Why can't I stop staring at a bad photo?

[Stormin]

Actually, if I have to be honest, I am not satisfied with anything that I have produced to date. When it comes time to CC my own work, a bad shot is disgusting and maddening, and even some of my "best" work to date is just so inadequate in my eyes.

So dead on with this comment. There is very little of my own work that I feel is anywhere near "good enough" but I think that keeps driving me.

There are a ton of shots that I have which I think are terrible examples of composition, DOF (etc...), but all are either prints on a family members desk, or even loaded into my own screen savers. The moment or the subject just means so much that you can't help but look and even enjoy.

Then theres some really bad stuff that's just like a car accident. I can't believe that I ever took the shots.

 

[Antithesis]

Technical perfection rarely makes the perfect photo. Often being in the right place at the right time, regardless of gear or experience, will make far better photos. Too many people starting out in photography get caught up in the technical aspect and spend too much time shooting the wrong things with very expensive gear, consistently worrying about absolute sharpness.

I think the first two photo's have a cool effect on them actually, possibly just because they're not the norm. The third, not so much... lol.

 

[Josh66]

I think I have to be the exception to the bias rule. I shoot a lot of pics of my family, and I YET have one that I cannot clearly see either technical, compositional or other kinds of errors in. My parents loved a set I took so much, that they bought 3 frames and had me print them out in 16X20" and 5X7"sizes, but though "nice" I see all kinds of bad points in them.

LOL, I'm the same way.

My wife wonders why I only print a handfull of the pictures I take...she loves them all. Some of them clearly suck to me, and others, while not quite sucking just aren't as good as I think they need to be.

 

[Torus34]

In the past I've used the word 'impact' to describe an attribute that tends to get lost in techie nitpicks.

A picture that holds your attention does so because it 'says' something to you. This has little to do with the technical aspects, though they may contribute. The same holds for composition, btw.

A little mental experiment.

Next time you run into a picture that really grabs your attention, ask a few questions of it such as the following: Would it still get your attention if the focus were a bit less sharp? If the color balance was a bit different? If the image were a bit grainier? If it was in b&w instead of color? If it were cropped square instead of 'portrait' or 'landscape'? [I grumble big time at the implication that my landscapes, whether painted or photographic, must be wider than higher!]

If the answer to that type of question is a definite 'Yes', you've identified a picture with impact.

 

[rufus5150]

I am not satisfied with anything that I have produced to date

Amen. Although I am for a while, sometimes. I never understood actors who never watched themselves in older movies or musicians who wouldn't listen to albums once completed but now I understand. If I look at a picture taken a month ago, I drive myself batty nitpicking it to death.