I want to get straight into taking better photos, beginning with taking fewer photos. We can all take fewer photos and, in the process, take better photos, and in this episode, I am going to tell you how.
I am picking up on episode 195, where I asked the question – why do I have so many rubbish photos? I want to concentrate on the taking fewer photos bit, and my splendid one photo rule.
You can listen to this episode here
Or just keep on reading – entirely up to you!
First – what is my one photo rule?
Here is the answery bit from episode 152, How My One Photo Rule Will Help You Take Better Photos, where I first discussed my one photo rule. And no, this is not that episode repeated; there is lots of new stuff in here, ok? This episode was released in March 2023, would you believe? How time flies. Blimey. OK, this is it.
“Take one photo. When you are looking at something you want to photograph, take one photo. Do not take loads of photos from different angles and viewpoints. Do not take hundreds of photos and try to find a good one when you return home. Stop, think, look around, and take the best one photo that you can. And then move on.”
Do this, and you will have fewer photos, and the photos that you take will be better. And this has to be a good thing, right?
Hi, and a very warm welcome to Episode 197 of the Photography Explained podcast. I’m your host, Rick, and in each episode, I will try to explain one photographic thing to you in plain English in less than 27 minutes (ish) without the irrelevant details. I’m a professionally qualified photographer based in England with a lifetime of photographic experience, which I share with you in my podcast.
Before I go on. Happy New Year. Happy 2025. I would like to wish each and every one of you, dear listeners, all the best for 2025, and I hope that 2025 is an excellent year for you all.
That was then, and this is now. This is my one photo rule in twelve words.
- “Take the time to take the best one photo of one thing”.
I will repeat that
- “Take the time to take the best one photo of one thing”.
Where did my one photo rule come from?
It came from a time many years ago when I was in a bad place with my photography. I was taking lots of photos, far too many, of anything and everything. I was taking any paid work I could find. I was all over the place. I didn’t like the photos I was producing. And I was spending forever wading through rubbish photos trying to find something half decent. And I was taking forever editing, always trying new things, software, and techniques. My Lightroom catalogue was a complete mess. I had completely lost my way.
I was at the point of giving up. I wanted photography to be my full-time gig, and I put pressure on myself to do this.
Photography stopped being a hobby. Photography became a burden. And the main cause of this was not thinking about what I was taking photos of.
As I look back on this, I realise it was a blessing. I did not know this then; of course, I didn’t. But this was the point at which I started to think about the photos that I was taking. And somewhere along the way, I decided to try to get just one new photo the next time I went out to take photos. That was where this thing started, and that has got me to where I am now. Happy.
But I can look back now and tell you what I used to do and what I do now. So, I’d like to explain what this looks like in reality.
Let’s start with sunrises.
Now I love my sunrises. I love being part of the moment and experiencing the start of a new day, which, to me, is a daily miracle and something to be celebrated.
Many years ago, I would get up early and get out determined to capture the sunrise. I would have all my gear with me, all properly prepped, and I was good to go. But other than that, I didn’t have a plan other than to drive somewhere and take some fantastic photos.
I had a rough idea where the sun was rising, but that was it. So I would wander around capturing anything that I saw, never settling in one place, reacting to what I was seeing.
Then, once that penny I mentioned had dropped, I realised that I needed to find one composition and get that one photo. So I started to do this.
I started to plan where I was taking photos and planning what the composition was going to be. I even started plotting where the sun would rise, meaning that my starting point would be a well-composed, well-thought-out photo with the sun in a predetermined place.
I was beginning the process of trying to get one photo. But there was one thing that I was still doing.
I was taking a photo long before the sun rose, then more photos as the light changed, and then every step from the sun appearing over the horizon to a point where it was some way up in the sky. I could have 20, 30, 40, or 50 photos of that sunrise, and let’s not forget that I am taking three photos using auto bracketing, so that is 60, 90, 120, or even 150 photos.
Which photo was I after? The one with the sun just clearing the horizon.
I am not saying that is the photo that we should always take of a sunrise, far from it. But sticking with me, that was the photo that I was after. That is the moment that I want to capture. That is sunrise to me.
So, all the other photos were a waste of my time. But I didn’t delete them. Oh no, they are all still there. One for another time.
And I love a beautiful sunset too, who doesn’t? But I find sunrises are me and my photography time; sunset is a more social time. I love watching a sunset sat at a nice bar with my bestie, Mrs M.
What do I do now when I am photographing a sunrise?
There are two moments to a sunrise. Two moments that I want to capture. One is before the sun rises, of that spectacular pre-sunrise light, and one just after the sun has risen.
