did you get worse before you got better

garymicheal

garymicheal

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gary
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Ive been thinking about my photography an i feel that iam finding it harder to get the shot i want. I was happy with the (so called snaps) i use to take with my old 350d. but i think that the more i learn from this site the harder it gets to get the shot is this because Ive become more aware (self critical)did you have a spell where you got worse before you got better?
 
My advice is just to keep persevering, don't get discouraged with your photography. You can have moments where you are too critical of yourself, particularly after seeing some of the shots taken by professionals.

I don't know what subjects you are interested in, but in the case of landscapes for example, it may just be waiting for the right lighting conditions or a slight change in viewpoint.

The main thing is to enjoy your photography and don't give up.
 
Yep, still getting worse.
Good shots are few and far between. I think the more I learn the more I think I'm doing this wrong and don't get a shot.
I'm looking at college courses now, see if I can iron out any bad habits?
 
One of the things I've found with taking photography more seriously is that I've become far more critical of my own work. I'm probably less happy with most shots I take now because the flaws stand out more. Looking back on older work though, which I was pretty happy with at the time, I can see that it is by far inferior to anything I do now.

Self critism leads to self improvement, so keep on thinking you're not very good. Before you know it you'll start seeing work that you're truely proud of amongst all the ones that didn't quite work out.
 
garymicheal said:
Ive been thinking about my photography an i feel that iam finding it harder to get the shot i want. I was happy with the (so called snaps) i use to take with my old 350d. but i think that the more i learn from this site the harder it gets to get the shot is this because Ive become more aware (self critical)did you have a spell where you got worse before you got better?
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I was having this exact conversation with a friend the other day who thinks my snapshots with a point and shoot are better than the ones I take now I have a DSLR.

I equate it to golf lessons. Without lessons you could go round in 100 shots. The moment you start taking lessons that figure will plummet to around 120.

Within a few weeks/months though, you would expect to be breaking the 90 barrier regularly.
 
Oh heck yes!

It takes time and patience and perseverance and the application to actually learn it. And none of that happens overnight (at least not unless you are outrageously talented) :)

Over the last three years I can remember several milestones that made things both better and worse! I can remember learning to use a lightmeter properly (huge plus) and I can remember learning how to work studio flashes and off camera speedlights (huge plus) But then I can remember getting my hands on my 1Ds and feeling like I had lost a year. The results looked like it too! I had to go back to a routine of checking ISO, what metering mode am I in again? white balance? oh good grief, it was painful. Now I've actually got the hang of the dratted thing I can concentrate on what I should be looking at. Light, positioning, interaction....

Any time you try to work on one particular aspect of your photography, this will happen. Metering, composition, lighting. It will all be pants until you get to the point you actually make progress.

So don't let it worry you, it's natural and it will get better. :)
 
I agree with Lazlo (Robert Rankin fan?) I defo got worse after I bought a DSLR and i haven't improved hugely in 18 months, however my success rate of keepers is climbing and my ability to get the settings right is improving as well as my eye for a photo. I am much more self critical and but I don't now just snap and move on I tend to take my time and weigh up the compositional elements first.
So basically its about being patient and you will improve (some more slowly than others).

Andy
 
I think it is about getting more critical, more than anything.

Part of the problem is the quality of the shots that you see posted on here, it started off inspiring me and ended up almost demotivating me as I thought I'd never achieve anything like it!

I persevere, because I now have fantastic holidays and need to record them, but the shots guys on here can get are amazing! I sometimes think I should stay at home and send one of them instead.
 
totally agree, i'm always getting worse! but when I look back at shots I used to think were astoundingly good, a lot of them wouldn't get a second look now.
 
AliB said:
Oh heck yes!

It takes time and patience and perseverance and the application to actually learn it. And none of that happens overnight (at least not unless you are outrageously talented) :)

Over the last three years I can remember several milestones that made things both better and worse! I can remember learning to use a lightmeter properly (huge plus) and I can remember learning how to work studio flashes and off camera speedlights (huge plus) But then I can remember getting my hands on my 1Ds and feeling like I had lost a year. The results looked like it too! I had to go back to a routine of checking ISO, what metering mode am I in again? white balance? oh good grief, it was painful. Now I've actually got the hang of the dratted thing I can concentrate on what I should be looking at. Light, positioning, interaction....

Any time you try to work on one particular aspect of your photography, this will happen. Metering, composition, lighting. It will all be pants until you get to the point you actually make progress.

