Depressed and motivated all at once

[bigben6]

So recently I put a few shots in the critique section, they were older but I put them in there because they were some of my better shots.... i thought....

When I took them (2-3 years ago) i was soooo pleased with myself.... really just emailing everyone "look what i did" face book, i was sooo stoked about my new found skill and talent with a camera.

Got some good feedback, i accepted it, it was spot on, very productive....

So i went back through entire folders with a more critical eye.... they all suck.... focus depth is poor, framing is weak and predictable, horizons are about as straight as a slinky, in short, my "best works" are garbage.....


The plus of this is that I can now identify this myself, and going forward i do not see myself making the same mistakes, but this was pretty mind blowing to go through what i thought was gold and finding some used rusty lead BB's instead...

[Hill Country Hack]

Welcome to the reality of photography. See where you fit A Photographer's Learning Curve - FM Forums

[Hoffy02]

I am dealing with this same reality... I have found i have a natural eye for stuff like the "rule of thirds" as I can see it in a ton of my better photos.. BUT, im learning i dont really have any "better" photos.. Lol

[RichardTaylor]

@bigben6
That's normal.

[bigben6]

Somewhere between gearfaggotry and flicker i guess ,but thanks god i skipped the HDR hole, i think I'll tinker with it eventually but, i'v seen too much BAD hdr to get too sucked in by it, great graphic....

I just feel like first nice spring day I am going to have to go back to those locations, and re shoot all the picture, hopefully this time they will look as good as i THOUGHT they did the first time.

[SwissJon]

Why are you waiting for spring? The enemy of a decent landscape photograph is predicatability.. Why go backand repeat what you already know sucks, just to try to make it suck that much better? Go there tomorrow and see if you can find a better photo in the environment despite it being not that day.. Challenge yourself and find out if your skills really have improved.

[Jim Poor]

Originally Posted by bigben6

finding some used rusty lead BB's instead...

That would be truly remarkable; lead doesn't rust!

Welcome to the first steep slope in the learning curve.

[dlambert]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

@bigben6
That's normal.

Hilarious. This just in, from the "men of few words department".

I think it's worth appreciating that those old shots were accomplishments you were proud of when you took them at the same time you understand that you've learned some new skills. The good news is that you've seen some areas you want to improve on -- you can work on those things and end up with better photos. If you never see areas to improve on, though, your work is never going to get any better.

I've got no end of photos I look back at and say, "if I only did 'x' differently here...".

[Hutch]

I'm an HDR* Photographer.


*Hideously Distorted Reality.

[sk66]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

@bigben6
That's normal.

+1,
BUT don't get too stuck on the "technical"...A great photo may be technically perfect, but a technically perfect picture is seldom a great photo.