Like pretty much everything, photography requires practice. I always liked how certain careers use the word practice- the practice of law, my yoga practice, medical practice, etc. Pretty much across the board I think we all get better the more we do. When I teach my intro digital SLR class, I always urge my students to find quiet, slow time to practice their photography. When you are trying on a new skill or refining an existing one, you can't do it well in a stressful, distracting situation. For example, practicing using wide open f-stops to achieve shallow depth of field while chasing your 18 month old around the crowded zoo. However, taking a little time to roam around a botanical garden (like I got to do today) is exactly what you need in that situation.

So, your mission is to carve out a little bit of time to take photographs for no reason other than to play, test, experiment and learn. Take 100's of images and take each one a few times until you get it right. Take notes and deep breaths. Try new ways of framing up the shot. Your photography practice will certainly thank you for this and your creative spirit will as well. It may sound a little bit silly but your camera and you need time to bond. You have to be able to use your camera quickly, change settings and be comfortable with the controls. All of that comes with time and practice.

Today the kids, Steven and I explored the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers. They had an exhibit on carnivorous plants. I love playing with shallow depth of field. I love the way the objects slowly vanish into nothingness and blur. While I roamed the conservatory today I experimented with shallow DOF and close-ups.

Tech notes: All of the images below were shot in either manual mode or AV mode on my Canon 5D Mark II using my 28-70mm F.2.8 lens. Most of them were shot using F2.8 to maybe F4. Most of these are straight out of the camera (except for the BW ones and the one with texture applied).

Are you inspired? Already know where you're going to go? I can't wait to see what you come up with and I really hope you will share it with us. Leave links to your images, blogs, etc. in the comments section below or add your images to my Monday Lesson Flickr Pool. Don't be shy!