What's your biggest weakness in your photography...

Cuddy said:
Lack of confidence in what i produce, im my own worst critic. Not helped by all the great shots i see on here. And a bit of lens envy. :(
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Just to encourage you, I've been using the standard lens a lot recently, and have been quite surprised at how good it can be stopped down a bit.

step72 said:
My pp skill isn't great and I would be happy to process a raw file and get it to look something close to what I see on the back of the camera
So if anyone knows of a good link to YouTube video's covering this I would be most gratefull
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This is a good place to start:
 
Big Andy said:
With me it's to busy wanting the latest gear and not spending enough time using and getting the best out of what I already own. But then again we all like nice new toys to play with.
Also the complete inability to get out of bed in the mornings to get the golden hour light particularly in the summer time when it's even more important.
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Almost word for word what I was going to type
 
Probably not owning a copy of Photoshop. I think my photography has improved but I dont have the money to buy the equipment to get any better.
 
Camera shake which could be remedied by using a tripod but then I feel self conscious. I was out the other day taking photos of a flooded park, a lady said "you ought to send these to the local paper". I then spent five minutes explaining my photos weren't good enough!
 
Processing I'd say is my main weakness by far.
I have a copy of Photoshop which I'm picking up gradually. But there are so many "looks" to photos I see and would love to know how it's achieved.
Problem is,how do you search for a tutorial if you don't know the process involved :)
 
Pog said:
Probably not owning a copy of Photoshop. I think my photography has improved but I dont have the money to buy the equipment to get any better.
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Photoshop Elements is not very expensive and is very capable..
 
Not getting out and taking photo's enough. The wet winter hasn't helped, seems when I do have time to get out with the family it is always pi.., I mean raining hard. Roll on spring.

I'm also a bit of a gear head, when low motivation strikes I often convince myself that new gear will inspire me.
 
Pog said:
Probably not owning a copy of Photoshop. I think my photography has improved but I dont have the money to buy the equipment to get any better.
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Photoshop is incredibly powerful and has become the gold standard, but it's very expensive and not really necessary for most people. Lightroom and/or Photoshop Elements (they complement each other and are far more affordable) will probably do everything you want for a very long time.
 
Processing black and white images. I'm not bad, but the feedback from my unsuccessful FRPS panel highlighted some key failings that indicated that although my 'seeing' and composition were good, it was the bit after the shutter was pressed where I'd run out of talent. I recently went on a digital monochrome workshop to rectify that and am now trying with varying degrees of success to put it all into practice.

Printing was also a problem and I've just thrown money at a new printer, the results so far look promising!
 
I should be out taking pictures now, but my weakness is the pub was calling! Some great charectors in here to shoot in B&W!..... Wheres the camera when you need it?
 
Pog said:
Probably not owning a copy of Photoshop. I think my photography has improved but I dont have the money to buy the equipment to get any better.
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I've never owned Photoshop, apart from trying Elements a while ago, which I thought was horrible, and far too restrictive (no 16-bit image support) - I sometimes use PaintShop Pro, which is better than Elements in nearly every way..
Photoshop has nothing to do with photography and most of the things it does can be done in other software at much lower cost.
I use Lightroom with plug-ins, which allows me to do everything I require, and for my style of photography I've never needed Photoshop.
For the cost of the full version of Photoshop you can buy a pretty decent lens, so save your money and buy stuff you need, rather than what you think you want.
 
For me I have a bad habit of shooting wide open. Although I'm lucky in that both my main lenses are sharp, its the lack of DOF that catches me out a fair bit.

Also, shooting with flash as primary light source. I still struggle getting this right in most cases.
 
TonyHall said:
That's a bizarre thing to say. I agree with most of what you're saying, it's just I can't get my head around that one statement.
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Maybe I didn't express myself very well there, and I was intending to expand on what I was saying, but time was pressing.

I took the original question "What's your biggest weakness in photography" to mean in the act of photographing, not post-processing.
Photoshop has indeed, no relevance to the actual act of making a photograph, which to me involves the act of seeing a subject and capturing it in an effective way.
People were taking great photographs in the days of film, before Photoshop was ever dreamed of.
PP can help turn a shot into what you envisaged, but it cannot make a poorly considered or composed image into something that it is not.
The key to good photography is composition, and no amount of PP can substitute for a well taken, carefully framed and presented initial exposure.
 