So don't let it worry you, it's natural and it will get better. :)
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I agree with all the above apart from the fact I still dont seem to be happy with anything I am doing at the moment:bang:


md:(
 
I think what you mean by your opening question is not so much "did you get worse before you got better"....

maybe as you learned you just became more critical of your own work, so even better pictures had stricter critique, and you felt you hadn't achieved what you really wanted.

OK, so you are already on the way up, because you will improve on those.....analyse the shots and think HOW they could have been better. Once you start making these decisions after you take the picture, you then begine to see these improvements BEFORE yu take it, and they can then be incorporated into the picture you take....but you still won't be happy, it is the artists lot to be forever trying or striving to improve. Don't worry about it...you will be your worst critic, take what those around you say on board - they are the best judges of your wrok.
 
I think the problem is when you start to take this hobby a bit more seriously you can see a big improvement pretty quickly just by gaining a little bit of understanding of the technicalities. Progress (for me anyway) then grinds to a crawl as you try to learn more and implement different things. You become more critical of what you do produce and have the frustration of knowing whats wrong but maybe not the skills to put it right yet :bang:

I'm still using a bridge camera but am hoping for a DSLR for my birthday this year. I fully expect a huge step backwards and am going to have to make myself persevere and not get demotivated... hopefully it will pay off at some stage!
 
You will learn faster if you take the thing off AUTO...this is amed at everyone, nobody in particular.

Go and learn how things work by doing it yourself, not letting the camera do it....then you can learn by your mistakes. You can take pictures of nothing in particular, just for thesake of learning.....leave it on auto and you get what the camera decides you are having, not what you want.
 
I went through a crisis of confidence stage, and I am sure that I will go through many more!! In less than a year since picking up a DSLR I have become very critical of my images and probably delete loads of stuff that I would have thought was pretty OK months ago.

I don't think I have got any worse, just that I am expecting more of myself, and unfortunately I can not always live up to my own expectations.
 
Lensflare said:
You will learn faster if you take the thing off AUTO...this is amed at everyone, nobody in particular.

Go and learn how things work by doing it yourself, not letting the camera do it....then you can learn by your mistakes. You can take pictures of nothing in particular, just for thesake of learning.....leave it on auto and you get what the camera decides you are having, not what you want.
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:clap::clap: You need to be self critical of your own work, and yes you will get them moments when nothing goes right, without that you will get nowhere. Every now and then I go back to my keepers and delete those which I now know I can confidently better. And only the odd one will go to print, and as mentioned that number will gradually increase. Try and explore as many combinations of camera adjustments as possible, if you have time on your hands when taking a photo then take a couple of test shots decide what you think is wrong and adjust accordingly. The light and air quality can change in such a short space of time that using another combination of shutter, F/stop, white balance etc: will make all the difference in the world.
 
Lensflare said:
You can take pictures of nothing in particular, just for thesake of learning.....
Click to expand...

I think I find myself doing that a bit too much to the detriment of taking pictures of something worthwhile, only yesterday I made a bounce card out of some glossy inkjet paper then proceeded to take pictures at different settings of anything that was in front of me in the house.
 
I like this thread - I feel that i'm not the only one that feels that way! Thanks to all the OP's for their comments, it's very reassuring and encourages me to keep practising! Thanks. :bonk:
 
my grandad wrote some awesome stories and everyone liked them, but he kept rewriting them because he was too self critical. set yourself a limit and dont get too critical, we've all seen the shining lol.

all snaps and no photographs makes gary a dull boy
all snaps and no photographs makes gary a dull boy
all snaps and no photographs makes gary a dull boy
 
Ahhh... this is know as "photographus self depreciatus"... Its catching. ( you get it by being with other "better" togs...) I have found that there is no cure except being paid for your work or having it published, printed, appreciated by others.. so you are in the right place for that.... Show your work at every opportunity ( not just to friends and family ) on here and everywhere. Pretty soon you'll wonder how you got so big headed:bonk:

There is a saying I love ( cant remember who said it) "
Photographers don't look at photographs they "smell" them"
Meaning they look far too closely with their noses up close but often fail to grasp the whole subject or meaning.... Kinda accurate I have found:)
 
Worse can be better "in the eye of the beholder" especially if he only has one eye:LOL:
 
I'm deffo at that stage now!! I have even caught myself looking at high spec Bridge Camera's:bang: I wont give in, I will keep at it and hope that one day it all clicks and comes together.:clap:
 
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