Throw Off Your Mental Chains! Ooo, Ooo, Ooo!

68lbs

68lbs

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April 2008
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Do you find that the more you learn, and the more you look at the work of other photographers, the more pressure you put on yourself to come up with the goods?

I don't claim to be good. In fact far from it. But I understand the basics of composition, can correctly expose parts (if not the whole) image, am capable of using photoshop to bring out the colours, increase contrast, etc. In fact, when I look at the work of Joe Cornish or Charlie Waite et al, I don't open the page and go "Wow!" any more. I deconstruct the image. We've got a bit of cloud there that mimics the swathe of the grass, the light is coming from over there and creating a glow here. The way I see it, there's nothing complicated about it, it's just a case of putting all the elements together in one GREAT image.

The problem with all this knowledge is that I now want to produce shots to the standard of C & W! As a result, I am binning virtually every shot, and in a lot of cases not even taking the shot in the first place because I know it's not going to produce the results I want! :bang:
 
68lbs said:
in a lot of cases not even taking the shot in the first place because I know it's not going to produce the results I want! :bang:
Click to expand...

With a shot being virtualy zero cost, thats just silly. Are you sure the results you 'think' you want are actualy the be-all and end-all for every particular image you could have captured. :suspect:

I'm sure most of the top togs bin 100's of snaps before getting a single published pic.
 
IMHO, it's a bit like learning to drive: you learn what to do and the right order to do things in and the "correct" way of doing it, but somehow, even after passing your test, you are still not Lewis Hamilton!!! It's a learning curve and you (and a lot of us too,) have reached a plateau. The only way to move from advanced learner to Pro is PRACTISE!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Because I'm relatively new and not very good, virtually every shot I see posted here elicits a WOW.
 
I'm not quite binning everything :) but certainly the talents on display on this forum make me more self critical and lead me to more carefully appraise my own images at all points of the process from assessing and taking the shot to the final processing.

Which can only be a good thing I guess :)

And there was me thinking this was a Howard Jones appreciation thread :)
 
I have to agree with Dark Starr, the shots found here on TP make me think harder about the subject and the image as a whole. When you realise what level others are at, you realise you have to try and be that much better. So its your images people are buying, or its you who the company want to employ as a photographer because your you stand out. (From a business point of view)

Hope that makes sense.:)

Its only natural to evolve as-well, as new glass comes out, older glass gets cheaper and new techniques are discovered (HDR for example back in the day) it opens new possibilities. Thus allowing you to learn more and push the boundaries to become an altogether better photographer.:thumbs:
 
I think that you're on the right track 68. It sounds to me like you've reached a place where you can visualise the shots you want and when you know you can't achieve it, you don't shoot.

There are the other times, where you know the shot is there but you're not sure how to bring it out. Then it's worth shooting until you can't think of any other ways to try the shot and learn from them after the event.

Either way, the higher you set your sights, the more you miss and the harder it is to make images you're happy with. I've never seen this as a bad thing. :)
 
I don't see why binning your stuff is necessarily a bad thing, but I'm not sure binning everything is very sensible. I have on a couple of occasions binned 100% of a days shoot, but generally I reckon I bin around 75%. Thing is - of those I keep I find that when I review them weeks, or even months later, I see something new in them or some potential that I missed first time round.

But I understand your problem about not getting the results you seek. I have loads of "quite good" photos but not a single exceptional photograph, of anything. It frustrates me.
 
I guess I have a bit less trouble with this but I know what you mean. I've only just started but I want to be as good as the pictures I see by professionals.

Luckily, I know that I'm only a beginner so people aren't going to be too harsh on me if some shots are below par, which most are! For me, getting 2 pictures I like out of 150 I've taken is good! I'm really critical of my own work and tend to use a process of elimination to get the best shots out at the end... But yes...

You shouldn't feel like you need to live up to others! You can only do your best, and if you keep doing your best, your best will get better :) Just to throw a positive outlook on it all into the mix ;)
 
Back in the days of 35mm and 120 film I can remember some of the "greats" of the time stating that they were happy if they got 1 or 2 useable shots per film - why should the hit rate be any different nowadays?

If you don't take the shots that's an easy way to guarantee you never get any good ones!
 
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