Tip #1: Ornaments are for the mantelpiece

Here's the thing about your camera: it's not an ornament. It's a piece of equipment! It was designed for use, not display.

It’s kinda like a motor vehicle. Now bear with me here. Last year, my mother-in-law passed away. My husband was left in charge of wrapping up her estate. Part of that, was her vehicle. So, of course, we sold it, so that the money could go into the estate (why, afterall, would two of us need three vehicles?). My son was distraught! When I asked him why, he told me that he was upset I wasn’t keeping the car for him. He’s, ahem, seven. Yes. Seven.

So, I explained to him: you can’t have a vehicle just sitting around. It’s gotta be driven. That’s what it was designed for.

You have to drive you camera. Regularly. There is no other way to improve your skill. You can study every book, every course, and be the best “Photoshopper” in the world. But if you are not regularly picking up your camera, you will only ever be an average photographer.

This is in part my MO behind my new blog (I am a serious blogging addict, because I have another blog as well, about my journey with my Trisomy 18 daughter, who passed away this year, at the age of 16 months). You see, I am challenging myself to take a picture everyday. I have pinned it under the title of “joy” (further challenging myself): but perhaps for you it’s as simple as just taking a photo every day. Or maybe just one a week.

Then, and this is as important: look at your pictures. What do you like? What don’t you like? How could that picture have been better? Is there something distracting in the picture that you could’ve omitted out to have made it better, like a pole sticking out your daughters head?

What regular picture-taking will also do, above making you more mindful of your skill of taking pictures, is that it will make you more familiar with your camera (more about that in another weeks tip). If you drove you car once (yes, back with the vehicle analogy), would that make you a good driver? No. You know how after you’ve been driving for years, you don’t have to think about ABC (which side again was the clutch?), or gears (is reverse up or down?), it simply comes naturally. So it is with your camera.

You must pick up your camera. Regularly. Promise to take a picture. Today. Go on... go on... do it NOW.. look, if you’re still reading this, I’m not sure if it’s sunk in properly :)

Happy snapping until next week.....