self-defeating

Dashur

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So after I produce what I think are pretty good photos, I keep looking and almost always decide they are garbage. Is that a blessing or a curse? Anyone else get pretty critical of their work to the point they don't want to even show it to folks?
 
It depends on what the pictures are for. I am happy to produce 10-12 'good' pictures a year - on that basis I am very critical. I am also happy to share not-so-good pictures if they are of some interest.

What I do not ever do is let myself be led to reject a picture for daft issues like sharpness, blown highlights and other non-issues that photographers get het up about.

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I've always been my worst critic, but I've learned to channel the criticism in more constructive ways. What did I do wrong, what should I do differently? Will every photo be a masterpiece? Nope, but not everyone is a failure. You learn by doing, by making mistakes.
 
I think my issue is I often get in the moment and sort of forget what I should remember. In the moment things look great. This pic of my daughter? I think I don't like her left eye/side of her face being soft. While it doesnt really ruin the pic, I can't stop seeing it now and wish I woulda-coulda-shoulda :) That's what I mean - I do that with most photos lately. She loves it, however - I have a hard time letting the viewer or 'customer' be the judge, ya know?

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She loves it

I'm sure she does, it's a solid shot. Rather than being critical of your work, what should you or could you have done to achieve the look you wanted? I find myself making notes, and putting them in a little cheat book to refresh my memory the next time I'm in a similar situation.
 
So after I produce what I think are pretty good photos, I keep looking and almost always decide they are garbage. Is that a blessing or a curse? Anyone else get pretty critical of their work to the point they don't want to even show it to folks?
I am at that point as well. For me, it's time to slow down on the shutter button, find a project, and plan a shot rather than take one. I need to find different subject matter. I have come to the conclusion, it's really about the light. I noticed this in the studio recently when shooting a flower. Why was is so boring? Well, I went through my project notebook and the better ones were ones where I added creative lighting (high lumen flash light) to subject.

So lately, I have been looking for patterns in nature. Looking for details in the shadows, interesting light creates interesting shadows... @Gary A. made a comment about walking around a fountain and study the light. You see, Gary didn't tell me why and I new better to ask, so I did it. I called him after and we had a good laugh about it. But here's the deal, he wanted me to discover what the light was doing to the water. Then a light when on.

For me, each level of photography seems to be harder to obtain. So I consider myself trying to climb out of the beginner stage after almost two years of shooting. How can I climb out to consistently produce fine art? I think for me, it's the light or more so, what is in the shadows.

Funny thing is, I just wrote this in my project journal at 3:00 am this morning. Where am I going, what am I doing, why am I doing it, and what am I going to do about it? These are the questions I wrote on the index card that will be with me next time the camera is in my hand.
 
I am at that point as well. For me, it's time to slow down on the shutter button, find a project, and plan a shot rather than take one.

@Dashu This is probably the best advise anyone can give you. I need to make this into a flash card to wear around my neck. I watched a video of a commercial product shoot one time, and was in awe of the preparation that went into the setup. As JC goes on to say, each level does get harder, because little things are what distinguish a good shot from a fantastic one.
 
thank you to all. Makes sense. I should create the habit of working my technical, planning aspect. Start to have more awareness....and then if I take the shot I wanted, I should remember it's self-defeating to decide I wanted something else after the fact :)

Another thing - I never chimp after - except to check histogram. Not that my old camera's rear display would even show me...but maybe I should start? Dunno.
 
thank you to all. Makes sense. I should create the habit of working my technical, planning aspect. Start to have more awareness....and then if I take the shot I wanted, I should remember it's self-defeating to decide I wanted something else after the fact :)

Another thing - I never chimp after - except to check histogram. Not that my old camera's rear display would even show me...but maybe I should start? Dunno.

Chimping has nothing to do with a good or bad image. I don't do it only because it looks different when on a big screen, waste of time and battery really. I have the auto preview turned off. With a Fuji, it's worthless to chimp if you shoot in raw because you can't zoom that far in anyway. Now let's say I am shooting a soccer game, I'll rip off a few test shot in JPEG fine and evaluate it, adjust EC and carry on for the game.
 
