SHOOT! :)

I went to Tampa a few weeks ago for the DWF Convention. Besides having a great time, and realizing that I don't want to shoot weddings, I learned a few things. One of them was at a seminar given by Greg Gibson. Maybe you've heard of him, maybe not. He's a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, and his portfolio is astounding. He's covered everything from the Persian Gulf war, to Presidential campaigns, to the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

In his seminar, he said the biggest mistake that photographers make, is not taking enough pictures. It impressed me because I always felt like there was something "wrong" with that. Mostly because you never hear photographers talking about their out-takes. But he did, and it was refreshing.

So, TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES PEOPLE! When you think you've exhausted your creativity or perspective, shoot a few more frames. Sometimes, my favorite shots of the whole session are the last ones that almost didn't happen. And if a Pulitzer Prize winner is saying that he takes a lot of photographs to capture that one, AIN'T NO SHAME IN YOUR GAME!

*Here is one of my favorite shots ever. And there were about 50 images deleted before this one. Do you have a diamond-in-the-rough example? If so, please share the love.

Comments

[Tracey Clark]

what a brilliant shot Maile. and i don't care if it took a gazillion out-takes to get it! : ) great reminder.

[Kate Inglis]

Oh my GAWD, I am so in love with this shot. This would have been worth two hundred tries to get, assuming your superhero were willing.

Gorgeous shot, and great reflections on the seminar. How exciting.. you must be so inspired. Thanks so much for sharing!

As for diamonds, I always liked this one because it makes Evan look like he's Magneto or some such superpower-wielding type, except with the power to make sand do his will.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetsalty/474001076/in/set-72157594199059052/

[Heather]

This is my reason for ABSOLUTE JOY with digital photography. I can shoot and shoot, changing angles, and speeds, and...and...the list goes on.

Then, I can simply delete the ones that I want.

It is just so refreshing.

And, I'm learning throughout this whole glorious process.

[camerashymomma]

awesome shot! the cape the barefeet, the wall behind him. he's levitating! it's perfect. and how refreshing to hear "take more pictures" sometimes i worry that i am obsessed, but it's like you say, usually on the last try, the last minute before running out the door for another life, is the *keeper you get. and man, those are treasures.

[Shannon]

This is an AWESOME capture! I'm in love with it. And it is so reassuring to hear "take more pictures". It's always the joke among my friends and family of how many pictures did you take today? Love it! Thanks!

[Aimee]

Here's my diamond from yesterday. I started my 30 days photos project and I was playing on the floor with my son, a morning ritual, and I just pressed the shutter button down and let the camera go on with its bad self. My son had ripped off my glasses and then tried to put them back on and the very last shot was the winnter shot for day 1 of my 30 days.

http://putyourflareon.blogs.com/putyourflareon/2008/02/30-days-1.html

That photo you posted is spectacular! Oh, to be young and to able to jump on the bed like that. I am afraid I'd break my bed right away.

[birchsprite]

I'm all for the many shots approach... unfortunately I'm not so good at the deleting... hence the lack of space on my hard drive... the deciding which one to keep is too hard!

[Emily]

Wonderful shot!

I'm in a photographic desert at the moment; without any camera but longing to be taking lots and lots of photos. This site is keeping me sane ;-)

Here's is a 'diamond' shot from this past summer. The back story is, I was doing field work in Northern Canada with Cree communities. We were out at a traditional summer gathering, and while everyone else in my group was watching an elder woman clean sturgeon, I started shooting photos of her little dog. I must have taken several dozen shots, and half of them were of him either hiding or attempting to maul my lens! This one, I think, captures his BIG personality quite perfectly:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilymichelle/1267243055

[JennyB]

At the cottage we spend a lot of time blowing bubbles. It took a bunch of shots before I got this one. I understand what Greg is talking about...I tend to delete 60% of the photos I take after I download them but there is usually a handful of good ones in there. It's very freeing to know you have many chances to get it right!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23134155@N07/2245850033/

[essaydoctor]

I took about 20 photos and found this gem among the pile of discards. Trying to get a boy and a shark to stand still--very tricky.

http://flickr.com/photos/23335429@N08/2246652318/?eOrig=2246622760

[Susie Monday]

I am a fiber artist who (sometimes) uses my photos in my work. But I love shooting and capturing the art in every day. This is one of those shots that I'll never put in a piece of work, but I love, love, love it. And it's one of just three that works from a whole evening at the little rodeo down the road.
http://flickr.com/photos/elcielostudio/2245865263/in/set-72157603859382700/

[Nikki Jo]

These weren't even action shots and I had to take dozens to get the one I wanted! I've had several photographers tell me exactly the same thing - sometimes you have to take 200 pictures to get the one that you want.

