Should I sell all my gear...

alfaholic

alfaholic

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Bojan
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Hello everyone...

I love photography. Actually I love other people's photos, not my own. My photography is just horrible.

My wife often sings, even she is out of tune most of the time, and she clearly does not have talent for music. When I make jokes on her singing she says that she really loves music. I am professional musician, composer, and sound engineer, so my jokes are always about the difference between loving something and doing it properly.
My photography just sucks. No matter how hard I try. I am simply unable to visualize anything through my viewfinder, but I can perfectly recognize great photo, and good composition in other people's photos. I see clearly what makes a brilliant photo, but I am unable to produce similar results.

I could post my best photos here (which will not help much), but I think it is better to show you some photos I made this evening while I was out shooting, my way of thinking in real time, no post processing, nothing, just RAW converted to JPEG in Lightroom. This is just so pathetic, I am really thinking on selling all my gear and just enjoy photography by looking at other people's work.
I want to be realistic, the same way I make jokes with my wife's singing, I am aware that loving something does not have anything to do with doing it properly. And, as I recognize lack of talent when people come in my studio to sing, I believe I simply do not have talent for photography. It is that simple.

Speak freely, no need for political correctness...



 
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I am also rubbish at photography when I make an artistic attempt, on the other hand I really enjoy photographing things I have done ,seen or experienced and these seem to make great photography when I look back on them. Maybe like me you were trying too hard instead of just enjoying photographing something you would have enjoyed anyway. in your case something to do with music would make a good subject along with any other interests /experiences you have. Try it and I think you will be impressed.
 
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Did you enjoy going out this evening and taking those photos, if the answer is yes then carry on, what would you do otherwise?

If it was a chore, sell the gear because a hobby is supposed to be fun and something you can be crap at because your livelihood doesn't depend on it
 
tijuana taxi said:
Did you enjoy going out this evening and taking those photos, if the answer is yes then carry on, what would you do otherwise?

If it was a chore, sell the gear because a hobby is supposed to be fun and something you can be crap at because your livelihood doesn't depend on it
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This is it :D Well said Rich :D

My 2p...

If you like it carry on and you can even make a few jokes up about it. Think about it... You could be the worst photographer in the county and if you are you can aim to be the worst in the country. That'd be an achievement :D

I hope you can carry on and get pleasure and a few jokes in the future :D
 
Thank you all.

@BADGER.BRAD It is true, I want something more, and that often gives nothing as a result.
I enjoy photographing my kids, landscapes, and interesting new places, but I have million photos of my kids, landscapes and interesting places are available only when traveling, so my idea is to find something interesting in everyday locations and things, and that is hard for me.

@Orangecroc Bad lighting of course. But it is secondary in this case, I do not see any sense in those compositions.

@tijuana taxi I did enjoy tonight, and you are right, as a hobbyst I can afford to be bad at it, just that does not make me happy when I review my photos at home.
 
Don't just think about photography. Go and have a day out somewhere, anywhere. Take your camera with you and record what you see.
Enjoy where you have been without worrying about the photos. Then get home and process the shots....tomorrow.

I find that a day's, any day's, photos always look better 3/4/5 months after I've taken them. Don't get hung up on the need to take world beating pics every time you go out. You can't. No-one can.
 
There's not a lot "wrong" with your compositional positioning within the frame, but the light in the shot will also change the composition because it will draw the eye to different parts of the image.
This isn't a spectacular image, nor is the composition overly intricate, but the light lands on and close to the mushroom and keeps the attention there. Flat light on this same angle would have left it completely lifeless.
Wild Mushroom by Ben Gray, on Flickr
 
Apart from photography, I play guitar, certainly no Hank Marvin but love the music of The Shadows, and the journey is just as important as the destination, some pieces I can play with the right notes in the right order and the right tempo, have I got that extra something to recreate Hank's tone, not yet but I'll keep trying, I suggest you do the same with your photography. A brief clip of me and a friend playing

 
@simon ess Well, that is another part of the problem. I like technology as well, so I bought maybe too much gear. Nothing special really, a crop sensor DSLR, and 4 lenses, but for a guy that likes things to be simple this is maybe too much.
I wanted to sell everything and get Fuji with kit lens and maybe some primes, it is lighter and smaller so I could photograph more, but then I realized it was just an excuse to get me a new toy.

@artyman Actually your music is very nice. Much, much better than my photography. :)
But I agree with you.
 
Yesterday I had a three hour drive to a location. Spent three hours wandering around and then had a three hour drive back home. How many shots did I take? 8. Eight. How many will be shown to anyone else? 0. None. It didn't work. Am I going to sell my gear? No. That's life. Put it down to experience, learn the lesson and move on.
 
