically. Make a plan, turn it into a checklist or spreadsheet, and execute. And if you feel you've become "good enough" before you get to the end, then mission accomplished!

I know the whole "10,000 hours" theory has been debunked, but the underlying concept that "practice makes perfect" still holds.

Best wishes,
Sterling
--
Lens Grit

 

[Gato Amarillo]

EDIT TO ADD: Saw your reply after I posted this. Feel free to ignore.

Some good advice above.

Especially for travel, minimize the gear. Go for flexibility, keeping in mind what you plan to shoot. As noted, changing lenses can be a distraction and cause you to miss shots.

You listed:

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

I would put aside the two primes, then choose one the short zooms. Add the 35-100 and, if you use it much, the 100-400.

Or you might consider the Panasonic 12-60, either version, as an alternate to your zooms. Very versatile zoom range and on a Pana body you get dual stabilization. You might find the 12-60 replaces your short zooms and the 35-100. That leaves you with a 2-lens kit -- a 12-60 and your 100-400. Much more manageable than the six you list.

The move from 2.8 to f4 doesn't bother me with the kind of high ISO performance we get in today's cameras.

You might keep the 12mm 1.4 if you do dim interiors.

And there are the two slower zooms mentioned in the above post.

(FWIW, I own the Oly 12-100. It's an excellent lens, but for my taste bulky and heavy. And Olympus lens stabilization does not work on Pana bodies. I replaced it with the Pana-Leica 12-60.)

Whatever you do, pick one normal zoom, then practice with it until you are totally familiar and confident you are getting all you can from it.

Gato

--
It's a work in progress, but the website is up and running:
https://jrsprawls.smugmug.com/
.
Personal pictures, road trips, rural nostalgia, and kitty cats:
https://www.instagram.com/j.r.sprawls/

 

[Sam Bennett]

An old joke. A foreign musician lands in New York and gets lost walking to his rehearsal. He asks a nearby busker:
Q: Excuse me, but how do you get to Carnegie Hall?
A: Practice, man, practice
You mentioned several ideas in your post and they all look good. Maybe the thing to do is tackle them one at a time and practice, man, practice. For your pontoon boat & eagle scenario: Dedicate a day to shooting your long lens at 400mm as though it were a prime. Shoot near and far. Concentrate on steady subjects before trying moving subjects. All sorts of lighting conditions. Try all the shutter speeds, all the apertures, all the ISOs, and get some deep knowledge of how that lens works at 400mm. Try to take a thousand shots (or whatever, just a really big sample size) at 400mm. You don't have to keep any of these long -term but spend enough time reviewing them so you develop a deep understanding of how it all comes together at the long end.

Another day, do the same thing with your 12mm. Then another day for macros. Then another day for all the auto-focus options (I'm a hypocrite, I haven't forced myself to do that one yet, sounds tedious.)

Work through all of your equipment that way, methodically. Make a plan, turn it into a checklist or spreadsheet, and execute. And if you feel you've become "good enough" before you get to the end, then mission accomplished!

I know the whole "10,000 hours" theory has been debunked, but the underlying concept that "practice makes perfect" still holds.

Best wishes,
Sterling
--
Lens Grit

This is great advice. And while I have a good handle on focal length and how it affects my compositions, I'll still do this periodically to challenge myself and get out of a rut.

 

[No Time To Lose]

An old joke. A foreign musician lands in New York and gets lost walking to his rehearsal. He asks a nearby busker:
Q: Excuse me, but how do you get to Carnegie Hall?
A: Practice, man, practice
You mentioned several ideas in your post and they all look good. Maybe the thing to do is tackle them one at a time and practice, man, practice. For your pontoon boat & eagle scenario: Dedicate a day to shooting your long lens at 400mm as though it were a prime. Shoot near and far. Concentrate on steady subjects before trying moving subjects. All sorts of lighting conditions. Try all the shutter speeds, all the apertures, all the ISOs, and get some deep knowledge of how that lens works at 400mm. Try to take a thousand shots (or whatever, just a really big sample size) at 400mm. You don't have to keep any of these long -term but spend enough time reviewing them so you develop a deep understanding of how it all comes together at the long end.