Those are the two photos I want to capture. And no more.
So, if I can take two photos I am happy with, I have nailed it. And that is my one photo rule. Two moments I want to capture. Two times I press the shutter button. Two photos. I think that makes sense.
And I will also have spent a lot more time enjoying that special sunrise moment, and the photo-taking experience as I had planned what I was doing and knew when I needed to take the photos.
So, my sunrise photography experience has been transformed.
And if I see something else I like the look of, I will take a photo of it – that is fine. I don’t close my eyes to anything other than what I have captured. But not until I have what I went there to capture.
Let’s move on.
Me and my photos of buildings
The other example is photographing a building. This is what I do: I photograph buildings. And this is what I used to do.
I would take a photo of the front of a building, then take another one slightly to the left, a bit more to the left, then to the right, up a bit, up a bit more, down a bit, etc. And then, I would go back to the first shot and take another one to be sure. And then maybe another one to the left. And on it would go. I could take 10-20 photos of the front of a building, but I only needed one. Then there are the other sides of the building, the back, and then the internals. And yes, I would repeat this process over and over.
If I needed to provide 20 photos to a client, I could easily take 200 or 300 photos. Times that by three, and that is a lot of photos, data, and stuff on a hard drive. And a lot of photos to sort through, of course.
Now, if I need to provide 20 photos, and I take, edit and issue 20 photos, and the client is happy, I have nailed it. This usually starts with a shot list, so things become much more straightforward when I stick to that, which is what I should have been doing anyway.
And if I see something not on the shot list that I like the look of, that is fine, too.
And the point is this
Two completely different scenarios, sunrise and commercial work, the same problem and outcome. I could give you many more examples, but they will be similar.
Why was I taking so many photos?
A lack of confidence. A perceived lack of technical ability. And a level of insecurity, I guess. And probably a big dose of imposter syndrome. Who am I to take these photos? I’m not a real photographer, after all.
And also because I could take so many photos. Digital photography allows us to do just this – take lots of photos. Not just good photos, but photos of any standard. I wasn’t confident enough in my ability to get a single image I needed, so I covered all angles, hoping there would be something good in there somewhere. I was also using different camera settings, which compounded the problem.
This created additional pressure because I did not know what I was doing and never knew if I had captured what I needed. So, it was a lose-lose situation for me.
Moving on.
Ok – but what if I am not confident only taking one photo?
Then, take more than one photo. But aim to get the best one photo every time you take a photo. If you have that intention in mind when you start, you will likely take fewer photos anyway, and the photos that you take will be better. But try to take a single photo and see how you feel about it.
It is a great aim to get to just take one photo, but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t – just apply the principles of what I am saying and see how it goes.
What if I want to wander around taking photos of things that I see – I love doing this.
Then do that and enjoy it. But remember that you will probably end up with loads of average at best photos. Well, you might end up with hundreds of amazing photos, and if you do, let me know!!! But, if you are taking lots of photos, please delete the rubbish. Just get rid of the stuff that you will never do anything with, as it only builds up and causes problems later.
The talky bit
Just think about what you are taking photos of, and you will start to take better photos.
This costs you nothing other than time, and once you start walking around, looking and thinking, you may well start to see things differently and start to see things that you haven’t seen before.
And there is an irony to all of this. The first photo that I took was normally the photo that I used. I would guess that 95% of the time, the first photo was all that I needed. I might not have had the confidence, but it turns out I had the eye and technical ability to spot a good composition – I just didn’t know it.
All those other photos I took were a waste of time, both in the time taken to take the photos and in the sorting and editing process.
See, I hate sorting photos. Sorting lots of similar photos is at the worst end of the sorting photos scale. If I have taken 10 photos of each part of a building, I have loads of photos to go through to try and find the good one; if there is one in there, that is. And I could have saved myself all that time by just thinking about what I was capturing at the time. That is the point.
But I completely acknowledge that this was part of my learning process – I would not be where I am today without going through this process. I hope my advice will help you on your photographic journey.
My one photo rule is not new. Far from it. It is what we used to do back in the film camera days. The days before digital images, well before digital anything, and also the days before social media. Can you even imagine that? Back then, every photo cost money, so we would try to get the very best photo every time. We had to think about every photo that we took because every photo cost money, both for the film and also the printing.
And you were limited to how much film you had. Imagine if you could only take 24 or 36 photos. How would you feel about that? With a digital camera, we are constrained by the size of our memory cards, which makes the number of photos we are able to capture and record virtually limitless.