@alfaholic

You mentioned pictures taken when away from home........do these satisfy you? If so why is home territory different? If you can work out why you are rubbish for the former but good for the latter then act on it;)

Perhaps you need to set yourself a project to concentrate the mind, there is another thread hereabouts where the OP is taking a sequence of numbers I.e. the search for the numbers guides his "view of the world" and hence the composition etc of the final image.

Lastly, as advised above......enjoy it :)
 
I'm not going to give any answers, and I'm not even going to comment on whether the photos you posted are good, bad or indeifferent. I'll just ask a couple of questions for you to think over. I would be interested in your answers though :).

For the first question, keep my second point about not commenting on the standard firmly in your mind as you read this question. WHY did you photograph those things? Having a clear idea of why you want to photograph something is a good start to photographing it well. Something must have attracted you to a piece of rubbish on a bench. What was it?

My second question: did you consciously select the qualities you wanted to emphasise and select viewpoint etc. accordingly and simultaneous suppress what you didn't want to show?
 
Several things come to mind.

You're a professional musician, so you know that you were born with the talent automatically, and all you had to do was pick up a guitar & strum the strings repeatedly until, with little external input, it sounded wonderful, no?

As a photographer you are sloppy, lazy, letting yourself and your ability down by not taking the craft & technical side seriously. You have plenty of ability to see images despite what you think, though perhaps not the same ones that you see from others, but then fail to follow through with good processing. I'd suggest popping on a prime lens, going out to take limited numbers of images and then working on the processing side to bring out the best. Also look at the pictures other produce and - rather than just thinking "that's nice" - try to work out why they are nice and whether they have any flaws or could have been improved. It will help you to see for yourself what can make a photo good or bad, and possibly open the book for your own understanding. I always look for pictures without any comments in the forum as a chance to try to critique & understand what others have shied away from.
 
alfaholic said:
@kendo1 Actually, yes. The problem is I do not have anyone who could work with me.
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There are courses available throughout the country, you just have to pay for them :)

Sometimes there are offers available, Groupon, for instance, did one for a 2 hour course for £40.

There are also group meets of TP members: https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/meeting-place.45/ for instance: https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/lake-district-autumn-weekender-13th-october.650363/
The Film section also meets up every few months and Edinburgh has an annual meet during the Festival: https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/edinburgh-fringe-open-to-all.660629/
and: https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/f-c-week-long-trip-to-cornwall.636392/
 
As a 14 year old, my brother had very little natural musical ability. But he wanted to play guitar like Clapton and Knopfler. He knew little about musical key, playing in tune, song structure. This went on for a few years until he went to Uni at 18.

While at Uni, he got lessons and practised the craft for years. I remember hearing him play for the first time many years later, when he came back from Uni. I was stunned. The transformation in ability was insane.

This is him now, a further 20+ years later -
View: https://youtu.be/tFH0HzCnz5s


My point is, if you want to be good, don't expect the ability to magically fall in to your lap. Go and work for it.
 
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I suspect that you are like myself and many other photographers with regards to our ability to draw and paint. After many years of practice, I’m now pretty good at Photography, but hopeless at drawing. Hopeless as in childlike almost. I can picture stuff in my head, but lack the talent to reproduce it on paper.
Thing is, if I’d spent the last 15 years committing thousands of hours to studying and practicing drawing and painting instead of Photography, I’d be pretty good at that by now.
I imagine the same is true of you and your music, as being great in one creative field doesn’t necessarily transfer into another. By all means sell the kit, but I’d stick with it and commit to learning - either self study or more formally through tuition, distance learning, etc.
 
My 'other' hobby is modelling (airfix kits, not posing) I have lots of part built models parked on what in the hobby is colloquially known as 'the shelf of doom' - every now and then I decide to do a little bit more on one (usually not a lot!) I've often thought "what's the point?" However when I'm in the mood it brings me great pleasure as a hobby. My cameras regularly go through periods when they stay in their case, but I know I'll pick them up again some point. I guess it's my style to go through bursts of enthusiasm for my hobbies, personally I cannot 'force' a constant interest, but I've invested and I know I'd regret selling when I want to pick up my hobby.
 
I would say if you enjoy it carry on as you are, if not either stop or change something.

Your images look technically ok so I'm unsure a photography course would help unless it was about 'seeing' images rather than ISO/shutter speed/aperture that would bore most to death.

