[pjm1]

Oh dear... I've had my K5 since late January, so about 3 months. I bought it second hand with a shutter count of about 3100.

It now has a shutter count of 9000.

Anybody have any bright ideas on how I can stop my finger pressing the shutter release so much? Why am I not magically a better photographer just by taking loads of photos!? (I probably am - especially coming off a very low base, but 6000 photos!!!??)

(My hard disk is probably quite pleased that fewer than 10% of my photos have been keepers!)

I think the only solution is to go and buy another lens or two and use my clicky finger for the "checkout" button at my favourite online store. Any other suggestions?

[manntax]

I know what you mean - I remember having my K10D for the first months - it quickly had ~4000 shots - but then somehow I slowed down and started to approach digital same way as I do with the film. Since then for the next 5 years I did much less photos and had much more keepers. So my suggestion is to take it as it comes, the initial excitement will wear off and you will become more particular about your photos . Or at least this is what happened to me
--manntax

[Stone G.]

I think the only solution is to go and buy another lens or two and use my clicky finger for the "checkout" button at my favourite online store. Any other suggestions?

You could use your clicky finger to order a couple af K- or M-lenses and then promise yourself that you will only shoot in manual mode for the next couple of weeks. That would slow you down and give you time to contemplate on scene/compostion, light, movements and many other things.......

[BrianR]

Get 3 or 4 small memory cards, say 1 GB, and shoot RAW. This artificially limits you to a more 'film' like experience (though you can still delete on the fly) and should slow you down.

[delegopa]

Stones suggestion will definitely help and along the way you will learn a lot. A good 50mm prime can usually be found as a bargain.

[pjm1]

You could use your clicky finger to order a couple af K- or M-lenses and then promise yourself that you will only shoot in manual mode for the next couple of weeks. That would slow you down and give you time to contemplate on scene/compostion, light, movements and many other things.......

I like your suggestion as well as the small memory card... 16GB was the worst mistake I made!

Unfortunately, I already shoot in manual, except when it's fast-moving child-like objects. It's just as well I don't bracket my exposures otherwise I might be up at nearly 20,000 shots already!

Edited to add: I'm talking about manual "mode", rather than manual focus... perhaps that's the answer?

[aoeu]

Moar, srsly.

I don't shoot enough.

As a general rule I take three to five exposures in the hope that one has less shake.

[Tanzer]

Strive to use a manual flash whenever possible, that should help slow you down too.

[VisualDarkness]

Just wait, you will slow down with time. You will hit the "I already shot that" wall.

[6BQ5]

When you bought your camera you paid for every single shot you will ever take with it. You might as well get your money's worth and run that shutter and mirror to dust!

[johnyates]

As a general rule I take three to five exposures in the hope that one has less shake.

Get yourself a monopod or tripod!

[pjm1]

When you bought your camera you paid for every single shot you will ever take with it. You might as well get your money's worth and run that shutter and mirror to dust!

Good point!

Just as well lenses don't degrade in the same way - I want my glass to last!

[PPPPPP42]

Don't try to artificially limit yourself, by the end of the first year you will start to naturally burn out and and be back on here asking how you can motivate yourself.
At that point you can look at why you take pictures and what you want to do.

[mee]

I purposely stuck to 8GB cards simply to limit me. Upgraded cameras and I wanted an SD card with an upgraded 'speed' too.. ended up with a 16GB card. I, recently, have looked at my photo count per year for the past 4 years. I already have taken as many photos this year than I did all of 2010! hahaha

[pjm1]

Thanks guys... obviously there was an element of tongue in cheek with my OP but it is amazing how quickly one can run up photos.

Yesterday evening was a case in point - went out to "play" with my wide angle (of the kit zoom) and ended up with over 100 photos. I was playing with composition and there were a lot which were just a few feet this way, a few feet that way etc. In the end I ended up with 6 photos which were my favourites, although to be fair there were only 2 or 3 which weren't great in terms of exposure etc - the rest just weren't quite as good compositionally. The only thing I was struck by repeatedly was lens flare... visible in the example below. Is there anything I can do, filter-wise to prevent it? Aside from not shoot towards the sun, of course

My favourite from the lot - perhaps swayed because I find portrait orientation quite interesting for landscapes: