I started my semi-systematic study of photography in January 2022, and this blog two years ago, on 4th April, 2022. In those two years I’ve shot
- 191 private albums, where each album is on a different calendar day, visually recording an event or occasion. I did not count trivial albums (e.g. just 3-4 selfies or group shots of a small gathering) and did not count occasions with smartphone-only coverage. On average 50-250 shots survived selection, depending on the length and complexity of the occasion. About 25.000 photographs made it to the family album.
- I shot 26 company events, averaging 30-40 selected photographs, and had 3 portrait sessions. But this only started in February 2023, so this is one year’s product.
- I only had five photo walks over two years, four being individual, one shared with my then girlfriend, now wife.
I’d estimate the keeper rate of my photos to be one in eight so I think I took about 200k photos over two years total. Splitting it to genres, the estimates expressed in occasions per year would be
- Hikes & other single-day outings: ~40-50
- Vacation shootings: ~30
- Company events: ~25
- Family events: ~5-7
- Photo walks: ~3
- Portrait sessions: ~3
I completed
- 3 video courses (+2 about halfway through)
- 7 books on photography
- Countless YouTube videos
- Probably around 50-70 technical articles (not gear reviews)
When it comes to skill I think I improved in the following areas:
- Fairly confident using on-camera flash and very basic light modifiers
- Indoor shooting level up (has to do with flash but goes beyond)
- Rarely miss shots due to messed up camera settings (used to forget ISO / PASM / stabilization all the time)
- ~80% correct exposure and focus – with a DSLR or bridge camera
- Relatively comfortable with AF-C & action shooting
- Okay camera holding technique, can shoot fairly sharp slower than reciprocal rule (without stabilization)
- There’s some thought process behind ~50% of my shots, still not very high, but much better than it used to be
- I can comfortably carry a 2kg camera-lens combo all day long – I didn’t think this was skill, but oh boy, it is
Things I planned and did:
- Learned to use Lightroom
- Completely gave up on having the latest gear
- Learned to use Photoshop to the extent necessary
- Took a camera everywhere and shot everything
- Quantity over quality for the first few years – this was a good decision
- Shot with a broad variety of cameras and lenses – probably overdid this one
Things I planned but never did:
- Learn to use off-camera flash
- Learn to use light modifiers (umbrella, softbox)
- Wake up early and do wildlife shooting (there’s a nice area close to where I live)
- Shoot 12 rolls of film / year
- Shoot with manual focus lenses
- Produce a blog post every week for 100 weeks – did 23 total
- Getting into macro shooting
- Practice some street photography
Additionally I’m still bad at:
- Clean composition
- Using the wide angle lens properly
- Shooting candid group shots
- Proper landscape shooting
My favorite camera from the past two years is the Nikon D700. My favorite lens is the Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 FourThirds lens. My least favorite camera was the Kodak P880. My biggest positive surprise was the entire Olympus High Grade Lens family. My biggest disappointment was the Fujifilm X-S1 bridge camera.
Given that I intend to continue this blog, I’ll change the tagline from 100 to 150 weeks of amateur photography.