The ability to 'see' the extraordinary in the ordinary everyday is what imo makes a good photo and there are plenty of resources that can help you to 'see' differently and avoid the 'replica' photos that plague a lot of photographers. Assume your aware of the artists way. A very good (but slow) starting point if not.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Artists-Way-Discovering-Recovering-Creative/dp/0330343580
 
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You say you like other people's photos. What sort of photos do you like most? If, say, you like portraits, I suggest you design yourself a project around that. Imagine you are going to publish a book with 50 photos around that theme (give it a title and everything). For example, you could decide to do a series of square black and white portraits of musicians with their instrument.
My photography has been transformed (and so has my enjoyment) by taking photos with a purpose, rather than just 'go out and shoot'. Whilst the latter was fun and sometimes led to OK individual photos, they're all just sitting on my hard drive doing nothing. So, work around a subject, that would be my advice :).
 
Thank you all...

@Box Brownie Well, photos I make on our vacations are nice but just because there is something interesting and beautiful in front of the camera, it is still the same, empty, boring photo with something nice in it. Here are some examples:





@StephenM There is nothing attractive in the photos from my initial post, but I just wanted to play Lawrence Krauss and make something from nothing. :) It is somehow easy to take a photo of something beautiful and special, but I believe a photographer should have an eye to see extraordinary in ordinary things.
It is not very clear what I wanted to show, not even to me. I saw some ice cream cup on a bench, so I thought it could be interesting to take a photo with something in the background, but there is just nothing worth of digital film really, or if there is I would like to hear your opinions.

@ancient_mariner I agree, I am lazy. I find excuses in my children, not very interesting neighbourhood, most of the time I bring my camera when out with my family to shoot casually, not planing in advance and go specifically to shoot.

@kendo1 Oh thank you, but as you can see from my broken English I am not from UK, so this is not very useful for me. I went to some photography classes but all we did there is learning exposure triangle and all other technical stuff that I am very good at. I hoped we will learn more about creative process, but no.

@Kris_D I like many types of photography, portraits, landscapes, art, vintage, social, which is maybe partly the source of my problem because I would like to do something and master it. For portraits I need a model, my kids are sometimes helpful but there is no real modeling, I chase them with my camera and if I catch some photo that is it, it is impossible to plan anything. Here is something that I am relatively satisfied with:



I missed the focus, but I could live with that being my only problem. As for other types of photography, landscapes are not really easy task here where I live because there is really nothing special in Panonian plain. Social and street photography is always possible, so I will try to walk more often with my camera. I hope it will not scare the people out, this is somehow conservative (I could use some other word) part of the planet...

@Steve Smith I enjoy it partially. I believe digital photography needs editing and post processing for full potential, so I am often disappointed when editing my photos at home and see that there is nothing special in them. But yes, I enjoy in photography most of the time.
 
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just because you aren't good as something, doesn't mean that you can't carry on...Look at the all the government officials!

I know what you mean, for music I could play the piano many years ago and have a decent ear, but I can't really perform. I can just hear when others can't!
it's a curse. But I still enjoy playing my piano and have no illusions about my ability.
The same with photography. Most of my stuff is sub-par but I still enjoy it and like what I take. I'm fairly good at one or two photography genres and stick to them. The others I don't inflict on people but still take the photos for me.
 
There are a few things that make a photo, light, composition, subject matter and an emotion that it gives. You can have a technically perfect photo, but if the subject is boring, then it's not going to engage you or anyone else.
I take my camera out sometimes with no particular thing in mind and never use it. Other times I find something unusual and photograph it.
 
alfaholic said:
Thank you all...

@Box Brownie Well, photos I make on our vacations are nice but just because there is something interesting and beautiful in front of the camera, it is still the same, empty, boring photo with something nice in it. Here are some examples:





@StephenM There is nothing attractive in the photos from my initial post, but I just wanted to play Lawrence Krauss and make something from nothing. :) It is somehow easy to take a photo of something beautiful and special, but I believe a photographer should have an eye to see extraordinary in ordinary things.
It is not very clear what I wanted to show, not even to me. I saw some ice cream cup on a bench, so I thought it could be interesting to take a photo with something in the background, but there is just nothing worth of digital film really, or if there is I would like to hear your opinions.

@ancient_mariner I agree, I am lazy. I find excuses in my children, not very interesting neighbourhood, most of the time I bring my camera when out with my family to shoot casually, not planing in advance and go specifically to shoot.

@kendo1 Oh thank you, but as you can see from my broken English I am not from UK, so this is not very useful for me. I went to some photography classes but all we did there is to learn exposure triangle and all other technical stuff that I am very good at. I hoped we will learn more about creative process, but no.

