Subject knowledge
There is no substitute for understanding your subject, whether it’s your child and you know how they react to a particular event or circumstance or any other subject you like to photograph.
The best sports photographers are experts in ‘reading the game’ and be ready for the crucial decisive moment as it happens and not just react to it after the event.
The best wildlife photographers are often experts in animal behaviour, the best landscape photographers are experts in reading the weather, the best pet photographers have a special rapport with the animals they work with.
Take time to watch and study what is going on, often things repeat and if you can understand when then you can be ready.
I can’t remember how many times I have taken a photograph or series of photographs and thought ‘that’s it’ I thought I had got the best image I was going to get from that location or of that animal, dog, bird or whatever. Then later an even better opportunity presents itself, great if you still have your equipment ready but pretty frustrating if everything is back in the bag or car!
As the old Monty Python line goes “always expect the unexpected”!
Wait that bit longer (your partner will surely understand why you are late back!), there is often something just around the corner. Have patience, and hope.
It’s easy to be a ‘lazy photographer’ and not swapping that lens over when you can see it would give you a new perspective, walk a little closer, walk a little further away, get higher to look down on the subject, or lie down and look up at it.
