What notes should I record while shooting to improve my photography?

Question

I’m learning to use my DSLR and want to better understand how camera settings affect the final image. Since digital photos already store EXIF data like ISO, shutter speed, and aperture, I’m wondering whether it’s still useful to take notes while shooting.

If so, what information is worth recording that isn’t already saved in the file metadata? I’m especially interested in notes that help you review your results later and learn what worked or didn’t.

user62463 · Accepted Answer

In the good old days of film photography, when there was no exif, taking extensive notes was the only way of learning from your mistakes - considerable time passed between taking the picture, having your film developed and finally seeing your print. By that time your memory was not a reliable source of information.

You can google up "Ansel Adams Exposure Record" to get an idea how that looked like.

Now the good old days are not coming back, and good riddance to them, but something in the idea has merit.

First of all in the film photography days film did not come free (unlike space on a SD card does nowadays). This quickly taught you to think, and think twice, before pressing the shutter. To turn such thinking into learning it was necessary to write it down and reflect on it.

Second is that your machine generated exif is very good in recording machine stuff - the how of the picture.

Exif has no idea of the emotional, personal stuff - the why of the picture. If you want to come back to it again you have to record it separately.

What notes should I record while shooting to improve my photography?

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