If you’ve been reading my stuff for a while or attended one of my photo workshops, you’ve no doubt heard some of my little photography sayings. If you haven’t, get ready, because here are some of my favorites. Each is an attempt to drill down to the most basic tip I can come up with to immediately improve someone’s photography. Note that I am not claiming that all of these are original, although I think a few of them are. They are things I have picked up over the years reading great works by great photographers like Ansel Adams for instance. At least one of them is from my pal Rick Sammon - he calls them "Sammonisms" so I will call mine "Scottisms." Enjoy...
In no particular order…
1. Background, background, background
2. The camera looks both ways
3. When in doubt, leave it out
4. If your photos aren't good enough you aren't close enough
5. If you want to backlight - shoot tight
6. Feel your way to a photograph
7. Make - don't just TAKE pictures
8. Want better pictures? Find better subjects
9. Concentrate on depth of feeling, not depth of field
10. To make a photograph is to make a memory
11. We're not photographers, we're high priests and priestesses of memory protection
12. Be story teller, not a picture taker
13. Before you press the shutter button, look up - look down - look all around (LUDA)
14. Remember, you own every pixel of every frame - it's yours to do with as you see fit
15. The best TRIPOD is the one you will actually carry with you