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What frustrates you most on a shoot?

Way too much junk! (Click to enlarge)

Last Wednesday, while preparing for a live video class session with my 30-Days to Professional-Quality Portrait Photography Class, I ran upstairs and saw all my gear spread out.  It was quite the shocking site (as you can see on the picture featured here).  Every piece of equipment had a specific purpose to improve the quality of the video, but could it really all be necessary?

It got me to thinking that it might be time to ditch technology for a while and just enjoy photography.  So, I grabbed by cell phone camera and took a spin around the block.  The other photos on this page are from my little walk.

Are any of these photos good enough to go in my portfolio?  No.  Are they even good enough to go on my mom's fridge?  Probably not.  But, I just set out with the simplest camera I could find and simply enjoyed photography for a while.

The tip for today is to get rid of whatever makes your photography frustrating for a while.  If you hate lugging around the tripod… ditch it for just one shoot.  If you hate figuring out camera settings… use automatic mode for one shoot.   You get the idea.  Just get out there and enjoy photography today.  We'll get back to the gear tomorrow 🙂

Leave a comment here telling me what you're going to ditch for today's shoot.  I'm interested to see what's frustrating you.

An old barn near my house. Why do I travel so far to do photography? This barn is great and I've hardly ever noticed it.
Fine. I admit it. I wear $5 sunglasses from Walmart.

13 thoughts on “What frustrates you most on a shoot?”

  1. At the moment, deleting all these well framed sports shoots due to my good old but slow non-USM 80-200/2.8 magic drainpipe.
    Hopefully, I can save money by the end of the year and replace it with the new Sigma 120-300/2.8 OS HSM.

    1. The thing that frustrates me the most is my 18-55mm lens. I pretty much stopped carrying it around with me. Then every once in a while I think I need it, only to try it and be disappointed yet again. I think it’s time I just ditch it on Craigslist for good!

  2. This post is a page straight out of Dan Jurak’s excellent blog (http://danjurak.wordpress.com). He’s constantly preaching to do more with less, shoot what’s around you, and to not be a gearhead.

    One thing I do occasionally is leave my bag at home and just attach my 17-40mm f/4 L, grab a tripod, and take off.

  3. What frustrates me most is… the constant nagging of getting the perfect shot or contest winning shot etc., etc. With that hanging over my head, it sucks the fun out of photography. I’m trying to ditch that and just enjoy the love of photography and be surprised with some awesome shots that I love! 🙂

  4. Wow, that is such a loaded question and an extremely dynamic problem. I love it, because I am sitting here haveing the hardest time identifying what to ditch. I think I will ditch Photoshop post processing today and use what the camera gives me. Time for all natural. Thanks Jim for making me think, great post.

  5. I decided not to worry about anything and just take shots with my iPhone. point and shoot sometimes is just what I need thanks for reminding it.

  6. when I have to read with my light meter first before shooting and when i have to focus properly………..urrrghhhh sometimes it’s just pain in the ass!

  7. I agree with Dennis, we need to remind ourselves of the basics and just point and shoot, and have fun. Also to enjoy what around us instead of the constant anxiety of getting the perfect shot. We have a life time to improve, and even then I don’t think we’ll be ever be satisfied.

  8. After getting into photography again after a hiatus of 20 years, I started out with a high end point and shoot. It like it because I can just pop it in my pocket or on a belt pouch when bushwalking.
    A week ago I bought a Canon 600D with standard lens. I will progress to either a 18-135 or 18-200, but even with the short lens, I find it is cumbersome….I cannot just be out enjoying being out and seeing and photographing at whim. Lugging the bigger camera means i am no necessarily out on a shoot every time I take it (even though I was probably out on a shoot before).

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