I find a lot of similarities between the game of golf and photography. We talk about golf being the game of inches, and we say the same in photography.

If you move the frame slightly, it would be a much better photo.

Before a golfer takes a shot, they examine the ball’s lie. They look at the distance to the pin. They see if they need a couple of photos to reach the plug. When putting, they try and read the putt before they take a swing.

The problem I am seeing with most beginning photographers is they were playing golf. They would walk up to the ball and just hit it. They don’t look at what they want to accomplish. They don’t decide which is the best club from their bag to hit the ball with and then determine how they will swing to hit the ball.

Now at the best golf courses and for pro players, they had caddies.

In golf, a caddie (or caddy) is the person who carries a player’s bag and clubs and gives insightful advice and moral support. A good caddie is aware of the challenges and obstacles of the golf course, along with the best strategy for playing it. This includes knowing overall yardage, pin placements, and club selection.

At the very top of their game, you see pros not swinging a club before they have paused, considered everything possible, selected the club, and even do some practice swings.

Here is a tip for every photographer. Before you click the shutter, decide on each of these and why you picked them before taking a photo.

• ISO
• Aperture
• Shutter-Speed
• White Balance
• Under exposed, normal exposure or over exposed
• Do I need to change the light in some way [reflector, flash, etc]
• Background
• Foreground
• Composition

If you were to talk about why you took a photo, could you tell us also why you chose different settings on your camera to capture the moment?

It all boils down to why am I taking this photo? What am I doing with the camera to ensure I have captured the best possible way to achieve my goal.