@Kris_D I like many types of photography, portraits, landscapes, art, vintage, social, which is maybe partly the source of my problem because I would like to do something and master it. For portraits I need a model, my kids are sometimes helpful but there is no real modeling, I chase them with my camera and if I catch some photo that is it, it is impossible to plan anything. Here is something that I am relatively satisfied:



I missed the focus, but I could live with that being my only problem. As for other types of photography, landscapes are not really ease here where I live because there is really nothing special in Panonian plain. Social and street photography is always possible, so I will try to walk more often with my camera. I hope it will not scare the people out, this is somehow conservative (I could use some other word) part of the planet...

@Steve Smith I enjoy it partially. I believe digital photography needs editing and post processing for full potential, so I am often disappointed when editing my photos at home and see that there is nothing special in them. But yes, I enjoy in photography most of the time.
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These shots show that you are not bad at it.
It's not just about seeing something where others wouldn't, it's about seeing when there's nothing there too. Don't try and pull something special out of something when you don't see anything special.
 
if you take a 1,000 photo's and only a handful are good then for me it's worth while because if you hadn't bothered or decided to give up that handful of memories wouldn't exist

we'd all like to take perfect photo's every time we press the shutter but it doesn't work like that
some are naturally talented and take amazing photo's with ease, most hope for the best

you've got the gear just carry on and don't dwell on the bad just be happy with the good ones you have
 
alfaholic said:
@Steve Smith I enjoy it partially. I believe digital photography needs editing and post processing for full potential, so I am often disappointed when editing my photos at home and see that there is nothing special in them. But yes, I enjoy in photography most of the time.
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I hate digital processing. That's why I went back to film after a short trial with digital.


Steve.
 
@alfaholic I think you're being a bit too harsh on yourself. I like your holiday photos, especially the umbrellas shot with it's colours and geometric patterns as it's right up my street. Also like the wedding shot with the drone hovering in the background which (to me) adds commentary to the photo.

cosmicma said:
if you take a 1,000 photo's and only a handful are good then for me it's worth while because if you hadn't bothered or decided to give up that handful of memories wouldn't exist

we'd all like to take perfect photo's every time we press the shutter but it doesn't work like that
some are naturally talented and take amazing photo's with ease, most hope for the best

you've got the gear just carry on and don't dwell on the bad just be happy with the good ones you have
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Very much agree with this. With digital you don't have to worry about shot count, just take a lot of photos and then see what works and what doesn't after - try to learn why you like certain photos you've taken, and take this knowledge going forward. I know I have progressed loads just by taking 1000s of photos, deleting a whole swathe of them, and using the knowledge of what I like in those remaining photos to inform the shots I take going forward.

I think you're also suffering from holiday come down (I know I am at the moment). On holiday in a sunny country the light and colours are amazing, and it makes everything pop like a Kodachrome slide. Back in the UK in the Autumn with flat light and grey skies, it's a bit of a come down and takes a bit of re-focusing.
 
Firstly, if you enjoy it, don't give up. What you need to do is stop being so hard on yourself.

alfaholic said:
but I believe a photographer should have an eye to see extraordinary in ordinary things.
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This is all well and good but sometimes there isn't actually anything to see. Reminds me of the phrase...... "You can't make a silk purse, out of a sows ear" (Yes I went for the clean one)

Your story also reminded me of one the episodes in this years Masters of Photography on Sky. One of the contestants was walking around where they were and announced that they couldn't find a single shot they were happy with. They moved to a different location and things went better. She later went on to win the show.

I guess my point is don't beat yourself up about not being able to find the shot when there possibly isn't even one there.
 
ChrisHeathcote said:
I guess my point is don't beat yourself up about not being able to find the shot when there possibly isn't even one there.
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Chris sums up what I was thinking when I saw your two sets of images.

You have some nice shots from your holidays because you have seen something interesting / photogenic to photograph.

On your walk in the evening, you appear to have taken shots because you thought you needed to take shots of something, rather than because there was something that inspired you.

Like many here, I'm very much still learning, and the ability of some to create the extraordinary out of what appears ordinary that some have is something I aspire to - but as Chris says, there still needs to be a subject that merits photographing, and without it, it doesn't matter how good you are.
 
If you enjoy what you do keep doing it. Practice makes you better. Watch some free courses on CreativeLive. It doesn't matter how your images look. Every famous musician you could name once couldn't play a note.

I can't play the piano properly but I love what I can do on it. I learnt how to play Moonlight Sonata from YouTube.

But if you do not enjoy it then yes, sell your gear.
 
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Just on a slightly different note and this is more to do with image hosting, but I was wondering why you used photoimage. If I’m honest I clicked into a couple of your images and I was a little put off by all the adverts for suspect dating sites etc. Have you looked at Flickr at all, you can get 1tb of storage for free.
 
I am not very goo, but I like taking them, Daughters had no training not even read the instructions and is way better than me!
 
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