Zen Digital Photography

Digital is convenient (no need to process film), yet also very frustrating. My gripe with digital is that there are TOO MANY OPTIONS (when post-processing your photos). Furthermore, another downside of digital is that there are often too many photos to look through (upside of digital is that you can shoot tons of photos, but the downside is that you have too many photos to cull down).

Thus a thought:

How can we make digital photography more zen?

1. Shoot JPEG

I’ve been shooting a lot of JPEG with the simulated black and white film preset (Dynamic Monochrome mode on Lumix G9) — and I would say, this has benefitted me in many ways:

1. I can look through my photos faster (I shoot in medium-JPEG mode, thus the photos import into my computer faster, and they also load faster when I look at them in Lightroom).
2. There is no silly going ‘back and forth’ (as in RAW, when you are uncertain when a certain photo is better in color or black and white).
3. Photos already look good ‘out of camera’ (no need for extra post-processing). You can still post-process and add additional contrast to your JPEG photos (I often do this), but it isn’t always necessary. Whereas RAW takes a lot more time to post-process, which to me– if often wasted time (I don’t like to be in front of the computer too much, I’d rather be out shooting photos, or out living!)

Thus the benefit of shooting JPEG on a digital camera:

It is almost like shooting film on a digital camera.

More simple, zen, and direct.

2. Designate certain digital cameras as your ‘only color’ camera, and other digital cameras as your ‘only monochrome’ camera

One of the biggest problem we have as modern photographer is that we own too many cameras. Too many cameras is a downside, because we get too much ‘decision fatigue’ before choosing a camera to shoot with.

A solution:

Designate 1 single digital cameras as your ‘only color’ camera, and another 1 digital cameras as your ‘only monochrome’ camera.

1. Color only camera: For example, I really like the color JPEG’s that come out of my RICOH GR II (when shooting JPEG, positive color film). Thus perhaps for my trip in Mexico City, I will keep my RICOH GR II as my designated color photography camera (I almost imagine if it were my film camera that only had color film in it).
2. Monochrome only camera: I like the dynamic monochrome JPEG film setting on the Lumix G9. Thus, I will keep this as my solo monochrome camera.

This way, this might simplify your photographic process (if you like to shoot both monochrome AND color photos.

3. Let it go

If a certain photo isn’t good to your eyes, don’t feel like you need to hoard onto the photo! Delete it!

This is currently my digital workflow:

1. Import photos into laptop (Lightroom)
2. Use Lightroom to Pick (hotkey ‘P’) to choose photos I like
3. Filter picked photos, then do additional post-processing if needed.
4. Export photos I like as JPEG to Dropbox, then upload to my blog.
5. A week later, delete all the old photos in my ‘Photos’ folder (delete all the RAW files/JPEG files on my laptop).

Don’t be afraid to delete photos you didn’t pick — be zen, let it go.

Remember, by deleting your photos, you’re not deleting yourself!

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Conclusion

Simplify your photographic process, so you can shoot more, live more, and have more fun! Less time in front of the computer, more time outside.

Keep taking risks in your photography, keep simplifying your photographic process (and life), in order for you to become more creatively productive, brazen, and bold.

And when in doubt,

JUST SHOOT IT.

ERIC