Keep Shooting!

There is a school of thought that says the more of you shoot the better the chances of getting a good set of photographs. Hobbyist photographer Juha Haataja proves how true this is. In 21 months he has crossed an exceptional 100,000 shots with his Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 camera, averaging to around 150 shots per day. Whichever way you look at it, this is a huge number - there are professional-grade cameras that take pride in promising this kind of longevity. In a chat with him, he said he hadn't based the number of images around any scientific calculations or created magic potions, it was simply about keeping the camera with him all the time and shooting as much as he could

He says he owes a major portion of achieving this milestone to his camera. From the conversation and a read through his blog, Light Scrape one gets a sense of his love for the LX3. He definitely enjoys shooting with it. While many of us would simply upload images, he doesn't fail to appreciate the camera each time he posts an image.

Juha’s photography largely revolves around nature and landscape. With the sheer amount of photographs one can easily agree he has documented every aspect of Finnish landscape and seasons. There is an interesting mix of photographs with varied subjects, lighting conditions, extreme temperatures and colors. Despite working full-time in the IT sector, he ventures out often finding photo opportunities. ‘Owning a camera is an excuse to go out more often and explore new places.' he adds.

In 2008, Juha wanted to upgrade to a better camera. His intention was investing in a higher resolution model that gave similar control of his first camera, the Minolta XG-1, but wasn't bulky and huge. He wanted something that fit in his pocket, but again did not limit him to the auto modes of his Canon IXUS 400 point and shoot. He says that if he had bought a DSLR he wouldn't be shooting as much because he dislikes the idea of 'having something heavy hanging down his neck'.

There are times when he considers of switching over to another camera because of LX3’s drawbacks at higher ISOs. Currently, he is exploring the mirror-less compact category but hasn't’t found any pocketable options yet. He is happier using a mini tripod with the LX3 and avoid the image quality issues of high sensitivity settings.

The key aspect in his photography is to shoot the same subject over and over again in different angles, lighting conditions and camera settings. This helps him filter out the best photograph. 'I eliminate around 90% of the images in the filtering stage and keep the selected best. And because I aim to get the best shot in the shooting process, it keeps my post-production time to the minimum. Most of the photos in my blog are direct upload of camera JPEG's.'

There is a school of thought that says the more of you shoot the better the chances of getting a good set of photographs. Hobbyist photographer Juha Haataja proves how true this is. In 21 months he has crossed an exceptional 100,000 shots with his Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 camera, averaging to around 150 shots per day. Whichever way you look at it, this is a huge number - there are professional-grade cameras that take pride in promising this kind of longevity. In a chat with him, he said he hadn't based the number of images around any scientific calculations or created magic potions, it was simply about keeping the camera with him all the time and shooting as much as he could.

Image Courtesy: Juha Haataja

He says he owes a major portion of achieving this milestone to his camera. From the conversation and a read through his blog, Light Scrape one gets a sense of his love for the LX3. He definitely enjoys shooting with it. While many of us would simply upload images, he doesn't fail to appreciate the camera each time he posts an image.

Juha’s photography largely revolves around nature and landscape. With the sheer amount of photographs one can easily agree he has documented every aspect of Finnish landscape and seasons. There is an interesting mix of photographs with varied subjects, lighting conditions, extreme temperatures and colors. Despite working full-time in the IT sector, he ventures out often finding photo opportunities. ‘Owning a camera is an excuse to go out more often and explore new places.' he adds.

In 2008, Juha wanted to upgrade to a better camera. His intention was investing in a higher resolution model that gave similar control of his first camera, the Minolta XG-1, but wasn't bulky and huge. He wanted something that fit in his pocket, but again did not limit him to the auto modes of his Canon IXUS 400 point and shoot. He says that if he had bought a DSLR he wouldn't be shooting as much because he dislikes the idea of 'having something heavy hanging down his neck'.

There are times when he considers of switching over to another camera because of LX3’s drawbacks at higher ISOs. Currently, he is exploring the mirror-less compact category but hasn't’t found any pocketable options yet. He is happier using a mini tripod with the LX3 and avoid the image quality issues of high sensitivity settings.

The key aspect in his photography is to shoot the same subject over and over again in different angles, lighting conditions and camera settings. This helps him filter out the best photograph. 'I eliminate around 90% of the images in the filtering stage and keep the selected best. And because I aim to get the best shot in the shooting process, it keeps my post-production time to the minimum. Most of the photos in my blog are direct upload of camera JPEG's.'

Image Courtesy: Juha Haataja

Personally, I haven’t shot with the LX3 or any camera for that matter to such a large extent. Juha’s technique reminds me of simple photography school lessons which stress on how important it is to keep shooting. And also that it is useful to capture the final image in the camera itself, rather than expecting miracles in the editing process. After speaking to him, a tiny cloud of guilt surfaced up in my mind. When I have an access to almost every camera in the world here at DPReview, why am I not shooting enough? It would definitely be far easier for me to then make informed comments and also be less dependent on my camera and lens reviewer colleagues to part with their knowledge.

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