what kinda notes do you keep?

[coolshot]

im sure everyone has a notepad in their camera bag right? What kind of stuff do you write down? I just started to write things down. Right now I have a cheat sheet of common aperture and shutters speeds. I also wrote down quick rules like 1/3s and hand held rule. I'm starting to make note of the settings I use that have gotten great results.

[elysium]

I keep notes of where I have been, and what I find has attracted me there. A description of the area or lighting if it is landscape based.

I rarely keep into on camera values since i like to take two or three shots at different values at times.

Keeping notes of your settings is great but the more you shoot, the less you will rely on settings you may have written down, it will become instinct. :)

[NZDoug]

Model release forms and who, why, where, when. Correct spellings.

[artyboy]

i used to jot down aperture/SS when doing alot of manual shooting (bracketing) for comparison when i get my prints (during the film days). but with EXIF data easily available from digital photos, i no longer take notes. and thats good!

[timnosenzo]

I don't bother with note taking. The only time I think it could be valuable for me would be if I shot an event and needed to keep track of names, organizations, stuff like that. But since I shoot casually I don't really see a need for it--unless shooting film.

[75D]

I keep a description of the shot i.e. Mount Royal from South side, so I can keep track of where I've been and I get the right details when I process the shots.
If I am shooting people I make sure I have their name and address or e-mail so I can contact them to sell them the pictures if they are interested, and if I am shooting objects I make sure I get the right description (ie car shows).
I also make notes of potential locations to shoot, including best time of year or day to get the shot. I then transfer it to my agenda in the computer to remind me. If it is a specific event that happens at a fixed time I have a reminder so I won't miss it.
I usually review my note boo once a month so I can plan my shooting days.

Wayne

[Twitch1977]

Since EXIF came along I don't really keep many notes so I instead use my notepad to draw sketches of what I will do to anyone that steals my camera bag when I find them.

Kurt

[Bill Roberts]

When I started out I used to take notes of exposure, lens, location etc... But that was 40 odd years ago. No built in meter, in fact no meter at all at first because I couldn't afford one. After a while I found that I didn't need the notes as much, but it was a worth while thing to do and certainly I learned a lot because of it.
Now like most people I don't bother because a lot of info is in the exif saved with the file anyway.

[BillMarks]

I don't carry a note pad around when I shoot.

[WaltA]

So all you people who don't take notes (and have a far better memory then me) how do you remember the exact location of your shots?

For example, last fall we took a road trip up the Oregon Coast and now I'm looking at the pictures saying "What lighthouse was that?" and "What bridge was that?" and "what roadside park was that?"

[NZDoug]

I keep my vehicle log for my location notes. ;) Multi purpose. Proves vehic. was used for jobs or photo projects for the tax crowd.

[oaktree]

i keep notes after the fact when get home. I list down the date, location and lenses I've used and what I felt about the photos. I also have list of how many times I've used a particular lens so I know which ones I've used the most or least.

When shooting, I try to take "notes" by shooting a lot of street signs, store signs, tourist signs, etc.

[garryknight]

I use my Pocket PC as a notebook. And a voice recorder. And an atlas of the UK. And an ephemeris for knowing when the sun comes up and goes down, the phases of the moon, etc. And, when I can find time to get round to it, I'm going to be installing DOF.exe so I can calculate the aperture I want with each of my lenses. I also use its spreadsheet for keeping track of how much I spend on photography (ouch!). But I digress...

Whenever I find somewhere new to shoot, I add it to my list of locations so that if I'm stuck for somewhere to go I can see where I haven't been for a while and go back to see what else is worth shooting. And if I read or hear about somewhere that's promising, I note the location and put a * next to it to show that I haven't been there yet.

I don't make detailed notes on locations but I do note where I took certain shots that I think are keepers. And when I take a shot I usually have a title for it in mind, so I jot that down before I forget it.

And lastly, I make notes of all of the photography exhibitions coming up no matter what the subject is. I make a point of visiting exhibitions that are on subjects that don't interest me as well as those that do. This way I feel I learn more.

[Wilt]

I just wanted to comment, especially to those who do NOT keep notes...

A reason to take notes is that, especially if you are LEARNING, you can learn what works and what does not work!!!

For example, if you shot with FEC=0 and the photo is underexposed by -1EV, you can then look at the photo and try to figure out what about the scene made it so that it was underexposed when the meter said that was OK.

If you fail to take notes, photography is a series of trial and error, more error than not!

[Tom_D]

Oh man. Something else to put in my bag. I guess a pen would also come in handy.

I do not take notes as most camera info is now in EXIF. I am getting better about entering meta data as I import the RAW files.

I am looking forward to a camera with GPS built in (90D?) and have been thinking about a few of the GPS dongles that are out now and just hang on your camera bag. Remembering to turn it on could be an issue. Remembering to turn it off and having something else to charge is an issue for sure.

[Wilt]

I do not take notes as most camera info is now in EXIF. .

Since EXIF came along I don't really keep many notes so I instead use my notepad to draw sketches of what I will do to anyone that steals my camera bag when I find them.

But while EXIF tells you the exposure used to make the photo, it doesn't tell you how those settings might differ from the indicated exposure information given by the meter. Your EXIF might say 1/100 f/8 because that was used to make the shot.

But, if your meter said 1/100 f/11, and you chose to expose it at 1/100 at f/8 in M, the EXIF does not show that the shot resutled from your having biased the exposure +1EV. With notes, you could later determine that you really should have biased by +1.3EV for a shot which required no exposure modification in RAW conversion -- because you had you biased exposure by +1EV at time of shooting, and also that you later needed to also dial in +0.3EV during RAW conversion.