There is something important for you to know: you do not have forever, all you have is time. Life is finite, do not waste it photographing things that don't appeal to you. Of course, there will be times that you have to do that: at events, or family gatherings. But on the whole, if you are out photographing alone or on a tour or workshop, don't go crazy snapping shots of everything you see...wait until something moves you emotionally, those will be your best images. It is important to practice and know your camera even in the dark; know the settings you will need to achieve your result...nothing is worse than messing around with settings while the light fades and disappears. I have a friend who shoots with me often; one night the sun was fading fast, we had gotten to our spot later than expected, but I had already set up my camera with 3 programmed settings and got the shots. He was struggling with his aperture, ISO and shutter speed, by the time he was ready, the sunset was over...this has happened numerous times to him.
Know what you need to get the shot, have your ND grads and polarizer ready if needed..if you don't have time, bracket your images...you can layer them in Photoshop...
The image today is one I took at a small brook nearby...I may have taken 50 different shots of the brook, but this was the only one that appealed to me when I was looking for compositions...I loved the translucence of the water as it rushed over the leaves...don't expect every image to be wonderful...I am happy if I get one great shot out of 100 or 200 exposures...
