Practice Does anyone do it?

[RichardRitter]

Practice does anyone do it, why and why not.

If you do practice do you give yourself anything that stretches your limits?

[Kirk Gittings]

Because I find the "good light" to be very fleeting, I practice setting up the camera, metering etc. so I can catch the light and avoid silly mistakes.

[Louie Powell]

Actually, most of my photography could best be described as practice.

[Ron Marshall]

I never used to bother until I missed a shot I really wanted, because I was too fumbly.

After that I sorted out my kit and practiced the set-up, memorised the location of all of my equipment in my pack, the operation of the camera controls from under the darkcloth and practiced front tilt in a few different situations. I'm not much faster, just more consistent.

[j.e.simmons]

As a former professional musician, practice always came naturally to me. I practiced setting up my camera, practiced putting things back on my cart where they belong, practiced getting various things out. I find I can work pretty quickly - even with a heavy C-1 and heavyweight Zone VI tripod.
juan

[Mike Castles]

Not near enough. With any break in shooting, it seems like I always mess up at least one shot. The camera setup, loading holders, making sure that the camera is level, back where it is supposed to be, etc. It all comes from either doing it over and over and slowing down and running a mental check-list. Metering, etc require equal attention. So plan to walk around the house with a meter, load unload film holders, setup camera, more as a dry run for the day that one important shot is found and the light is changing quickly.

[Walter Calahan]

If you shoot enough, every time you make a picture, you are practicing for the next time.

[Diane Maher]

Practice photography? I like to think that going out and making pictures is a form of practice.

Practice setting up/taking down equipment? No, but I found a reason yesterday that I should. I was out shooting with another LF'er and a thunderstorm approached rapidly. With the lightning that was striking in the area and us being in a relatively open area, we needed to get out of there quick. Fortunately, his son was there and helped with some of our stuff. Both of us carried tripod with cameras/lens still attached. He was shooting 8x10 and I was shooting 5x12. Our vehicles were about two minutes away in the parking lot.

[Ken Lee]

In hindsight, all the keepers were "for real", and all the rejects were "just for practice".

Sometimes I take some, just to see if what I sense, will show up in the image. When these images work out nicely, I consider that I have grown in sensitivity, and learn to trust my feelings a bit more. When they don't work out, I just file the proofs, look at them again later, and scratch my head wondering what it was I thought I saw.

In both cases, the eyes get training. It's a slow process.

[Scott Knowles]

Practice is the least of my worries. I spent 13+ years doing environmental field work where you had to use a consistent method every time at every site. Going through the routine of servicing the site and equipment always allowed me to check and think about other things going on with the equipment, field site, etc.

So learning LF field work and camera techniques came naturally, and allows me to think about the metering and exposure, my weak point. I'm always going through the minutes of work for the few seconds of click wondering if I got it right and the bracket shot(s). But as Walter said, the more you do it, the better (supposedly) you become.

But even now as with field work, I'm occasionally making mistakes and telling myself not to do that again. The only thing I consciously double check is the shutter being cocked before removing the film cover.