Your first 10,000 photos

“Your first 10,000 photos are your worst.” Henri Cartier -Bresson.

Now I don’t believe that Henri was being flippant when he said this, the simple fact is the more you shoot, the quicker you improve. Now as the title suggests, my next big realisation was simply to Shoot more! That’s it!! The more images you take, the more you perfect your craft and hone your skills, so the quicker you will progress. So shoot more, but more of what exactly???

“We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson. So he encourages us to shoot mindfully and with purpose.

In this image for example, I first noticed the abstract qualities of the shadows against this wall created by a bus stop ..In reality the backdrop was quite ordinary, but I saw it’s potential so decided to stand and wait for my subjects to walk by, this is commonly known as setting the stage.  Within 5 minutes I had captured 3 images, my first subject was out of step, my second was running and not quite what I had visualised.  When I saw this girl I knew I exactly where I wanted to capture her. The decisive moment timed the image to her full stride and placing her between the shadow elements of my backdrop.

Shoot more often…My camera is always with me when I walk out my front door. That is why one camera and one lens is a great decision. The less camera gear you carry the more likely you are to take your camera with you.