Bah

[ralphh]

This evening I decided to have a prune on flickr. Ya know, so it's a representative sample of the last couple of years worth, rather than every photo ever... Simple plan - delete the junk and done

But the more I looked, the more I hated everything and the more I deleted. Ended more feeling like I'd left the ones I hated least, rather than just remove the ones I liked least.

You know how many I ended up with? 30! 30!! Not even a whole roll of film!! :x Good job this is only a hobby!!

Anyone else have days like this? When you look at the last couple of years worth of photos and think "Gaah, I was sure I'm better than that! I was in my mind..."


Bah, I'm off to eat chocolate icecream and look at youarenotaphotographer.com until I feel better

 

[pixmedic]

the longer we go, and the better we get, the more critical we are of our own work.
dont look at it as you have a bunch of bad shots there. look at it as you have improved that much.

 

[ratssass]

the longer we go, and the better we get, the more critical we are of our own work.
dont look at it as you have a bunch of bad shots there. look at it as you have improved that much.

I've saved just about everything I've shot in the last 10 years.Sometimes I'll just throw a random disk in,and let it slideshow.It's kind of neat to see what phase I was going through,or what I was trying to learn.Better than that,though,it brings back memories of where I was in life at that time.I always thought,beyond the pic,it captures a time.

 

[pgriz]

Science advances when we get better glasses, instruments, sensors. We learn to ask better questions. And we learn to use better assumptions.

Photography advances when we remove our perceptual glasses, and start seeing things. We also start understanding links between things. And we start to ask better questions.

And one of those questions is "What was I thinking?!" Heh. We all go through that. Some more often than others. But the funny thing is, the more quickly you accumulate the "mistakes", the further down the road you go.

 

[ralphh]

Thanks guys :thumbup:

Well if noting else I've got better at critiquing my own work and in general I think I know what's wrong -- large dose of getting too caught up or trying to rush, and not enough thinking about what I'm doing.. I think i need to learn to do less pressing of the shutter button and try to really see what's in the viewfinder. I often feel like J need to hurry up and work quickly, as where I probably need to do the opposite

 

[ann]

Frankly less is more, and people will more likely look at 30 images, than 300. Leave them waiting more, not figuring out how to run for the hills.

 

[ralphh]

Hmmmm, maybe i should chop it further; there's 18 on a flickr page..... i could chop it down to 1 page.. I quite like the idea of a 1 page flickr account

I might have to do that tomorrow. Not sure i could judge it properly atm. Need 24 hours for my mind to settle after the first massacre

Maybe when i'm done i'll post a link and let all the pros here tell me how bloody awful my best ones are :lmao:

Whats the best place for that? The general photo gallery?

 

[ann]

Taking a break is a good thing, come back with fresh eyes

One thing I suggest to my students is to develop a portfolio of 10 images. Pick the best 10 you have and then when you make another that should go in that folder, you have to remove one. Usually the weakest. Then at the end of the year, hopefully you have all new work.

Self editing is very hard, but the harder we can be on ourselves, it is my feeling the better the work becomes. Our loved ones will "love" everything, which isn't helpful for artistic growth.

 

[Rick58]

I think the idea of just "good enough" has gotten worse in the digital world. There is no more spending evenings (plural) working on a single image. Lets face it, most people, including myself, don't wait until they have that one digital imagine that approaches perfection before putting it up here for evaluation. It too easy to blast away and pick the best of the bunch.

 

[PixelRabbit]

I feel your pain, I've recently gone through my whole Flickr account and went ugh, I hate most of it .... probably not good after only a year!

On the upside ... it's only a year's worth lol Perhaps a delete spree is a good plan!

 

[ralphh]

I seem to remember looking through your flickr a while back and very much liking everything i saw actually :thumbup:

In fact, I just added you as a contact

 

[ralphh]

Taking a break is a good thing, come back with fresh eyes

One thing I suggest to my students is to develop a portfolio of 10 images. Pick the best 10 you have and then when you make another that should go in that folder, you have to remove one. Usually the weakest. Then at the end of the year, hopefully you have all new work.

Self editing is very hard, but the harder we can be on ourselves, it is my feeling the better the work becomes. Our loved ones will "love" everything, which isn't helpful for artistic growth.

The hard part is judging new against old - I don't think I can judge my new work -- it's always the best photo i ever took, until a couple of months has gone by and the excitement has faded...

That's part of the problem I had with my flickr - i was adding more and more photos, thinking i was getting better and better, but looking back, I'm not 100% sure I am!

I guess the trick is to wait a month before considering anything for your portfolio.

Also, I seem to have a lot of photos of my wife that have made the cut into the last 30. Not sure if they're actually better, or just more important to me as it's her...

 

[ann]

Yes, more important to both of you, but to the rest of the world, they aren't interested unless she happens to be the top model of the year.

Don't take that as a rude comment, just a statement of fact. Our hearts get in the way, especially with people we care about,.

Is there anyone in your area that could be a sounding board, someone you trust, who will be honest and KNOWS something about composition, lighting and has some knowledge of technical expertise? Getting that type of input can be very valuable.

Waiting is a good idea. Years ago I would place a photo I was working on, in a frame and put it on the wall where I had to see it every time I walked into the room. When I would take it down , it always changed when I went into the darkroom to make a final print.

 

[ralphh]

Yes, more important to both of you, but to the rest of the world, they aren't interested unless she happens to be the top model of the year.

Don't take that as a rude comment, just a statement of fact. Our hearts get in the way, especially with people we care about,.

Not at all; I absolutely agree - I rasied that as part of the problem in acurately assessing ones own work.

Is there anyone in your area that could be a sounding board, someone you trust, who will be honest and KNOWS something about composition, lighting and has some knowledge of technical expertise? Getting that type of input can be very valuable.

Hmmm...... no not really. Everyone seems to like most of my photos - even my friends that are into photography, but the trouble is that's how a lot of people get an inflated idea of how good they are -- I know I can't bring myself to tell them their photos put me to sleep

I think I'll just try my bet to impartially prune it back to 18 so its 1 page and not too much for people to wade through, and then ask for feedback on here - maybe then I can get it down to 10, or maybe I'll just get told they're all bloody awful, either way, I'll get some good, honest, useful feedback...

 

[weepete]

Hey Ralphh, you are certianly not the only one mate. Out of all the years I've been taking photos I've got less than a handful of shots I'm really happy with. When I look back over my pics now I see more and more errors and ones I didn't quite pull off.

On the up side it means I'm getting better technially, but it can leave you scunnered for a bit