This is another view-from-my-office photo.
When a photo job doesn’t work out the way you wanted, who do you blame?
If you blame your tools then the solution is to get better tools.
If you blame your customers then the solution is to get better customers.
But if the blame rests on you then the solution is to get better.
Not-to-do List
When something goes wrong, many organizations will review what happened and create a plan so that it doesn’t happen again. A photographer can also do this.
Track your mistakes. If something went wrong with a job, write down what you can do to prevent it from happening again.
Over the years, I’ve accumulated a list of things I should not do. This list includes:
• Building interiors – Don’t handhold. Always use a tripod.
• Building interiors – Don’t guess. Always level the camera.
• Building interiors – Don’t go wider than 20mm because it will introduce too much distortion. (Despite what software makers claim, transform tools can’t remove all distortion. Distortion isn’t just leaning verticals. There’s also distortion in horizontal planes. Very wide lenses distort object sizes: near objects are too big and distant objects too small.)
• Business portraits – Don’t use gold, maybe use silver, always use white. (White reflectors always work, silver reflectors can be too contrasty, and gold just looks weird for a business portrait.)
• Business portraits – Don’t just look at their face. Look at their arms and shoes. (Arm position affects their shoulders and posture. Foot position affects posture. Posture affects attitude. Attitude affects their facial expression.)
• General photography – Don’t rush. Set the camera to single shot mode so you can slow down and think. (My newspaper days taught me to shoot quickly and be in and out of each job as fast as possible. I still have to remind myself not to do this anymore. Think, compose, focus, think again and then maybe push the shutter button.)
• Group photos – Don’t go wider than 24mm. (Going wider means too much distortion to people near the edges of the frame.)
• Invoicing – Don’t misbill. Proofread every word and check every number before sending an invoice. (If you get the customer’s name, company or address wrong, they don’t have to pay that invoice. If you bill too high, the customer might think you’re trying to cheat them. If you bill too low and they pay that amount, it’s almost impossible to go back and ask for more money.)
• Retouching – Don’t overdo it. Always reduce effects to 75% opacity or less. (I have a sticker on my computer monitor that says, “Reduce to 75%.”)
You should be learning from your mistakes and not repeating them. You should be getting a little better all the time.
