Promiscuous fingers

I vaguely remember wittering on about setting yourself challenges or themes when out shooting. It helps focus the mind a little and forces you to take pictures of things you normally wouldn’t.

Cat was in Inverness on Friday, getting her hair cut, a process that takes about 3 hours, so it was a good chance to take some pictures of one my favourite cities. The challenge was to take some shots of Inverness that hadn’t been taken before. As the capital of the Highlands, Inverness is a real tourist hotspot and must be one of the most photographed cities in Scotland.

Recently I’ve also been taking 100s of shots of the same thing. on my recent trip to Dunrobin Castle, I must have taken 200 shots of the falconry display and almost using my SLR like a point and shoot, just firing off shot after shot in the hope that one would work out. I think I kept about 10 shots of the display, a keeper rate of just 10%.

My trigger finger is getting dangerously promiscuous.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with that, especially with wildlife, but the good photos were taken more by luck than judgement, and this somehow feels like I’m ignoring all the things I’ve learned over the past few years. With this in mind, I set myself the target of only taking 50 shots of Inverness, and then refining that number down to 25, a ‘keeper’ rate of 50%.

It’s really hard! Amazing how quickly bad habits get ingrained, I started by wandering up to Inverness Castle, to see if there was anything there that would make an interesting shot. The Castle also serves as a courthouse and council building, and it’s a rather squat, utilitarian building that isn’t too photogenic up close. Despite my eyes telling me there wasn’t a shot there, I decided to waste 5 of my precious shots on things that I knew wouldn’t make the cut. Curse my finger!

I then looked away from the castle itself and at the surrounding area, a brilliant panorama of the city and the hills and trees etc. That cost me a further 10 shots, but I really thought about each one. The ever brilliant Scott Bourne and Rick Sammon tell me every 10 days on their Photofocus podcast to ‘make pictures not take pictures’ and I think it’s finally sinking in!

Then it was down around the river, over the bridge and back up the other side, passing the architecturally interesting Eden Court theatre (pictured below). There goes another 10 shots. Down a nice alley and then into a church and I spent the last of my precious shots taking pictures of church spires and graves etc.

I’m really pleased with my final selection. Instead of spending hours choosing which shots to choose and perhaps sharing half of them…I was left with just a handful of pictures that I knew were okay. You can see the shots on my Picasa stream.

Now, I’m not advocating taking this approach on every trip out with the camera, I can visit Inverness anytime and take the shots I might have missed. If you’re at a wedding or an event that will only happen once, then fill every memory card you possess, but as an exercise in self discipline it’s really useful.

What are your thoughts – are your fingers getting promiscuous?