My wife just got back from her trip to New Orleans with friends and was going through her photos from the trip. Busy with her career, she doesn’t pick up the camera as much as she would like. She made a helpful comment that I thought useful to pass along, “Tell your tour participants to pick up their cameras before they leave on a trip.” “They really need to get to know their cameras again and not relearn how to shoot with it while on vacation.
So, before you make the trek to Seattle and take our tour (You are taking our tour aren’t you?), pull the camera out and start shooting in your city. Practice playing with macros settings, landscapes, low light conditions, bright sunny scenes, etc. This will help reacquaint you with your camera and the function settings. Even if you aren’t going on a trip, it’s a great way to explore your city and get back to the creativity you put on the back burner.