It takes a certain level of confidence to get in close and eliminate a proud father’s beaming face. Deciding what you want and going and getting it is something that all confident photographers do. Every time I photograph just about anything, I take a step back and get myself into my confident photographer space; my personality actually changes when I have a camera in my hand.

Becoming a confident photographer requires repeated success.

Obviously, that’s easier said than done. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you’re trying to become that photographer that all of us want to be.

• Shoot pictures every day. Accept my 60 Day Challenge. (It’s really two 30 day challenges built into one so it’s not that bad.)
• Keep your equipment simple and know how to use the equipment that you have. So many of my bad photographic days were the result of me not knowing how to use my equipment confidently—some recently.
  

  This man and I were both as serious as we could possibly be at this memorial service for Abraham Lincoln’s assassination outside of Ford’s theater. I shot 50 photographs of him and we never spoke. I think he sensed my confidence and let me go about my work. Sometimes, when you act like you know what you’re doing people sense that something good is happening. Subjects can sense confidence.

• Stick to natural light for the time being. It’s tempting to use artificial light but that’s a whole other level of complication that you may not need right at the beginning. Some of the greatest photographers rarely used artificial lighting. They were nutty for natural light. It’s a good way to go. AND digital cameras LOVE natural light.
• You need to share your photographs often. This is a stumbling block for a lot of people. It requires risk-taking and a willingness to have your ego beat up a little bit. Trust me, it’s good for you. Take a photography course, post your pictures on Facebook, show your pictures to your friends, neighbors and, God forbid, a professional photographer. Keep sharing. Go get yourself some pats on the back or an occasional slap on the wrist. You learn a lot when you show your photographs to people.
• Reshooting photographs is a valid way to improve your photography and your discipline. Just because you photograph something once doesn’t mean you can’t improve by giving it another shot.
• Refuse to shoot photographs in bad light. Granted, it’s not always possible but when you start with bad light you are fighting an uphill battle you are likely going to lose.
• Refuse to shoot photographs in front of lousy backgrounds. Lousy backgrounds are photographic death. Don’t push the button unless you really have to.
  
  

  I had already been to the art installation at our local Arboretum alone. Driving home I conceptualized this picture in my head and decided to go back and shoot it with one of my sons to capture the Lord of the Flies feel of the structures. I waited until the light was right and found Teddy after school one day bored and with nothing to do. Just the two of us went back. I didn’t tell him that I was going to ask him to take off his Phillies t-shirt for the shoot; he didn’t seem to mind much only because there was no one else around. Confident photographers often have very specific ideas in their heads by what they want to photograph and then they make it happen. (it would have been a very different photograph with the Phillies logo in the middle of it.)

  
  Previous Blog: How I Became a Confident Photographer
  
• Know when to stand back and watch something happen and then know when to jump in and take control. This is a tough one. Only experience will tell you when to do what. Oftentimes, I find that a little direction and control combined with a willingness to stand back and then see what happens produces the best results.
• Try to imagine in your mind how you are going to photograph an event before the event happens. Pre-visualize success. Then, as inevitably will happen, be willing to bail on your idea and go with the flow. Once again, you will get better at this with experience. Photographers walk a fine line.

Attending photo safaris and conferences is one of the great ways to be inspired by your peers and learn from their mistakes—and they all make them.

• Read books, attend webinars, study magazines and movies. There are lessons to be learned wherever photography is being used. It doesn’t matter if it’s good, bad, or ugly. Just ask yourself what you would do differently if you were in the hot seat.
• Portraiture is a wonderful place to start with reshooting. Learn from your mistakes. And, I guarantee it, many of your mistakes will be related to lighting.
• Don’t take other people’s comments too seriously, whether they’re positive or negative. In the end, you are going to have to do what you think is right.
  
  

  Some of the best, confidence-building photographic habits happen when you are alone with your camera. Taking the time to be meticulous about your camera settings and your compositions when you’re practicing on simple still lifes—I call them sketches— helps your confidence grow enormously and allows you to handle your camera and your vision when you are photographing the busy real world—a world full of distractions and obstacles.