Photography

Published and award winning photographer here. When I was a photography student I almost gave up twice and wanted to drop out of art uni. My friends told me I can one day do it because how passionate I was about photography.

My teacher from that time today says I’m one of her favorite photography students in 40 years of teaching

And I can tell you You’ll get there You just have to practice And try to create better and better each time.

The longer it takes the better the outcome Also Don’t compare yourself to others Everyone has a different path in life and in artistic life.

If you want to speak to someone about it you’re welcome to inbox me

Picture 1 and 3 have your subject covered by something.

The rest of the pictures are what I am struggling with right now. You have a subject, however you are zooming in too much, or you don’t have enough in the background to explain what is going on.

With the 737 - is it taking off? Is it landing? Where is this happening?

With the moon picture, it’s a bright object but you’ve crushed the shadows - try to make them more in the grey so it’s less saturated.

I have no idea what’s happening in the red image with the stones. Are they decorative? Are they healing? Why is the red there?

I am not the leading authority in pictures by any means but unless you are going for images that show how isolated a subject is, try to add something that will play with your subject in a way that adds to your image and never ever have something covering up your subject - unless it adds to the image.

Also I think sitting down and playing with editing will help you. Masking is a great way to make something pop out in an otherwise dull image

Maybe you should give up.

I’m not sure why you care if you pictures are “good” or if you’re good enough. No one is really making a living by walking around taking snaps. I guess if you want to shoot family portraits, weddings, professional fashion etc then maybe there’s a level to get to to be able to do that professionally.

But in my opinion if you’re taking pictures for any other reason than you enjoy doing it then you shouldn’t do it. 🤷‍♂️

Invest the time in learning how to choose right composition, how to edit photos, buy masterclasses from some world famous photographers…

Professional photographer here.

On a normal day shoot i take around 500-1000 pictures for clients, weddings around 3000 so yeah based on that 10k photos equals about 3-4 days, you cant master anything in 3 days xD

Just take your time with it

Experiment with your photography try angles that are unconventional

To me, photography isn't a 'thing' I could ever perfect or be an expert at - it's how I see the world around me and which things I take pics of. My family motto is 'don't leave home without a camera' and it allows me to photograph neat things or places I'm curious about - without needing each image to be tack sharp.

But I also understand that feeling of wanting to just give up looking at pro photogs and their many-layered incredible shots that I could never mimic. Sometimes when I feel down about my skills as a photographer I go sit outside or walk somewhere and challenge myself to see the beauty all around me. Sometimes it works but even if I don't get any neat shots I got more experience and tried new things and went outside a bit and those are all 'wins' in my book. (I've been snapping pics for decades now).

Another way I like to photograph is more documentary-ish. I take pics of my house and my rooms, pics of my neighborhood or traffic or being out with friends or neat cloud layers. Over the years as I've moved to new places I always love finding those 'extra' pics. Maybe try just taking all the photos of everything and see if some different subjects - scenarios - or themes might catch your fancy.

I know some folks who find the neatest patterns in buildings and street lights - another who always gets good crowd shots - and then of course the folks like me hunting tiny moss patches with a macro lens. Then there's action or sports photography that you could try too! There are SO many different things and perspectives to try and then practice - I hope you find many interesting things and get even more experience!

One way to reduce your shutter count and get better photographs is to use film instead of digital. It forces you to be more careful about your image and slow down your “snapping”.

I also think you could choose only 5 images from another photographer and try to replicate their composition. Only move back to digital once you have succeeded.

Quality over quantity.

It doesn't matter how many pictures you take if you're not trying to consistently improve. I've been doing this for ten years and I still have moments when I think, "wow I suck." But other times I'm like "ok that's not bad." Keep shooting, it's the only way to get better.

First, stop judging yourself. If someone was judging you like that it would be considered abusive.

Second, stop comparing yourself to others. You cannot compare yourself to others. Their experiences and knowledge help shape their works. It is unique in that regard.

Third, most people doubt themselves at different times in life and those who do not will someday. Just know that it will pass.

What works for me, and hopefully for you, is to understand your photography. Each of us have a unique perspective on life based on our experiences and emotions.

Use that to your advantage by listening to your heart.

When you see something that imprints an impression on you heart capture it with your camera. If the image doesn’t impact others in the same way that is ok, given their background in life. But continue forward, continue to listen to your heart.

For you are the camera. Your heart is the media that captures what you experience. Your eyes are the lenses. Your experiences in life are the filters.