So no, this is not new; it is a tried and tested technique from old-school photography days. And one that is still practised by professional photographers today.
What if I use a phone to take photos?
You can still try to get one photo. Give it a go and see what happens. I know it is so easy to take photos with phones without much thought, if any. At least with a camera, there is a conscious, deliberate act of taking a photo.
But there is no reason why you cannot adopt the one photo rule if you take photos with a phone. No reason at all. I must try it myself. I just checked my camera roll, and there are 18,480 photos. I must do something about that! This is an excellent idea for a future episode!
What do I do?
I love my photography these days. I love going out with the intention of getting one photo that I can put in a portfolio. That is what I am after: one photo that is better than all the other photos in one of my three portfolios.
I have three portfolios, covering my architectural photography, travel photography and landscape photography. And these are my favorite photos, they mean a lot to me.
Each portfolio has twelve photos, which are the best photos I have created. And I love my portfolios.
So, when taking photos, I aim to get one that can replace a photo in one of my portfolios. And I know this will not happen every time; of course, it won’t, but I still love trying.
And I still take more than one photo – I want to be clear about that. But every photo that I take has thought behind it.
My starting point is to use my three photography superpowers.
- Walking around.
- Looking.
- Thinking.
Yes really. These are the three superpowers that I deploy every time I go out to take photos. I am looking for an interesting, well-balanced composition. One that I will enjoy editing and publishing. I decide what my main subject is. I study the subject matter carefully, trying to find the most interesting composition with the best light. This is where I spend my time. At the end of the day, I want one photo to replace another in a portfolio. The technical side I don’t need to worry about.
Image quality is my priority, both technically and in terms of composition.
And I spend much less time sorting and editing photos, which has to be good, right?
And I love photography more now than ever.
And I spend my entire life looking around, finding interesting things. Yes, I really do this, and I consider it a gift as it has opened my eyes to so many things that I might have never noticed.
This is what I do.
Want to know more about me and what I do?
A quick plug for me and what I do. Well, you have found this podcast, so why not check out the podcast website photographyexplainedpodcast.com? I have another photography website, rickmcevoyphotography.com, where I write blog posts about my photographs of buildings and other good stuff. On my courses page, you will find my course, How To Become A Real Estate Photographer. You can also find me on YouTube talking about my podcast and my blog – just type my name in, and you will soon find me. That’s enough of the self-promotion.
Some thoughts from the last episode
It was my 2024 highlights, and I really enjoyed this episode. I will do this again in 2025. And now that I say that, I am going to capture the good things over the course of the year.
Next episode
At the time of writing this episode I don’t know. Make sure you follow, subscribe or whatever it is that you can do to make sure you get the next episode, which will be a surprise for you. It will be a surprise to me, to be honest with you!
Right – I am done
This was meant to be a short episode. Oh well, it isn’t, but that is fine; I have said what I wanted to say. And this is important stuff.
If you have a question you would like me to answer, or you just want to say hi, email me at sales@rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk or visit the podcast website, photographyexplainedpodcast.com/start. Or text me from the podcast feed.
It is lovely to hear from you, dear listeners.
This episode was brought to you by a coffee which I consumed before I settled down in my homemade, acoustically cushioned recording emporium. This is a late morning recording, which will be followed by a cheese and pickle sandwich, no crisps.
I’ve been Rick McEvoy. Thanks again for listening to my small but perfectly formed podcast (it says here) and for giving me 27 minutes of your valuable time. After I have edited out the mistakes and other bad stuff, this episode will be about 27 minutes long.
Thanks for listening
Cheers from me, Rick
That was the podcast episode.
Want to know more?
Head over to the Start page on the Photography Explained Podcast website to find out more.
And here is the list of episodes published to date – you can listen to any episode straight from this page which is nice.
Let me know if there is a photography thing that you want me to explain and I will add it to my list. Just head over to the This is my list of things to explain page of this website to see what is on there already.
Let me send you stuff
I send out a weekly email to my subscribers. It is my take on one photography thing, plus what I have been writing and talking about. Just fill in the box and you can get my weekly photographic musings straight to your inbox. Which is nice.
And finally a little bit about me
Finally, yes this paragraph is all about me – check out my Rick McEvoy Photography website to find out more about me and my architectural, construction, real estate and travel photography work. I also write about general photography stuff, all in plain English without the irrelevant detail.
Thank you
Thanks for listening to my podcast (if you did) and reading this blog post (which I assume you have done as you are reading this).
Cheers from me Rick
