Warming Up and Why It Matters

In Lightroom, my currently imported library contains over 14,000 photos, and my complete archive is many times that. I look through this library, often looking for those hidden gems in the ones I’ve overlooked; sometimes, I find them; sometimes, they continue to elude me, and sometimes, they were never there to discover. When I dig through my archive, I notice something evident in many of my photo sets - the first 10-25 captures are usually terrible. What is the focus supposed to be? Why is the exposure so off? Did I find this interesting? These are the questions I ask myself.

Peggy’s Point Lighthouse

So Why Does Warming Up Matter?

Warming up is a crucial step that can make the difference between a successful day of shooting and one filled with frustration and mediocre photos. There is a period of reintroducing yourself to your camera, the numerous settings, and getting familiarized with how to shoot. It’s a natural step in your process that should not be overlooked. Maybe you need to test the light, adjust your exposure, or frame a few captures and check your focal length; those first few captures allow you to experiment, make mistakes, and adapt. These trial shots are like a sketch board for the day or shoot ahead, and your board will be messy.

Have you ever had one of the days when you were not feeling it? Maybe the weather was not in your favour, and you couldn’t figure out how to work with the light you had, and you came home with nothing? Warming up helps you overcome this. Some of your photos will be garbage; you might feel that you don’t know what you are doing or lost your way. Well, nobody shoots greatness all of the time. Embrace the terrible and understand that it’s all a path to what you are looking to achieve. It may take ten attempts or 100 to get that first capture you are happy with. It takes a while to get into the mindset to be able to photograph with success. Take as many photos as you need until you feel confident that what you are doing is getting results you are happy with. Do your warmups.