We all know the basic work-flow by now—take pictures, copy the memory cards, backup, process, print and deliver. Each of us has our own way of doing things and, as is said, any way that works for you is the right way.
However, if you dive beneath the surface, into the individual activities, you can begin to see some common threads. When on a shoot, you find you can't get the image you are after, but you can get something close enough to fix in post. Or, you get lazy and will not bend low enough or crawl on the ground to get a good perspective. I'm sure you can not only answer these, but provide a few of your own. Every photographer I've spoken with has admitted lapses, at one time or another.
When coming back from a shoot, do you put your gear down and relax for a while or just leave everything in the trunk of your car, thinking you will get it later? Look, I can go on and on, but you get where I'm coming from. I used to be the photographer that consistently did all of the above and much more.
As a matter of fact, if you were clandestinely watching me 24/7, you'd see the same lapses happening in other parts of my life. I'd would rush through tasks, believing I could correct any errors later, leave my bills lying on the kitchen table and forget one or more until I received dunning notices and telephone calls.
…you do in photography as you do in life.
Sometime, a long while back, I saw the similarities between my work life and the personal side. It was on a walk with a friend who brought it to my attention. I saw my life before that night, like beads on a string—incident after incident of thought inducing self-sabotage. In that single micro-second, I shifted. My friend asked what I was going to do and I said I didn't know what, but, no matter what, I wasn't going to repeat the past.
You see, you do in photography as you do in life. Change one and you change the other. After all, photography is but an extension of yourself and mimics what you are, even when you are not getting images.
As I write this, we are on the cusp of a new year, a new decade and it's time to do some cleaning, both on our photographic equipment and on ourselves. Take a minute, between now and January 1st to look at how you are as a photographer. Make it a point to expend some effort on making changes in your workflow, from beginning to end, and you will be affecting your entire life.
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