Ever Look Back?

[ArmySoldier777]

After a lot of prodding from people I know, and a couple of photographers I run around with near me, I'm finally going to create a portfolio. But that's not what the main topic is about here, it's just what brought me to it.

Do you ever look back over your old photos just to see how much you've improved or how much your style has changed? Looking back at pictures I took when I first started learning photography, up to the photos I take now, you'd never think they were taken by the same person. I know I still have a LOT of learning left to do, and the learning will never stop, but I think I've definitely improved since then. Now I find myself sitting here looking over those old pictures thinking "Why didn't I use a faster shutter speed? It's over-exposed and blurry, there's no reason I shouldn't have known to bump up to a faster shutter speed to fix both of those problems in one." or "Why didn't I use a shallower DOF? The background completely ruins this shot" and with some of them, it's just plain "Why would I have ever thought to keep this shot?"

Back in the beginning, I never would've thought about my shots like that. If they were sharp and they weren't boring, I was happy with them. Now going through my entire photography album trying to find pictures good enough to add to a portfolio, I fly through those old one's like they're just snapshots.

Just wondering if anybody else ever looks back and feels that way sometimes lol.

[Peach]

Yep, I do!
I went from shots like this:



To shots like this:


The Village by JustPeachee, on Flickr

Hard to compare the two, I know.

But in the nearly 5 years that I've had the camera, I do think I've improved and it's always fun to go back to the beginning and look at pictures that I thought were spectacular then and compare them with ones I love now.

Every year on my fb biz page, I do a "then & now" comparison.... a shot from the year before, next to a shot from the current year. I love seeing how far ive come and how my style keeps evolving!

went from this {2010}



to this {2011}

[ArmySoldier777]

I'd definitely say that's a huge improvement! Although, even in the beginning, you seemed to have a pretty good eye for composition.

Looking at some of my photos, I get irritated at the past me lol. Even though I'd say most of them are better than just snapshots, I keep thinking "Great, I missed capturing that moment the way I should've." But like you, I used to think they were great lol. Makes me wonder what I'm going to think of my work now in a year or two. But I think it's a good thing to be able to look at your stuff and see that you're improving over time.

My problem right now is that I don't think any of my pictures are good enough for a portfolio to be honest. I need to work on getting some good portrait shots. Most of my stuff is all action based, ie: at the drag strip.

But I'll get there someday lol.

[ArmySoldier777]

ntinlizi - those are both amazing shots. I can tell that you're creativity has evolved and you're developing more into your style. But they're both great shots, I'd be proud to have either one

[Peach]

ntinlizi, I love the babystacking! But I agree with David, you can definitely see a new style showing in the "after" picture That is one subject I'd like to work with, babies. I'm not much for a kid person (toddler and up) but I do like babies.

[ArmySoldier777]

Yeah, I like them up until the point where they can start forming sentences with their words. Then things just go downhill lol. Luckily my niece is still at the one word stage, so I'm good for awhile

[Peach]

Originally Posted by ArmySoldier777

Yeah, I like them up until the point where they can start forming sentences with their words. Then things just go downhill lol. Luckily my niece is still at the one word stage, so I'm good for awhile

That's about the stage for me, too. Because then they start in with the:

"Why?"
example: "No, you can't have a cookie right now", "Why?", "because we're eating dinner soon," "Why?", "because this is when we eat dinner," "why?" "Mommy needs a time out", "Why?" *facedesk* lol

Thank you both! Babies are definately the most difficult subjects for me and it is something I'd like to improve more on in the future... I actually love both your then & now shots too peach! They are both great for their own reasons. The first has that soft beach look and the second is more sharp & modern