Understood - I was trying to convey I shoot then forget and move to the next shot. I don't read the exif and think about the shot I made and what it may be...I'm too fast (that'swhatSHEsaid). :beer:
 
I think my issue is I often get in the moment and sort of forget what I should remember. In the moment things look great. This pic of my daughter? I think I don't like her left eye/side of her face being soft. While it doesnt really ruin the pic, I can't stop seeing it now and wish I woulda-coulda-shoulda :) That's what I mean - I do that with most photos lately. She loves it, however - I have a hard time letting the viewer or 'customer' be the judge, ya know?
Calculating the DOF during a session takes only a little time, and time well spent, IMO, but oddly, some newbies actually seem to strive for a very thin DOF, and consider it an enhancement of some sort. So a thin DOF that actually has a large part of someone's face OOF has become a current fad, and as long as they're happy with it, then we are not welcome to criticize.

Letting inexperienced people offer an opinion is generally fruitless, because you don't know if you're getting a valid critique or if someone is infatuated with the subject matter, as viewing through "mom's eyes". We see a wide range of C&C on here, where I suspect that a widely-acclaimed photograph is lacking in photographic skill, but the subject is obviously what many viewers like. Recently, one such photograph won "Photo of the month" while not being a very good example of photographic skill, the subject was engaging.

Being self-critical is not a bad thing, but limit your criticism to a realistic set of attributes that you can decide to live with or change.
 
Self-critiquing is necessary to climb up the learning curve of photography. After reviewing every shot, I keep telling myself that I can do better. That doesn't necessarily mean the stuff I got was garbage, but rather there is room for improvement.

The shot of your daughter, (a very attractive little girl), is very nice ... but you are right, it would be better if both eyes were sharp. After kicking yourself in the butt, make a note that next time make sure both eyes are in focus. In your next portrait both eyes will be sharp, but then you'll find something else that needs some improvement. Good photography, is a culmination of properly addressing small details. After a bit, the initial details become semi-automatic and you move on to new details.

If you're not shooting in Manual, try it every now and then. Shooting in Manual helps with the details, as you adjust the aperture you remember you'll need a bit more DOF for the eyes, adjusting the shutter speed will trigger a need to compensate for a long focal length or to turn on your IS, et cetera.

Sharing your good, but flawed, images is also a method to reinforce what you did well and discover new details you need to work on.
 
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I think I know if I'm getting a valuable critique because I know what is fluff and I know what is logic. I think you're - just my first impression - a technical dude who would pull no punches if you are asked to critique. Because you know what to look for and what you like in an image. Your critique is no better nor worse than mine, even if yours is more learned or experienced. There's a give and take in my mind - I would not sacrifice a beautiful photo that is technically 'wrong', if the subject is true and the production is moving. I also would not reject a technically pure photo simply because I didn't prefer the style, subject, etc. I hope that makes sense...at least a little.


Gary - thank you. Good points. I shoot in manual about 80% of the time. For this photo I was worried about shutter speed and didn't want to advance the ISO any farther - was with a 300 f/4L about 15 feet away if I recall. I should have bumped from probably f/4 to f7/8 and used the ISO to help the low light. Shoulda - woulda-coulda :) I simply have to remember - like mentioned above - to slow down a little bit.
 
I'll let you know when I take a bad photo because it hasn't happened yet.
 
So after I produce what I think are pretty good photos, I keep looking and almost always decide they are garbage. Is that a blessing or a curse? Anyone else get pretty critical of their work to the point they don't want to even show it to folks?

That does not sound like a blessing to me. There is quite often that feeling oif excitement, of seeing a scene, of seeing a photo happening before one's eyes, and then later, afteer the shot has been committed to the capture medium, there might be some loss of enthusiasm or some disappointment at seeing the actual, captured photos. I KNIW that every photographer has experienced that feeling, of ending up with shots that turned out to be, ukltimately, less-than-anticipated.

Another thing - I never chimp after - except to check histogram. Not that my old camera's rear display would even show me...but maybe I should start? Dunno.

Perhaps there could be some benefit to reviewing the images at the time of their capture? Maybe you'd be able to review them quickly, and make changes that you might like more, at a later time? Perhaps the disappointment that you feel at later times could be avoided if there were some chimping done at the time of the photography? Questiuons I suppose that might reveal more about your photo journey than anything else.

Does not chimping add anything to the photographic process for you? Do you not have the time to review shots? How is not utilizing the rear LCD screen of benefit to you? Is it a principaled stand, based on emulating a film-type workflow, or more a matter of focusing on the time at hand?
 

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