Another day, do the same thing with your 12mm. Then another day for macros. Then another day for all the auto-focus options (I'm a hypocrite, I haven't forced myself to do that one yet, sounds tedious.)

Work through all of your equipment that way, methodically. Make a plan, turn it into a checklist or spreadsheet, and execute. And if you feel you've become "good enough" before you get to the end, then mission accomplished!

I know the whole "10,000 hours" theory has been debunked, but the underlying concept that "practice makes perfect" still holds.

That’s not actually correct! It should be “Practice makes Permanent”. Practicing perfection makes perfect!

 

[IDontSpeakMonkey]

An old joke. A foreign musician lands in New York and gets lost walking to his rehearsal. He asks a nearby busker:
Q: Excuse me, but how do you get to Carnegie Hall?
A: Practice, man, practice
You mentioned several ideas in your post and they all look good. Maybe the thing to do is tackle them one at a time and practice, man, practice. For your pontoon boat & eagle scenario: Dedicate a day to shooting your long lens at 400mm as though it were a prime. Shoot near and far. Concentrate on steady subjects before trying moving subjects. All sorts of lighting conditions. Try all the shutter speeds, all the apertures, all the ISOs, and get some deep knowledge of how that lens works at 400mm. Try to take a thousand shots (or whatever, just a really big sample size) at 400mm. You don't have to keep any of these long -term but spend enough time reviewing them so you develop a deep understanding of how it all comes together at the long end.

Another day, do the same thing with your 12mm. Then another day for macros. Then another day for all the auto-focus options (I'm a hypocrite, I haven't forced myself to do that one yet, sounds tedious.)

Work through all of your equipment that way, methodically. Make a plan, turn it into a checklist or spreadsheet, and execute. And if you feel you've become "good enough" before you get to the end, then mission accomplished!

I know the whole "10,000 hours" theory has been debunked, but the underlying concept that "practice makes perfect" still holds.

Best wishes,
Sterling
--
Lens Grit

This is great advice. And while I have a good handle on focal length and how it affects my compositions, I'll still do this periodically to challenge myself and get out of a rut.

I plan to start doing the challenges in the sidebar of this forum that I've been ignoring for the past 1-2 years.

Yesterday, was 50mm Manual focus day, and I was pleased with the amount of keepers, even a few lucky bees in flight shots with MF.

 

[GreenEyesGTA]

Remove your options, fewer tools in the toolbox:

• Only shoot in monochrome
• Only shoot with a single focal length
• Only shoot at minimum focus distance of your lens
• Pick a single subject and only shoot that - boats, dogs, cars, buildings, whatever

 

[IDontSpeakMonkey]

Remove your options, fewer tools in the toolbox:

• Only shoot in monochrome
• Only shoot with a single focal length
• Only shoot at minimum focus distance of your lens
• Pick a single subject and only shoot that - boats, dogs, cars, buildings, whatever

thanks

 

[ahaslett]

Remove your options, fewer tools in the toolbox:

• Only shoot in monochrome
• Only shoot with a single focal length
• Only shoot at minimum focus distance of your lens
• Pick a single subject and only shoot that - boats, dogs, cars, buildings, whatever

All good exercises, but how is this helping OP with travel and family photography?

A

 

[Satyaa]

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...

1. Your composition choices change.
2. Handshake becomes a bigger and bigger problem
3. Depth of Field, and how you utilize it changes
4. 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.

I like that. Just want to add one point... may be not as a first step for the OP, but something to expect/be aware of.

Moving physically closer to the bush/flower vs. zooming will change the background differently (because of focal length and narrower view). When it's zoomed in all the way filling entire frame with the flower but no background, then this doesn't matter.

 

[GreenEyesGTA]

Remove your options, fewer tools in the toolbox:

• Only shoot in monochrome
• Only shoot with a single focal length
• Only shoot at minimum focus distance of your lens
• Pick a single subject and only shoot that - boats, dogs, cars, buildings, whatever

All good exercises, but how is this helping OP with travel and family photography?

A

I certainly think something like spending a day shooting in B+W could improve both of those areas... I find without colour I am more attuned to patterns, contrast, lighting, all the essentials.