Inspiration.

By far my biggest weakness
 
Having enough hours in the day to do the things I want to do...
But I'm learning to have smaller (but more) targets...
 
Brian G said:
Maybe I didn't express myself very well there, and I was intending to expand on what I was saying, but time was pressing.

I took the original question "What's your biggest weakness in photography" to mean in the act of photographing, not post-processing.
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Excellent, very many thanks for taking the time and trouble to clarify and expand on your original point. I whole heartedly agree, but...

...the highly annoying pedant in me must point out that even in the days of film we controlled and enhanced (to a far lesser degree) the final look of our images via post processing. Controlled through the careful choice of film developing processes and/or the paper and processing used to print them, combined with careful cropping, dodging, burning, colour and contrast. (Sorry, I abhor my annoying pendant too! :))

But I absolutely agree with you: post processing shouldn't be seen as a remedy to poorly photographed images.

Thanks again.
 
Fair comment Tony, but in the days of film my main interest was shooting colour slides (usually Kodachrome) and you had to get it right "in camera" since about the only thing you could do was a bit of cropping via masking the slide.
I did some black & white darkroom work (never colour), but I never really mastered the arts of "dodging & burning" and was reasonably happy just making straight prints.
Again, getting it right in camera always helped to get a good result in the darkroom.

For my part, I simply love the creative possibilities that computers open up when it comes to digital image manipulation.
I'm happy to spend hours playing with an image on the computer, with possibilities that couldn't have been dreamed of in the "wet" darkroom.
 
Brian G said:
I've never owned Photoshop, apart from trying Elements a while ago, which I thought was horrible, and far too restrictive (no 16-bit image support) - I sometimes use PaintShop Pro, which is better than Elements in nearly every way..
Photoshop has nothing to do with photography and most of the things it does can be done in other software at much lower cost.
I use Lightroom with plug-ins, which allows me to do everything I require, and for my style of photography I've never needed Photoshop.
For the cost of the full version of Photoshop you can buy a pretty decent lens, so save your money and buy stuff you need, rather than what you think you want.
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Actually I have Paint shop pro as well but the older version(8). Its just that nearly all the magazine demos I have seen use some version of Photoshop as standard to show you how to do things. I maybe should have answered my biggest weakness is a lack of post processing skills as I still think much of modern photography is far too dependant on the software knowledge you have rather than camera skills as many of my favourite landscape photographers produce pictures which are obviously highly manipulated and you would never have seen a few years ago.
 
I don't think it really matters. Professionals do what is necessary to meet the client's expectations and - most of the time anyway - I doubt if the client gives a damn how the images were produced. Amateurs shoot for themselves. You can "snap" using the default camera settings and leave it at that, programme the camera to produce images they way you like them, or apply more or less post processing. It's up to you.

The only exceptions I can think of are forensic photography, and post processing is still permissible providing the original files are preserved, and any post processing disclosed; and competitions or contractual agreements that impose restrictions.
 
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Wow such a varied response from everyone!

I asked the question because I realised that we all probably have an area where we'd like to improve and I guess it helped to put it in writing.
 
Big Acompositionst: 6093576 said:
With me it's to busy wanting the latest gear and not spending enough time using and getting the best out of what I already own. But then again we all like nice new toys to play with.
Also the complete inability to get out of bed in the mornings to get the golden hour light particularly in the summer time when it's even more important.
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Add lack of composition skills and this totally sums me up. :(

''All the gear, no idea''

I really envy some of the simple, but marvellous images taken by some forum members on here.

To be honest, its getting the time thats the problem. When I do get it, its usually chucking it down outside or I've other important things to do.

I do love the hobby though and I keep promising that I will try harder!
 
