30 Day Habits for Effortless Photography
Many people have terrible habits around photography.
You see habits are some of the most important things for creatives, photographers, and just people in general.
If you don’t have good habits it’s difficult to get good or be productive at anything.
And for many, photography is just something they do every now and then.
But it’s not really a part of their life.
Therefore photography isn’t “effortless”, because even the little things take effort.
It’s hard to focus on capturing the moment when your attention is consumed by the little things like changing the settings on your camera.
But if you can do what we learn today for 30 days, photography becomes effortless.
And I don’t mean effortless in that it’s not going to take work.
I also don’t mean that you can stop doing this after 30 days and keep the benefits.
I mean that if you can reach 30, you can reach 60, and then 90, and so on and so forth.
30 is just the first hump.
You see, many studies say that habit formation takes at least 8 weeks.
30 days is obviously less than 8 weeks, but its enough to get the cycle going.
And if you want to start with a smaller number, you can.
So this is about integrating photography into your daily life with good habits such that you reach the point where you don’t even have to think about it.
Most people wont get that far but that’s okay.
We don’t have to worry about that, lets just start.
Habit 1
Always Bring Your Camera with You.
The first habit we need to build for photography to become effortless is to have your camera on you at all times.
Seriously.
It sounds bloody obvious but you can’t take pictures without a camera.
Now this doesn’t have to be a camera camera, you can use a phone if needed.
But pick your tool of choice and make sure you always have it.
Even if you don’t think you’re going to take pictures, you’re just running errands, or you’ll just be out for a quick second.
I can’t explain the amount of times I’ve gone somewhere, realize its a gorgeous day, reach down to take a picture, and remember I didn’t bring my camera with me.
Regrets.
So now I take great effort into making sure I bring my camera everywhere.
And it’s often that many of my best and interesting images come from just living life.
I’ve mentioned this in a previous video, but we all have wildly interesting lives.
Now I don’t mean some movie screen type of life, but a life that’s unique in it’s own way.
We just don’t think it’s exciting because it’s our life and we’re used to it.
The things we are used to seeing are the things we’re used to seeing.
But if you truly think about it, there is not one other person in the entire world living the exact same life as you.
If you understand that then you’ll realize all your experiences are unique, no matter how small, miniscule, or mundane.
They say art imitates life.
One interpretation of that is that you must live a life in the first place to make art.
Another interpretation, and the one that applies for this, is that no matter what you do, if you’re living life, there is an opportunity to capture a beautiful moment and create art.
Start bringing your camera everywhere and pay attention to the random things you start to take pictures of.
Your eyes will begin to notice things you never noticed before.
Your feet will take you to places you’ve never been before.
Because our lives are more than just the camping trip we took last summer.
And reality is more than just a highlight reel.
Our lives are an intersection of everything that is happening in our lives interacting with everything else that is happening out there.
And there’s plenty of beauty in the little everyday slice of life moments.
So starting today, wherever you go, your camera goes as well.
The more you have your camera with you, the more photos you’ll take.
The more photos you take, the more good photos you’ll have.
The more good photos you have, the better you get.
And the better you get, the more photography becomes effortless.
Before you leave the house, instead of phone, wallet, keys, it’s now phone, wallet, keys, camera.
Habit 2
Change Your Settings Wherever You Go.
This one is not so much a requirement but a very good practice to keep.
Wherever you go you want to build a habit of changing your settings.
Whenever you enter a new room, whenever you exit a room, whenever the lighting, scenery, and time of day changes.
Why?
Because that way when you pull your camera up to take a photo, the exposure is already set and you can simply capture the moment.
You won’t be struggling and fiddling with your camera to get the exposure right, only to realize that the moment you had wanted to capture is now gone.
Obviously, if you shoot full auto you can ignore this part.
But I shoot more or less fully manual, and often times aperture priority.
Meaning that whenever light changes my exposure will change.
And I never want to be fiddling with my camera and missing the moment.
Trust me, that happens more often than you think.
So this just a good habit to build overall.
You don’t have to be super strict about it, but if you can build this habit, it becomes automatic.
Especially if you’re shooting on something like Fuji, all the exposure functions are on the body.
Which is why I shoot Fuji in the first place - they’ve got manual exposure dials for everything.
Aperture, shutter speed, iso.
Meaning I can adjust and change my settings without turning the camera on.
It’s just, “Okay probably shoot wide open, lower the shutter speed a bit, maybe raise or lower the iso…”
If you can master that, you’re golden.
You won’t have to think about photography anymore.
Now obviously this is the next level skill: being able to expose your camera without looking at the screen.
You don’t have to get that far yet, for now I’d recommend simply matching your exposure to the room you’re in.
That way whenever a moment comes, you’re ready.
It’s a quick snap and then you’re back to whatever you’re doing.
Effortless.
Habit 3
Take Walks Often.
The final habit you want to build and integrate to make photography effortless is walking.
Seriously, walks are the most important thing.
Especially if you’re a street, landscape, or travel photographer, walking is an essential component of your photography.
Actually, walking is almost all of your photography.
So if you want to become a better photographer, learn to love walking.
Because that’s a lot of what you’ll be doing here.
The good news is that walks are also great for your mental state.
For creativity, they allow you to step away from the work, clear your head, and approach the work from a new angle.
Similarly, if you are someone with a busy life, walks can be a great way to distance yourself from the things that are stressing you out and become less overwhelmed.
The point is, it’s a healthy practice that I’d recommend for almost anyone, not just photographers.
And if you are a photographer, there will be plenty of moments you’ll want to capture while you’re out on a walk.
Regardless of where you go, whether its a downtown area or just around your neighborhood, there will be things that catch your eye.
Therefore, the mechanism that actually drives your photography isn’t your camera or even your skill as a photographer.
It’s the love for being outside - or whatever environment you’re in.
Why?
Because the more you’re in a place you love, the more you’ll take photos.
The more photos you take, the better photos you’ll have.
That’s how you make photography effortless.
By placing yourself in an environment where photography happens, simply because you love the environment itself.
You’re not thinking, “Time to go out and take photos today”.
No, this is just your daily walk.
You do this at this time on this day, you bring your camera along with you, and all of the sudden these beautiful moments of life get captured.
So if you pick an environment you love, photography will become more enjoyable, more effortless, and you’ll get better work simply because you love being there.
The person who enjoys his/her environment will take more better photos.
So obviously it doesn’t have to be purely walking - that’s just what it is for me.
For you it could be concerts, it could be weddings, it could be the wilderness.
Be in a place where you enjoy being and photography will become effortless.
Lets sum this up real quick.
If you want to make photography effortless, try building these habits.
If you build good habits around photography you will take more and better photos with ease.
First, bring your camera everywhere you go.
You can’t take photos without your camera…or phone.
Second, get used to changing your settings.
If your settings are always set, you’ll be less likely to miss the shot.
Third, take walks often.
If you don’t like walking, find an environment you like to be in.
The more you enjoy where you are, the more you’ll go there, the more photos you’ll take.
Do any one of these 3 habits for long enough such that it becomes automatic and you don’t have to think about it.
That’s when photography becomes effortless - through good habits.
I hope this helped - if it did, please share this with a friend.
Also grab my new photography zine “The Sinking Sun”, while it’s still here.
Thanks for reading, have a great day!
