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Should I shoot less, compose more? I can’t help but wonder when I read that a fellow photographer had fallen “into the shoot more compose less trap” since getting his first digital SLR camera.

Perhaps I have also been fallen victim (or guilty) of the shoot more trap. Along with the splurge on the new camera equipment, I acquired two large capacity memory cards. I felt liberated that I am no longer constrained by their previously puny capacity. I was at first liberated from film as I got my first digital camera/ SLR many years ago. Then now I am liberated again from the small memory card capacity.

Now along this so called “liberation”… has it made me into a better photographer? have i grown less patient and basically aim for the “shoot more now, filter later”? is it related to the continual shortening of my attention span?

One solution would be to turn off the “continuous mode”. Which would allow me to shoot continuously for some 17 pictures in a row (raw file) at 3 pictures per second.. (so a little less than 6 continuous seconds) if i were to keep the shutter button pressed.

Back in the days when I was learning photography, more specifically learning how to shoot with Velvia, the slide film, I had to manual bracket. Which means I have to take the same identical picture three times. At the perceived correct exposure setting, and two above and below that setting. As a result, I would shoot quite a few rolls of film at each outing because the margin of error with Velvia slide film is much lower than others. However, this allowed me to get the picture I otherwise would not.

Now thinking back, despite the fact that bracketing allowed me to get a higher number of good presentable pictures, did manual bracketing make me a better photographer? Or did that merely cover up some of my mistakes, ignorance, and skills (or lack thereof)? Could the same be happening now with as I try to compensate by shooting more with bigger memory cards?

The philosophical underlying here goes back to the ironic concept of freedom and what good it does for us. This recurrent thought seems to carry more and more significance as time goes on. What other aspect of my life has freedom given me, or some or all of us, merely the perception of good?

And what of choices? There was a recent article in NYtimes about how in some areas, more choices actually lead to paralysis more than freedom or good or happiness.

Come to think of it, I recalled a discussion in class with a philosophy professor. He taught phil of law, mind and epistemology but before class we were discussing somewhat casually about the goods and evils of the two parties American system. While some detest the duopolistic system, he argues that more choices could potentially do more harm than good. If the political system is comprised of a myriad of parties, then the voters would get lost in the sea of candidates and their political believes. (Some suggest that in some such cases, these smaller parties would form a coalition. An alliance of sort that would bring forth political efficacy without sacrificing voters’ choices)