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My weakness is basically laziness, and I try to make practice almost every day to avoid it. However i find that practice, find any occasion to shoot something and think about what you're doing is a strongly effective way to improve your skills. ("I try" is the key word)
 
Not finishing projects is my biggest problem. :(
 
ChrisHeathcote said:
For me it's the 12 inches behind the camera :) and composition. My plan is practice and more practice and of course sharing pictures with TP and listening for feedback
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Thats your issue then chris your to far from the viewfinder to see the scene. Step 11inches forward and youll be bang on ;)
 
Impatience. Trying to learn/do everything at once in the limited time I do have to use my camera. I want to know it all and know it all now, but end up learning very little because I don't focus (mentally) on mastering the basics. To use an analogy, I am like my dog when I take her for a walk in a field which is full of birds. She wants to catch all of them but ends up running round in circles because she can't decide which bird to chase.
 
My biggest weakness these days is finding the motivation, inspiration & spare time to actually do photography. I do it for personal, creative purposes, not professional. I wish I could push myself further to shoot more, it's one of the few passions that's stayed with me since I was really quite young. I miss it when I'm not doing it.

Note to self: shoot more!
 
Finding time :( Unlikely to find any until September when my MSc finishes, but then again I might end up going straight into something else :/
 
inability to shoot under my own direction:

seriously, i'm a full time photographer, retoucher and designer now and I need a client/art director/a purpose in order to do anything, I don't do personal projects anymore, I don't just go out with my camera anymore, or take my camera to friends parties, if I have my camera in hand it means someone also has a cheque in their hands, or i'm testing out a new lens etc, and i've lost a hobby- maybe that's a good thing as I need a bit of a break from photography sometimes but i'm trying to solve it by getting a little fuji x100 or something, so that i'm not using the same tool to take photos for fun as I do for professional work- i'm not building my portfolio anymore, I have nothing to prove, and although my portfolio changes and adapts I try to keep the same images in there as they really succinctly show off my aesthetic, which I do try and keep consistently as that's what my clients are booking me for

I suppose getting out the house would be nice!



also wanted to add, that a lot of people seem to site PP as their biggest weakness, and time constraints-
I think that for amateur photographers shooting for fun it's a great excuse to get out the house and into the world, but the pics don't shine unless they're processed, and who wants to spend their limited time off retouching and editing, I'd say it takes as long to edit as it does to take the pics
i'm not sure if I can say this here but as a professional retoucher I only charge £5 per image, and that drops rapidly when you order multiple images- considering the price of a wacom tablet, PP software, a fast computer, gigs of storage, backups, color calibrated monitor, a colorimeter, the time it takes to learn PP, the chiropractic approved chair so you don't get a bad back, then maybe that time is better spend outsourcing to others rather than the DIY approach, and unlike making a table photo DIY is no fun! Just a thought
 
Nikon_Nick said:
I suppose my biggest weakness is that I always want to photograph EVERYTHING, but also want to specialise/excel in one particular area. Kind of a jack of all trades, master of none kind of thing. Id like to be the master of one or two genres, but get bored too easily.

Edited to say.... What can I do to work on this? I dont know really...therapy?
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Same for me actually. Every time I want to concentrate on a certain field/theme of photography, I get bored (...or maybe I should say distracted?) after a few weeks and jump over into the next thing.
Just before xmas 2013 I bought a book about object/product photography. I was very fascinated by it and bought some backdrops and lightning...but after a few days my interest shifted again and I concentrated on building a photo homepage. Building up this homepage made me want to photograph weddings more often again and I m back in "wedding" mood and look out for inspiration. Early spring, I can already predict my macro phase :-D

I still wonder a bit about my behavour, because normally I want to be among the best in everything I do...and it's hard to be among the best if you are the "jack of all trades". :)

Edit: Good thing is, having done so many different kinds of photography can turn into a big strength actually later on...so it's not a bad spot to be in
 
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Great question.....

Patience has to be my weakness, i usually know how to get a shot what lighting will work what needs setting up etc. but in the end i take the shot i see rather than make the shot i want

Need ti 'make' more of the shots i want, hence doing this years poty :)
 
My biggest weakness is ignoring the colder months almost completely and being more of a spring/summer/autumn photographer. I always struggle with subjects and ideas in winter. For the last two years I've tried to do different themes for my winter shots, but it hasnt worked how I wanted.
 
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