Photography

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A place to politely discuss the tools, technique and culture of photography.

This is not a good place to simply share cool photos/videos or promote your own work and projects, but rather a place to discuss photography as an art and post things that would be of interest to other photographers.

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Perfectionism is ruining my drive to take photos (alien.top)

submitted 10 months ago by alpinab10v10@alien.top to c/photography@viewfinder.pro

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My photos rarely come out how I want them to (because I don't take enough pictures), and that puts me off taking any more photos because they all seem 'bad' to me. It's a sort of reinforcing cycle.

I try to take pictures of interesting subjects, in interesting lighting etc., but find myself putting the camera back into the drawer for another 2 months before I pick it up again and go through the same cycle. It's almost like I'd rather take no pictures than bad pictures.

Is this normal, or am I just insane? I neglected taking my camera on my last trip abroad because of this feeling.

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[–] wasthatitthen@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If the photos always look bad to you then…… has something in life imposed perfectionism in you? If your brain works like that then, quite possibly, you’ll never take a “good” photo because, well, you’ll always find the faults. So, there something deeper at work here, I think.

I take photos of aircraft.. some work some don’t, for a variety of reasons. But I live and learn… I don’t stop because some photos don’t work out.

[–] alpinab10v10@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I definitely struggle from perfectionism in a wider sense. I always thought that taking photos would be a way to cope with it... I completely agree with you.

[–] wasthatitthen@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

The want…. I’m interested in aircraft, but every day (or every time I go) is different… the weather, the lighting, the challenge of finding a different view. Also I see it as documentary rather than getting the perfect photo. Sure, I try and do it as well as I can, but it’s not a problem if it doesn’t work out perfectly. You can’t guarantee where the aircraft are going to be when they take off, for example.

I was out today and the lighting was…. variable. Even if the light wasn’t great I could get a feel for what works and what doesn’t. And I’d rather have the photo of the plane than no photo.

As for your perfectionism, I think you may need to see someone about that…. wanting to do something well is one thing but if it controls your life to the extent that an enjoyable hobby or pastime is ruined for you then you’ve got much deeper problems.