For many, photography starts as an occasional practice—an outlet for creativity during leisure time. However, the journey from occasional snapshots to profound visual storytelling often hinges not on sporadic bursts of activity but on how ingrained photography becomes in daily life.
Coming to you from Teo Crawford, this insightful video illuminates how photography, far from a mere hobby to be taken up when circumstances allow, must become as habitual as drinking morning coffee for those seeking improvement. Crawford shares a compelling personal revelation from a struggle and then success with a 30-day photography challenge, which underscores the critical transformative power of consistency in the craft. As he embarked on his second attempt at this monthly endeavor, not only did his frequency of shooting photos increase, but so did his satisfaction with the results. This experience punctuated the importance of making photography an ongoing spontaneous engagement rather than an orchestrated and infrequent effort.
Throughout the video, Crawford draws upon frequent references to a photographer friend who perfectly exemplifies the theory that integrating photography seamlessly into daily life greatly fine-tunes the photographer's eye and instills a near subconscious readiness to capture fleeting moments of beauty. By always having a camera on hand, his friend transforms everyday encounters and seasonal changes in his small village into striking images that many would overlook. Crawford uses practice to shape a broader illustrative lesson: that by seizing the everyday mundane experiences, photographers can profoundly impact their skills and outputs. This narrative not only encourages you to cultivate persistence in capturing images but highlights how such consistent engagement breeds deeper creativity and a keener eye. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Crawford.
I see the point in this drill for it just makes you more of an observer of your surroundings and the capture or a study of how to capture what is seen. To be habitual you may as well as wear a video camera and sit down and watch it after a day but do you also capture the time you watch it. Like many who capture an image then edit it but also video the editing, many do over and over. Not making light (no pun intended) of this way of getting better. I understand training the eye to really "see" what is there and framing.
I do not know when my eye started to really see maybe the time I was in my grandmothers attic and finding a box of photos and wondering who was who and where was there! My number two brother got the itch first using my dads little "Spy" camera and actually developing in the bathroom while others slept. I on the other hand got the itch while in the navy and an old goat showed his collections of photos from around the world. My family and I had spent the first 20 years of my life being stationed and many bases of 40 moves and 30 schools and not till my mom who keep the list of all places addresses, phone numbers etc. Yes also a box of photos of all, but not till looking at the list of all and looking at all the photos could I recall when and where and most import the who also.
The old goat let me know that the next 20 years or so will be like the tornado my life had been but more like a hurricane saying no two days will be the same every morning would be somewhere different and people will be a blur to my memory. So began my life and capturing it.
The eye as the video is trying train is way deeper and in your soul, for you start seeing things to record your mist of being there and adding on the back the when, what, where, when and who, yes in the film days there was a back of a photo add info from your log book but today where is the back for info.
Now after that added 24 years and some added 25 years what does photography do to oneself.
It continues but when digital happens what is captured has more magic for now more light can be captured but also more info as science you learn the seasons and sun travel with apps that let you look ahead and plan maybe a whole year. But one thing will grab you and not let go, for others it could be anything, mine is the night mainly Milky Ways.
This is what happens to you and that one thing: you awaken with no alarm no matter where you are for a time to grab your gear to a preplanned place, for me the night, I can spend a whole night going to the many preplanned places with only one bottle of water and clothing to keep warm for the night is very cold and sunrise full of bugs, but a two and even fourfold time- the full night from sunset to sunrise to blue hour then golden hour and lastly some critter time when they awaken for food to power a new day.
There are no rules you follow for you just see it for the way it is, it is just that simple!
The most of your time is spent figuring how that someone shares with an image. A key is getting a or many books on the camera you use if there is one. Photography yes is about light and the harnessing but it the most about knowledge of nature, I mean all you can find out for you need to know how the magic works for your eye to see.
The harness that the most photographers have is making it a job, I have been lucky to have as a hobby for if I find a capture subject I can go at it full tilt.
When you travel how many times to you stop for a shot and how long does it take you to get somewhere and does it matter. Example the Pennsylvania roads going through the many woods with hunting and fishing camps, look at your dashcam after a drive how many stops should you have stopped for and where can you! I see many vehicles that photographers use, I say the best is a Humvee with a inclosed turret with you in the turret and a driver, no need to stop and able to go most anywhere you may get somewhere on time.
Lastly I will say is where are you going to save all those images, now think of your brain and how many images are in it and no way to share it or even recall any one thing and share it.
1. Driving back to camp site stopped to capture, A little info no camera lens will let you capture what you see of foreground and the size of the moon you see for you have peripheral vision to see the foreground at a glance but also see the moon full size also, the eye is full of magic.
2. The moon wobbles from rise to set, if the first and the last are the same it is a fake!
3. Yes there is magical light at night with no manmade flash or maybe some from afar!
4. Can you put a price on love at first sight, When you learn from a landscaper (Trey Ratciff) that a little lens (APS-C E 10-18mm f/4 OSS) can be used in full frame at 12mm years before a 12mm is ever made but way bigger and heavier and with pin point stars to boot, AH! Heaven viewing the night sky and capturing also to share.
Remembering Alyn Wallace Astrophotography who wrote the book and made the gear and filters to capture an invisible sky visible to be shared by all.....
I bought the Canon R100 as a second camera for an upcoming project. While it’s not great for professional photography, it’s light and I can interchange my lenses with it so it would be a sweet little camera for everyday use.
When I first started out, I carried my T5i everywhere learning how to use it in manual and it not only improved my photography but my videography because I knew the settings by second nature. It cut down set up time so much!