Here you go:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/16998364@N03/2195771701/" title="GlobeSideBalancedWM by momentsbynikkijo, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2091/2195771701_1f3bbd9c46_m.jpg" width="160" height="240" alt="GlobeSideBalancedWM" /></a>

AND

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/16998364@N03/2196560308/" title="Globe2WM by momentsbynikkijo, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2058/2196560308_299eff89ac_m.jpg" width="160" height="240" alt="Globe2WM" /></a>

[Stephanie]

What a wonderful shot. I feel like so many of my photos (especially the ones of my own family) are diamonds in the rough. You just made me feel so much better about the fact that I sometimes have to take a ga-zillion photos just to get one good one. Here are a few good ones out of about 300 I took this weekend. My faves are of the sleeping baby
http://slsmithphotgraphy.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/02/so-many-picture.html

[Stacy]

Great capture, Maile!

Taking lots of pictures is the reason why I have an external hard drive for my laptop...I really, really needed the space! I try shooting in continuous shooting mode at times when I want to capture the action...that can really give you some great expressions.

I do try to remove all blurry, out of focus and bad expressioned pictures so I don't keep all of them on my drives. There are more pictures in my future so I need to leave some room. ;)

[giggletwig]

My friends and family always give me a hard time for taking "too many" photos. But I agree -- there's no such thing. And it makes me feel better that even the pros take a lot of photos in order to catch "the one."

This is one of the last photos I took of my son during at "photo shoot" trying to get a nice picture of him in his baptism outfit. I had taken a ton of full-body shots to get the whole outfit, but then decided to take a few close-ups of his face before he got too wiggly. And he made this face...it's one of my favorites.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/giggletwig/2245983197/

[noisy_critters]

This is one of my all-time favorite photos of my oldest girl. It was taken just this last year at the park, but the color turned out perfectly! I ditched about 20 other shots from that day...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23413182@N06/2236269038/

[Ginna]

This is what I love so much about shooting digital. I can take all the pictures I want and it doesn't cost any extra and nobody cares. I do have a really tough time getting rid of pictures of my son though. Even if they're terrible I can't seem to bring myself to delete them.

This picture is one of my favorites from last week. I took about 10 pictures of my little son and his best friend, and somehow ended up with this one, their expressions just kill me!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginnahendricks/2241848917/in/set-72157603842263299/

[Maya]

I was thinking this the other day when taking photos of a baby. I thought I have taken way too many! This made me feel so much better...so true!

[Audra Marie]

That is such a good shot! I'm new here and love this blog. :)

[Leah G]

Gosh, it's so refreshing to hear this. So many times I feel so silly in that I can easily take 100 or more shots just for fun at family outings. But, as you said, if a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer encourages more shots, then by all means, there must be something to it.

Lovely shot! My first thought was how wonderful the innocence and carefree-ness of youth is.

Also, since I read every day, but haven't commented until today, I just wanted to add that I truly love this blog. Such a wonderful creative community is being created here. Wonderful work.

[Angella]

What a great shot!

[simply]

http://bp3.blogger.com/_A1Xbjk4uEks/RsT_cr7XOuI/AAAAAAAAAFA/Ubb9KPhZWlw/s1600-h/xavier+2.jpg

I wanted to be able to see the water in this shot...I followed him around for several shots before I found the right setting...He did have fun though :o)

~simply~

[Shama-Lama Mama]

My hubby laughingly makes fun of the hundreds of pictures I can sometimes take on a regular day at the playground or to look at furniture. This makes me feel a little less sheepish!

This one was taken when I was trying to get a shot of my son while looking up from below. His twin brother knocked into me, messing up my perfect framing... making it more perfect!

http://tinyurl.com/3bfdhg

[Ursula]

People think I'm nuts when I say I literally have thousands of pictures on my computer...and even more archived on disc!

This is my most favorite recent "lucky shot." Very typical of my extremely energetic toddler set loose in a park.

http://picasaweb.google.com/cuzamora/AndrewJanuary2008/photo#5153913960318990210

[Chris]

Sometimes even the shots you think aren't worth keeping end up being a favorite. Mine was taken just last night at my son's school play. After running around like little 'mad men', the teacher finally told the boys to sit on the stage and to sit still while waiting for the other students to arrive. It was just a matter of time before someone had to move. LOL.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/83153291@N00/2246170475/

[Mrs. Eaves]

What a fun photograph! It makes me want to be a kid.

JennyB commented above with a great bubble photo, and it reminded me of the surprise shot I got a few years back. Timing is everything!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23151594@N07/2246972024/

[bella]

i love this pic of my daughter:

http://flickr.com/photos/cirovic/2247024872/

[Linda Lo]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindalo/2195431512/in/set-72157603718786272/

this is my son at 7 weeks old on my lap and because we were so close to each other i had to hold my camera up and around at all different angles just hoping to get a few good shots. in most of them he was cropped at some odd angle but i ended up keeping and loving them all. it's interesting cause in general those odd cropped shots are the ones i love the best but have a more difficult time achieving if i'm actually looking through my lens trying to capture that 'unintended' look. there's a lesson in there, i believe.

[leslie]

my GOODNESS is this shot fantastic!
thanks for the reminder on shoot shoot shoot.
i think i still sometimes get 'precious' about shooting.
must be a bit of a hangover from the film days!

