Have you ever snapped a few pictures from the hip? Only to realize the lens cap is still on? How many times have you taken a few photographs? You come back later and find spots and smudges. This happens because your lens had a fingerprint or dust on it. I know these sorts of things have happened to me more often than I'd like to admit.
And that’s just the beginning of the silly mistakes we photographers can make. Another old favorite is taking photographs that are badly exposed. This happens because moments ago, we set our shutter speed or aperture to something appropriate at the time. Then, we forgot about it—and now the situation has changed.
The point is, these things happen when we’re not paying attention. They can completely ruin a photographic opportunity. This is particularly true if the opportunity relies on rapidly changing light. It also applies to an action scene that won’t be repeated. It sounds funny right now. Yet, it’s less amusing when you’re trying to get a photograph of your football team’s game-winning touchdown. Later, you find out that the lens cap was still on or something similar. Now, there is no going back to fix the mistake.
This can create some problems, and a solution needs to be found. So what is a good answer? For me, it’s been learning to develop good habits. It can take a long time to build good habits, but it’s a worthwhile effort.
For this particular problem, I recommend creating a mental checklist. Run through it each time you raise the camera to your face. Check for your lens cap. Glance at the glass to make sure it’s clean. Glance at the camera’s settings to make sure they’re where they should be. If you need to shoot action quickly, you can't check everything. You won't have time to verify every detail when you raise the camera. Instead, do your checks each time there's a pause in the action.
The important part is to follow this mental checklist every time you can. Eventually, it will become an ingrained habit. Whenever you pick up the camera, you’ll spend a couple of seconds looking everything over before taking photographs. It’ll become an unconscious action. We don’t think when we press the shutter. This habit can save us from costly mistakes.
Of course, this isn’t the only place to build good habits. There was a time when memory cards and hard drives weren't as reliable. Even today, mishaps can lead to lost or broken digital storage. That’s why backing up is another essential habit to form. Always back up your photographs in multiple places as soon as you can.
Backing up your memory cards to hard drives should be your priority if you’re on a trip. Do this when you return to the hotel room in the evening, no matter how tired you are. This protects your images from being lost or stolen on a memory card. And when you get home? Shortly after plunking your bags on the floor, start the cloud uploads. This action remains important. You really want to unpack. You feel like taking a shower or crashing on the couch to start recovering. Forming this habit virtually eliminates the danger of losing digital negatives that can never be replaced.
Good habits are hard to form—but they’re essential if you’re a photographer. They’re the enemy of silly mistakes and other mishaps that can prove disastrous.
Now go and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation through your lens.
