Seven Habits of Highly Effective Photographer

Expounding the concepts of Steven Covey.

The First Three Habits surround moving from dependence to independence (self mastery).

Habit 1: Be Proactive
The quest to be a better photographer does not happen by chance. It is a pro-active process in seeking and learning. You can read to improve the fundamental aspects of photography, go out to experiment and seek feedback (from Clubsnap or NPSS?).

Proactive also means you go out with an active mind to look for subjects. Through pro-active efforts you'll develop the photographic eye and skills in time to come.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Decide at which level of playing field you wish to be. Are you a casual shooter, passionate (hard core) hobbyist, freelancer to be, or aspiring to be a PRO. What you see at the end of the road shall affect what you'll do now.

While doing your photographic shoots, visualising the end results directly affects your decision in the exposure, shutter speed, aperture and composition. Have an end in mind also affects many artistics decision when you do post-processing.

Habit 3: Put First Things First
There is no accident in the making of a good photographer, and putting priority in learning the fundamentals of photography is a top priority. If you just want to be casual snap shooter than it is different story. Learning a little here and there can improve you pictures. So understanding basic concepts such as understanding exposure, composition, colours, light etc. is a must and the art is blending the whole array of knowledge into an image. These are only part of the story. A holistic learning process also include actual field shoots, improving post processing techniques and seeking feeback.

As you can see the first 3 habits focus on starting with ME.
The Next Three are to do with Interdependence. A paradigm shift from the ME to WE

Habit 4: Think Win/Win
As we slowly and diligently buildup our photographic skills we will always come into contact with people. People that you meet and learn with. People that will motivate you. People (wife and children) that will need your time and people that will do trading with you. :-). Always think Win/Win as you network, make friends and balance your time in this journey of life.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood
Self explanatory. Learn to listen and understand first. Then you seek a way to communicate such that people can also understand you. Reacting to peoples comment/or critique and blabbering garbage in forum turn people off. Remember that when we raise our ego we desensitised our senses for learning and communicating. Living is about receiving, giving, learning, and communicating. Oh, did you also learn and use the 5 languages of love?

Habit 6: Synergize
Armed with the above mentioned skill set, you learn, you share, you network, synergize and expand your circle of influence . We grow and shift the ME paradigm to WE. Remember, no man is an island and the evolutionary procees did not change our fundamental need to socialise and improvise. That is what makes us different from lower living forms - the innate ability to make choices and synergize.

The Last habit relates to self-rejuvenation;

Habit 7: Sharpening the Saw
If you think you'd learnt enough, you're probably on the road to a downward spiral. The time that we stop learning is when we are dead. Changes is the only constant and let's continue to sharpen our skills- photographic skills, post-processing skills and most importantly people skills. It takes right effort and mindfulness to cultivate ourself and propel ourself towards the UPWARD SPIRAL of growth. We find happiness when there is improvement , growth and positive momentum . Have you decided which saw to sharpen today? Namaste to you if you already did. I have to sharpen my saw too.