[Jenn]

WOW - I love LOVE this shot - I agree, I take SOO many pictures, and often take pictures of EVERYTHING - everyone says "UGH here comes Jenn with the camera again." But then when I catch a great shot, or one no one would have thought to take, they are always excited and happy! Go figure - though finding those "angles" is often tough for me, figureing out how to think outside the "box"

[danielle]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23196640@N03/2246534895/

very encouraging post! i always feel like i'm taking too many pictures. i won't feel that way anymore!

[andrea scher]

I love that you shared this!

amen sister!
up with digital and shooting the shite out of everyone.
:)

[Kayla]

This shot makes my heart smile. I am new to this blog, and I absolutely LOVE it. It is inspiring, and I love to see what everyone posts in response. :)
This is a picture taken at my church's 4th of July BBQ of my mom and a squirmy little boy. He kept turning his head when I would try to take pictures, and finally, I got him! :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23620342@N08/2247323502/

[christie]

I am in need of a reminder to shoot more. I finished a project 364 last month and was relieved to put the camera down for a while, but I am slow in picking it back up on a daily basis again.

[Anna]

I am still on a steep learning curve when it comes to photography, but I know for a fact that there is no way I would have captured near as many fun shots as I have if I was still using film. A friend of mine who is an amazing photographer has also said that some of his best shots were the ones he took when the photoshoot was "over". Here is one of mine, an unexpected surprise when we were trying to feed some birds and my son just ran after this one (he had previously been freaked out by the dozens of them around).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sassyanna/2247368760/

[Stacy]

I consider mine a diamond-in-the-rough because it shows my daughter's true personality. Usually when I pull out my camera, she gives me this fake smile, but today, after shooting a bunch of pictures outside, we came in and were just playing. She was hiding under a blanket and I had my camera ready when she popped up. The pictures is blurry but I love it so much!! She was laughing hysterically!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsmommy/2246581475

[lora]

These aren't of the greatest photo quality alive, but they are a fun bunch of these split second shots.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28987938@N00/?saved=1

[Dana]

I never thought this was a good picture until I started reading Tracy and Karen's blogs. Thanks, ladies, for showing me that there's more to life than a posed picture. I love this shot now...

http://ijustlovebeingme.blogspot.com/2008/01/blog-post.html

[Kelly]

I love this shot! I need to get a camera that can shoot, shoot, shoot!!

[Carrie]

How do I love this shot??? Let me count the ways...I love it because it captures freedom, I love it because it makes me giggle, I love it because...oh, okay, I love it because that superhero is MY baby boy and he flies through life this way! Thank you for taking enough shots, Maile, to capture not just my boy's body, but his spirit as well! A treasure and a reminder to soar...straight from your gifted lens.

[B]

My submission (the second picture in the blog entry) was literally at the end of a long day of sightseeing in Iowa- we had stopped for a quick snack and were just walking back to the car when I noticed the light on the bricks in the courtyard we were walking through. After trying to get the perfect shot in a dozen different locations, I quickly framed the bricks at my feet, and clicked. I didn't even check the picture until I got home- and now it's one of my favorites...

http://cotterpinhouse.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/10/

[kristyk]

I love that picture!

This shot is my most popular picture on flickr. I must have taken a hundred pictures of my kids jumping into the pool that day, but this one captured that perfect moment of anticipation. NO FEAR!

http://flickr.com/photos/kristyk/161966943/

[Cindy]

That is so true...KEEP SHOOTING. I find my best shots are almost ALWAYS the ones that result from pushing myself for "just one more" when I feel like I'm done and there are just no more angles I can get this shot from.

Here is my example:
http://www.cindymillsphotography.com/blog/2007/07/27/joy/

[L.Sheridan]

We all know it can be quite a chore to get a little one to focus at picture time. Fortunately, Hudson's extreme interest in the world around him made for some great shots!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lsheridanphotos/1944392641
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lsheridanphotos/1944395441

After a long day, Hudson's dad made a final attempt to get him to smile. The result was a perfect summary of the families personality!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lsheridanphotos/1944398293

[Greg Gibson]

Hi Maile - thanks for your nice post! It's always good to know people are actually LISTENING at those seminars!

Nice picture!

I just want to briefly clarify my point about shooting more pictures. I believe that most photographers don't work a situation thoroughly enough. They get 1 or 2 frames and think "ok, I got that, what next" when really they should keep looking at and working what's going on in front of them. I don't encourage shooting for more repetition, I encourage shooting more to improve on each click of the shutter, by changing angle, changing perspective, or just getting a better moment!

Keep shooting and searching!

greg

[Chasity Furse]

Maile I loved this shot the first time you posted it on your blog! It's definately one of my faves of yours as well!

here is one of my fave out-takes. It was the end of the session and the boys were just DONE with being there....it is one of my faves to date. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cfurse/1608665017/in/set-72157602484069920/

[krystyn]

Agreed! I post at least 10x the pictures I share online. Plus, I'm a pickyhead. :)

[cari]

WONDERFUL shot!

[Kelly]

I don't think this shot counts as a "Superhero" photo. In fact, I do believe my daughter is playing the bad guy here. Every hero needs a villain, right?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26241857@N03/3639744494/