If you're no good, should you give up?

[Strappy]

I am a completely different person when with wedding clients either before they book ... and on the day. In fact, that has been commented by a female friend previously. She said I am like a different person. Self conscious and not at all confident in real life, yet when working am the exact opposite.

Sounds familiar I'm rubbish socially but with a camera, I'm gregarious and enjoying myself. It's a borderline depressive trait but that's not important, if having a camera makes you feel more comfortable, have a camera with you. Put an XA2 or a digi-compact in your pocket when you go out - you don't have to use it but you know it's there and you can get it at any moment. And remember that most phones have cameras these days too. Bring that confidence from your professional life to your personal life, it's who you really are.

So many of my friends tell me not to look at so many other photographers work. It's hard for me though because I LOVE looking at great images. I love seeing what people I aspire to be like are shooting, so difficult for me to distance myself from that to be honest.

Don't just look at them, analyse them. What makes a good shot? What makes a bad one? How was it lit, what's the context, what's the situation? If you can answer those questions, you can start bringing the answers into your own work. You've got to discover what you like and more importantly, why you like it. It's equally important to understand why a shot you don't like is still considered great by others, even if the answer is that it's because it's been instagram'd to hell and the people who think it's great are deluded hipsters.

I don't think it's because I don't have a clear objective either. Even when I do have one, it's disheartening when it receives negative feedback. It's like I had a concept, tried to realise it and then failed to do so.

Do or do not. There is no try. [/Yoda]

Not everyone is going to like everything you produce. Sometimes you'll produce stuff that only you like. Does that mean it's no good? No. Does it mean they're all wrong? No. But if you don't try and put stuff up to be knocked down, you'll never know. If you're happy with production-line shots of clichéd subjects that gain 50 fartface likes in 24 hours then by all means, crack on. If not, you'll have to keep trying until you find what it is that makes your shots yours.

In short, you're asking the wrong question in the OP. Start with "what do I think is a good shot?"