Will I ever remember all required steps to take a good negative?

[Mark J]

Here's one i was reminded of last night : the depth of field of a 300mm lens at f/32 when focused on a scene about 12 feet away is SHOCKINGLY shallow !

[LabRat]

Camera shooting checklist:

F A S T

F- Focus/Factor/Flag/Film Holder (filter + factor, bellows factor, flag (shade) lens, holder in)

A- Aperture/advanced (roll film)

S- Shutter/Slide (speed set, sync, shutter closed, cocked, pull dark slide)

T- Think/Take (anything you forgot!?!!!)

There's others, like head/tripod tightened down, stable etc but that is basic sequence to expose... Say to yerself "FAST"...

It's a lot like learning to drive... So much to remember, but becomes natural over time + miles...

Steve K

[willwilson]

This is a great thread. Lots of great ideas. I approach this problem with a continuous improvement mindset. Each time I encounter something that makes taking a photograph a struggle or is just hard. I try to make a continuous improvement to reduce that struggle. Taking a photo should be easy.

I also try and follow the lean principle of 3S. Sort, Sweep (clean to inspect), and Standardize. This is a short version of 5S. So everything in my kit has a place and everything is in it's place. In my experience, because of this standard, actions can become more intuitive. Lean can also work wonders in the darkroom.

[Thom Bennett]

I started keeping a box with all of my f*** ups and would periodically look through them to remind myself just how much time and money was going to waste because I was not paying attention, moving too fast, etc. Doing this gave me a deeper respect for each sheet of film and has led to me being more methodical with every aspect of taking a photo.

[Michael Jones]

Have you made at least 500 negatives? Even if you have, a handy checklist is still essential. AND SLOW DOWN, TAKE YOUR TIME

Fred also said it will likely to make 5000 negatives before you get real keepers. That was more fun when 8x10 was less than $1 a sheet, Azo was less than $70 a box and J&C would cut Ilford ULF film in any size literally on demand…