The more you see the reality there and capture the subject with your camera the better you will like your work, your images. When you share that experience with others it impact their lives in ways you cannot imagine.

Remember you are an artist.

Your goal is not to copy what others have done before you but instead create something new by seeing it in a new light, a different perspective that you alone have. That takes imagination and opening your heart to feel that which is unseen.

You're not telling any stories. You have subjects but where are they? What's around them? What are they doing? These are some of the thingsthat make photographs compelling.

Also, you need a faster shutter speed. These aren't very sharp. Crank the iso if you have to. Grainy and sharp looks much better than blurry and clean.

At what level were you expecting to be a year in? It takes years to get good at photography for most.

OP, how many books have you read on photography? I don't mean about gear and exposure. I mean books on the creative side including composition as well as viewing books of photos from top photographers. If you don't have a library card now is the time to get one. I recently finished a book of photos from Jay Maisel and am currently working through Cartier-Bresson's book The Decisive Moment, both found at the library.

I would get a cheap film camera. That takes only 24 or 36 pictures. Learn exposure and framing with less photos. You will be more thoughtful before you take the picture. I also suggest you take a focal length, like a 50mm and shoot everything you can with it. Wide, tight, Portraits, Vistas until you exhaust that prime and understand what you like and don't like. Then pick another prime, use that. If you already have zooms, just pick a focal length and stick to that no matter what. Growth comes from limitations and understanding how to work with you. Pick a subject you love! A person, a hobby, a person. Shoot the shit out of it in as many ways as you can. Eventually you will exhaust the average stuff and start getting interesting. In my opinion that best photos have a feeling. If it has a feeling, you are doing it right....or at least better. I hope this helps. Don't give up, just take pictures of what you really care about.

First off, you don't get great photos by taking 10k shots and hoping you get a bunch of good ones.

Instead, you get great photos by learning and understanding what makes a great photo and then diligently working to learn how to create those conditions and capture that shot appropriately.

You generally need a combination of a bunch of things such as good/appropriate lighting, interesting composition, interesting subject, technically good focus, technically good exposure, appropriate post processing and so on.

I'd suggest you pick a day that you took a bunch of photos and just try to be your own critic. Go through each photo and evaluate each one. What is good about each photo and what is not so good about each photo? What do you wish was different? Can that be enhanced with post processing? What should you have done differently when capturing that shot?

For example, in your imgur link, I see three photos of airplanes. I don't really know what you were going for in each photo, but the first one is just a challenging angle to shoot at and contains overlapping foreground elements (plants of some kind that are blurred because they're so close). It appears you may have gotten the exposure and focus correct with a low sun angle, but the composition leaves me wondering what you were trying to capture, what story you were trying to tell or capture with that composition?

Then, there's a RyanAir plane shot with a side view. The lighting is challenging. It appears like it may either be backlit or there just isn't very much light - either way there isn't much light on the side of the plane you can see. You could probably work on it in post processing to enhance the visibility of the plane, but frankly you really just want to shoot planes in a direction that has better lighting. It appears to be decent focus.

Then, the third one is a plane going away from you and partly obscured by trees. It's just a missed composition. Planes going away from you are probably not all that interesting on their own unless there's some other interesting part of the composition, but partially obscured by the trees is just a shot you should probably avoid entirely. Like the previous RyanAir plane, this one also looks like its shot from an undesirable lighting angle. In real estate, the old saying was that only three things matter "location", "location" and "location". Well, in photography, it's "lighting", "lighting" and "lighting". The very first ingredient to making a great shot is setting yourself up with good lighting. Now, that doesn't mean that you can't occasionally take great shots with very challenging lighting. Some people can sometimes capture good shots in challenging lighting, but that requires either extra skill or really good creativity and often post processing. But, if you're going out somewhere to shoot planes around an airport, you should diligently plan to be shooting in a favorable lighting direction so you're shooting with the sun behind you so your subject is front lit by the sun.

When I go out to a local wildlife area to shoot birds, I only go when the primary shooting direction has the sun behind my back (which means early morning at this spot). And, I know that the magic time (best lighting) is from about 15 minutes before sunrise to about an hour after sunrise, though I can still get good shots for 3-4 hours after sunrise. I don't even bother going there in the afternoon or evening because it just won't be worth it due to the challenges of the lighting. And, I know that based on where the sun is, it's only really worth it to shoot certain directions.

