How to Take Better Photos With Less Effort (3 simple steps)
If you want to take better photos with less effort there are 3 steps you need to take.
Today, we’re going to break each one of these down and how to apply them practically to your life.
First, lets ask the question: What does “effortless photography” even mean?
I’ve made several videos around the “effortless photography” idea and the term doesn’t matter nearly as much as the principle.
“Effortless” has been one of my key priorities for photography since the beginning.
And this is what “effortless” means to me:
Being able to take photos without interfering or ruining the moment itself.
Being able to take pictures and still be present and enjoy life.
Being able to take pictures without having to try so hard.
So it sounds great, right?
But it still begs the question, how do we do this?
Step One. Master Your Camera
Your camera is not simply a camera.
If you want to make photography effortless you have to learn to treat your camera as an extension of your body.
This is our main weapon, our sword, our basketball, our soccer ball.
It’s a part of us, not just a fancy accessory we hang around our necks.
So if you find yourself wasting time, fiddling with settings, having trouble lining things up, you’ve not yet mastered your camera, and your camera isn’t a part of you.
Which means photography takes more effort than necessary.
You’re still thinking before you’re taking a photo.
And you’re missing the moment because you’re not paying attention.
So how do we make our camera a part of us?
Here are 3 quick steps:
Find the camera that suits you and use it. A lot.
For me it’s of course the x100 series.
Many other cameras are too big and bulky, especially for my hands.
I like having something small and casual I can bring everywhere, and I love the focal length.
You have to find something where the build, size, quality, and look fits your lifestyle.
Find your preferred settings.
Whether you like aperture priority, fully manual, fully auto, etc, try them all out and figure out what’s easiest for you.
Keep taking photos until it’s easy.
As you continue to use your camera, little by little it will become easier.
You’ll get used to the dials, the settings, the functions.
And you’ll be able to predict what a picture will look like before even taking it.
That’s the stage we want to get to.
Because that’s when photography gets effortless.
That’s when our camera feels like the back of our hand and we’re not thinking anymore.
We’re present, taking photos.
So that’s a basic rundown of the first step to effortless photos - mastering your camera.
Moving on.
Step Two. Master Your Eye
A saying you’ll sometimes hear when photographers compliment other photographers is “You have a good eye”.
Which basically means you’re very observational.
You take good photos.
You pay attention well.
You see the hidden moments of life.
And mastering your eye is important in photography because your photos are literally what you see.
Being able to translate what you see into a picture is photography in a nutshell.
So how do we master our eye?
We’ll go into more details in another video, but lets understand this for now.
We master our eye by following our eye.
Something I’ve learned with my time in photography is that I’m not in control of the scene.
I don’t create what happens in the outside world.
Things happen of their own accord, by circumstance, and by colliding elements.
And I’m just an observer - one that happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Now certainly I could shake things up, get in peoples faces and cause a reaction, etc.
But that’s not me, and that’s not my photography.
And obviously you can debate that you can “train your eye” to pay attention to certain patterns, shapes, lines, and moments in the world, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.
What I mean is that the only real thing I can control is when I press the shutter.
And camera settings, but that’s it.
So what does this mean?
This means that I can’t control what captures me.
I can’t control what stands out to me.
I can’t control what I see.
Meaning you can’t train your eye to “see better photos”.
Because your eye already sees the photo.
And if you can just capture that, you’re in good hands.
So your job is to follow your eye and pay attention to what it pays attention to.
And the more you follow your eye, the better an observer you become.
You’ll realize there are interesting things any and everywhere that you eye pays attention to but your mind didn’t notice.
And you’ll take a picture here, and you’ll take a picture there.
But you are not “looking”, you are just “following”.
Does that make sense?
You learn to master your eye by learning to follow where your eyes naturally go.
Which should result in a process that’s very natural.
It’s intuitive, easy, effortless.
Let these things happen.
Step Three. Master Your Life
It’s not as deep as it sounds.
I just couldn’t think of a better word for this section so we’re stuck with “life”.
The final step towards taking better photos with less effort is to master your life.
What do I mean by this?
I mean that if you’ve been taking photos for any period of time now, you’ll realize that your best and favorite memories often come from interesting things you’ve done.
Some of them are basic and boring.
Some of them aren’t even that good.
But they’re interesting because they remind you of everything else that went on to taking the photo.
Whether or not it was a photo you took on a camping trip last summer or just a simple hangout with friends, a photo isn’t just a photo.
A photo is a proxy for everything that happened in the photo, everything that led up to the photo, and everything after.
Let me give you an example.
This is a photo I took recently at Coachella 2024.
It’s called “Dunkaroo”.
“Dunkaroo”, Coachella 2024
Dunkaroo is when a person dunks their head into ice water while being held up by two friends.
He or she holds their head underwater for any given time while the people around chant “Dunkaroo! Dunkaroo! Dunkaroo!”
Once the person is done, he/she comes out and chugs a beer or seltzer through this long funnel.
And then, everyone cheers.
So this photo is a representation of this.
I like this image because you can tell the guy is being held up but you have no idea why.
There are also some clues within the picture like the funnel being held by this other guy.
And based on the elements in the photo you have to kind of piece together what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, etc.
And of course it makes more sense with the full context.
But the point is, the photo isn’t just the photo.
It’s a proxy that also represents all those things that come with the photo.
That story being: a journey of people, festival goers, campers, drinking and having fun early in the morning before they embark on a weekend of music, excitement, and drugs…
So how does this apply to effortless photography?
It applies because this photo was taken in the context of my life.
Meaning I would not have gotten this photo if I didn’t go to Coachella.
And I wouldn’t have gone to Coachella if I wasn’t interested in the music, didn’t have friends who were going, etc.
So many photos that I take are simply a record of my life throughout my travels.
I’m not going to these places to get good photos.
I’m just living life and taking photos along the way.
That’s what it means to master your life.
Find the things you are interested in.
Find the things you like you do.
Pay attention to places you go normally, on a daily basis.
And then take pictures.
And you’ll realize that great pictures come from doing things to begin with.
They say art imitates life.
Meaning you have to live a life to make art.
So if you want more exciting photos, do more exciting things.
If you want more simple photos, do more simple things.
And if you aren’t happy with your photos, change your environment.
Because life is the source of these moments we want to capture.
Photography is just an extension of that.
That’s what I mean by master your life.
Alright, a quick wrap up.
If you want to take better photos with less effort, here are 3 steps to master.
Master your camera
Your camera is your main tool and should feel like a part of your body.
If it’s not, photography is by default “effortfull” because everything you do takes up too much energy.
Master your eye
Your photos are an extension of your eye.
So if you want to master your eye, follow your eye.
Pay attention to what it pays attention to, and you’ll have your picture.
Master your life
If your photographs are an extension of your life then you must master your life.
Meaning get your life in shape, start doing the things you want to do, start living the life you want to live and good photos will come naturally out of that process.
So that’s it. Those were 3 steps to taking better photos with less effort.
If you found this helpful, please share this with a friend who also might.
Also do check out “The Sinking Sun”.
It’s my latest photography zine that I ironically spent a lot of effort on.
And while you’re at it, you can grab a free 4x6 print (the link is somewhere).
Thanks for reading, have a great day!
