Photography

Accept you just suck.

Are u sure that those are the same original edits? I mean, are u sure that she is not applying some kind of filter ? Are u watching the pictures on the same screen?

That being said, if none of the above is the case , at least u are acknowledging your mistakes, which is always great , because u'll be able to get better and better with time .

I’m using imagen ai. You can get a link to Taylor Jackson that gives 1500 free edits. Helped me when I couldn’t figure out if I was editing my photos well. You can use it to sample and give you inspiration for looks on edits too if you want to do it by hand.

Accept yourself. I was probably one of the best musicians in my town growing up and I was so critical of my own music that I have nothing to show for it. I deleted the songs, etc. With photography when you see flaws, it's just something to work on.

For example, I wouldn't get close enough. Being an introvert. I could be taking a family portrait or any kind of portrait and I'd always be too far away. It'd look fine in the camera but on the computer I'd always end up having to crop it way in. Which takes away resolution. Having a higher MP camera saved me on one job.

But then I learned to get closer. But EVEN THEN, I was making crops that looked even better so I learned to get even closer.

Then I developed my own style, a lot of detail. So, say you have two people kissing, I will get so close that their full heads aren't even in the shot, but their facial features out to their ears. Of course you don't want to cut anything off that looks awkward.

But those flaws are helping you develop a style.

Family photographer, you might look at people using good strobe lights and you might not be and might see a big difference and feel inferior.

Client's happy, you should be happy. You have a workflow that works for you.

You have no idea the amount of work they might have put in on that social media photo or the set up / prep work needed to get that shot. And that's what maybe one photo?

I'm sure you gave your client more than one photo.

If it makes you feel any better, I recently read a quote from the Belgian photographer Harry Gruyaert (check him out!) about being a perfectionist when it comes to editing & always wanting to improve. He mentioned a famous French painter (Pierre Bonnard, I think) who would go to museums, have his friends distract the guards & retouch his own paintings...

I suppose it's quite common in artists. You have to be a bit of a perfectionist to see what other people might miss. I have it too!

I do think it gets better over time, with experience. You learn from mistakes & will get a better feel of what you want. Hang in there!

Work more. Get so busy that you don't have time to look at stuff you've already done and by the time you do it's old news anyways

Perfectionism is the thief of joy.