For the past decade or so, I’ve been a photographer that’s all about getting it right in-camera and not relying on post-production to do all the work for me. I’m a photographer, not a photo editor. That means that I shoot with intentionality and that I don’t think about relying on my thoughts and feelings afterward. To me, this is a better style of shooting because I’m doing more of the work in-camera that many other photographers just don’t do or know how to do. The key there is with intentionality, and ultimately, this means that you make photographs that stand out so much more from anyone else.
For more tips like this, please check out our other Useful Photography Tips.
The big thing to remember is that you’re making your brain work less in some ways. When you do it from the start instead of trying to fix it in post-production, you put more effort into the image up front and therefore then make the image a lot more human in the creation process. Surely, the creation process doesn’t end there.
How is it different?
Well, if you’re composing based on the square format, you’re looking at and paying attention to very specific things in the scene. At any given time, there’s less to worry about instead of when you’re shooting landscape or portrait mode. Everything is right in the center of the lens. This means that you’re not worrying about distortion on one side or another. You’re alos not worrying about extraneous lights or anything else. Instead, you’re seeing exactly what you’d get without editing.
When you do it in post-production, you then often sit there and wish that you had done something in-camera instead of trying to make the image happen otherwise using post-production trickery.
Just try it. You’ll see how intentionality really plays a big part of shooting.