You are right where you need to be. It takes time to develop a style and look. Pick one thing you want to improve in your photos the most, maybe it is lighting, composition, subject, etc. Just focus on that and try to improve it. Then move to another.

Also, don't compare yourself to others. Everyone has different starting points and backgrounds. The only comparison I do is to myself 6 months ago. Have I improved since then?

You will always be your own worst critic. We all look at our own work harshly, it's just a part of being an artist/creator.

Just get a 1.4 lens and try again 😂

But why are you taking pictures? I can name at least 4 reasons:

• Memories
• Hobby
• Career
• Art

And so:

• Memories - doesn't really matter how good the photos are. They could be better but it's more important you took a photo of your trip to a different country and you can recall the good memories looking at them
• Hobby - Having fun is all that matters, you can take the worst pictures but it's important that you're having fun. If you're not having fun then think of different hobby. I'm in this category myself and I sometimes don't even check my photos when I get back home. And I have multiple rolls of film waiting to be developed because I didn't feel like it yet
• Career - This can be tough. If you can make living by shooting photos you're good enough. If you want to be a professional photographer but think you don't have the skill to it you may rethink your career
• Art - Most artists take years to develop their skills and there are plenty of artists who never got "discovered". And there are plenty of artists who are famous but are not happy with their art. Art is difficult when you have some vision but the results don't match it but the only thing you have left is to spend more time practicing your skills

I gueas after 10k shots you just learnt how the camera behaves and what the photo might look like with this camera when you take it.

Yea, stop looking at others pictures, and concentrate on your own. Your problem is your mindset. As long as you think your photos are not as good as others, they never will be.

The photos I take are not any better or any worse than others...they are mine. And as someone who has probably been doing this twice as long as you've been alive, I can honestly say I like mine, and don't compare them to others. Every photo is a once-in-a-lifetime shot that will never come around again, and every photographer is like no one else.

Once you realize that the problem is not the photos, but the mind of the one taking them, then you'll have the answer you're looking for.

Tools are important in photography, but the most important tool an artist has is their brain. I used film cameras in my youth, before digital cameras existed. By the time phone cameras started to get good, my skills as a photographer had matured to a level where I was confident I could take a good picture with any photographic tool, including disposable cameras or Polaroids.

I suggest to use your phone camera. Use tools which are easy to use. I promise that using a phone camera and the basic editing tools contained therein will make you a better photographer.

Find the limits of the tool. Work within those limits. Don’t sweat the small stuff, yet.

Don’t be afraid to take 1,000 photos in an afternoon, but remember you will have to choose the best 20% of images from the session (those are made up numbers, but feels right to me).

Maybe consider taking fewer pictures. Take your time. Learn about composition. Learn about visual story-telling. Read about illustration. Look up Norman Rockwell. He was a great illustrator, but the thinking expressed in his paintings would make amazing photographs.

There is a time an place for candid photos and “spray and pray” photography.

If you’re frustrated because you’re not getting what you expect because of the tools, you’re doing it wrong. Have a voice, or find your voice, with humble tools and means. After you know what you want to explore, you can then begin to say what tools are appropriate for your use or not.

Join a camera club, that did more for me in six months than anything else. Also there’s a free, online, do it at your own pace course called “A year with my camera”. Stick with it, I must have taken about 5x what you have before I gained confidence in my photography. Also, enjoy it, it sounds as though you heard the “you have to take 10,000 photos before you get one good one” myth. Some photographers only need 1,000, some, nearer 100,000. Take your time, and good luck.

Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop. Ansel Adams

That moon photo is pretty.

That's fine. Find a different hobby/medium.

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I'm an artist, I dabbled with pencil, pen, acrylic paint, clay, 3D modeling, 2D animation, 3D animation, stop motion animation, making a video game, painting in watercolors, pastels, and photography. Of them I got really good or average or poor. Clay sculpting is my weak point, I'm very bad at it. What is important and fun for me is trying out all these mediums and learning how to use them. I get a thrill from getting good results and a bigger thrill when somethings looks perfect (to me).

If you aren't having fun, move on. Find something else. It's okay.

I’ve been taking pictures from last 20 years give or take. Photography I believe is a very personal expression. If you try to capture what u feel through your lens, it’ll have a story for everyone to see. Upgrading your knowledge will be a constant. Don’t stop there though. Yes basic composition and understanding how light falls on your subject is important. Practice what u learn. And then go ahead and break the rules. All the best.

I think its good to come to the conclusion that a specific hobby is not for you before you try to convince you with buying more and more equipment.