There will be no pictures in this post even though we will be talking about them. You may have heard “Take my picture here” from your friend (or girlfriend), “Let’s take some pictures” and so on and so forth. On the other hand you may have heard that photographers don’t take pictures. If you haven’t – here’s a little brief.

Professionals say “make the picture” instead of “take a picture” for a reason. That reason is that photographer (any good photographer, both amateur and pro) sees the image he wants to produce long before he pushes his camera’s buttons. Making the picture (as opposed to taking a picture) is a process, that involves pushing that button only as a final stage. There is a lot of thinking, preparations and other things going on before the magic button is pushed.

Taking a picture – notice the difference between ‘a’ and ‘the’ in each phrase – on the other hand, involves having a camera and being able to push the button. Other than that there’s not much to it. Taking a picture could take just as long as it needed to pull the camera out of the bag and shoot. Not much thought is given, that’s how people get those horrible vacation shots with lamp poles and tree branches growing out of their heads, strange things and people in the frame and other so-called artifacts.

Photographers who make pictures are trying to envision what they want to see as a result. They think first – then shoot. If you give at least a little thought before pushing that button – the image may come out so much better, that you will be proud of yourself that you did. No matter what camera you are using – it’s the person who holds it that matters.

Don’t just shoot – give it a little thought.