Give it up? & more for C&C...

Clawed · Jul 28, 2009

Just wanted to share a few more pictures from my photo walk. If you have any comments, please feel free... they are always quite welcome.

Not sure if I should continue shooting or put down the camera. I love shooting, but when I get home and have sorted through the pics, I get down when I realize that my pics kinda suck. Anyone else feel this way?

Chris Stegner · Jul 28, 2009

Hey, if you enjoy shooting and editing... don't stop!

I'm not claiming to be the best critic, but in my opinion you'd be nuts to stop shooting. Again, if you like it then do it. If you're looking for others to appreciate your images, set up a website and show them off.

I really love the first 2 shots, the third is fine, but not my favorite of the 3.

Good luck, and no... don't put down the camera

UUilliam · Jul 28, 2009

The art isn't the final product
It is the emotions use throughout the process of creating the final product,
The final product is only a Visual representation of the Emotions and the art of "painting with light"
If an image comes out the way you wanted it.. it doesn't suck.. it is the way you wanted it...
Personally i would say Picasso has some really rubbish work. yet he is world known
E.g. this http://www.artquotes.net/masters/picasso/picasso_selfport1907.jpg looks like a 5 year old drew it...

look at this one of his paintings...
http://www.allposters.com/-sp/The-Mouse_i915284_.htm?aid=808386056
currently selling for £50 for a scribble... he has so many more rubbish works, I admit though, there is 1 or two i like, but it is the process in making them that matters (however i dont feel the latter link conveys much though or emotion, just, "hey i can make money from drawing a line.")

Don't set out to take a great photograph, just follow where ever you feel is right, forget about EVERYTHING you know.
Try relax before going out for a shoot, try meditation to clear your mind then sit in a park and embrace the beauty then go shoot, but dont think about how the shot will look later, think about how the shot looks just now.

Samanax · Jul 28, 2009

Clawed said:
Not sure if I should continue shooting or put down the camera. I love shooting, but when I get home and have sorted through the pics, I get down when I realize that my pics kinda suck. Anyone else feel this way?

I think everyone goes through this from time to time. How long have you been shooting?

Check out quote #2 and quote #9 from this web page.

Clawed · Jul 28, 2009

Chris, thank you for the positives and encouragement, I appreciate that. I really do like shooting, but it's the downer that is sure to come after. I can only see the mistakes, and what I 'should have' done. It's a love hate thing for sure.

William, I think the hardest part is that I am never happy with the final product. What you say is true, and maybe that's why I am unhappy with my shooting. Everything always turns out so average... not much emotion conveyed through my work at all.

Samanax, I purchased my first DSLR last May, but have not been shooting very often since then. I will go shoot maybe 100 shots (like I did during the photo walk), and then when I am going through them, I see maybe a couple I like straight from the camera, but see potential in maybe 3 or 4 more with editing. Those are not very good numbers. Do I need to just take a step back befor each shot, and really think about what I am doing? I guess I just snap and hope for the best most of the time.

KmH · Jul 28, 2009

Quit shooting 100 times per walk. :thumbdown:

From now on you're only allowed 25 exposures per walk. So, make 'em count. Do your critique in the viewfinder, before you trip the shutter. Use the DOF button if your camera has one.

This is one of the worst things about digital. People take pictures of stuff because they think it doesn't cost anything to do so.

But, it does. It costs in shutter life, disk storage space, and it costs emotionally, doesn't it?

Remember! Only 25 per walk from now on. :thumbup:

Clawed · Jul 28, 2009

KmH said:
Quit shooting 100 times per walk. :thumbdown:

From now on you're only allowed 25 exposures per walk. So, make 'em count. Do your critique in the viewfinder, before you trip the shutter. Use the DOF button if your camera has one.

This is one of the worst things about digital. People take pictures of stuff because they thinkk it doesn't cost anything to do so.

But, it does. It costs in shutter life, disk storage space, and it costs emotionally, doesn't it?

Remember! Only 25 per walk from now on. :thumbup:

Simple advice... but great advice! But will be very hard to follow

I have a question for you (or anyone for that matter) though. When you go out to shoot, do you already KNOW what you want to achieve? Also, do you go looking for the perfect shot that is already there, or do you wait somewhere in anticipation of there being a perfect moment?

Samanax · Jul 28, 2009

Clawed said:
I purchased my first DSLR last May,

You haven't been shooting for very long.

Clawed said:
but have not been shooting very often since then. I will go shoot maybe 100 shots (like I did during the photo walk)

And you're not shooting much either.

Clawed said:
and then when I am going through them, I see maybe a couple I like straight from the camera, but see potential in maybe 3 or 4 more with editing. Those are not very good numbers.

Do you know why? It's because you haven't been shooting for very long and you don't shoot enough. Photography is something that you gotta keep doing in order to get better at it. If you're not out there shooting, you're not improving. It take time to develop your "eye".

Clawed said:
When you go out to shoot, do you already KNOW what you want to achieve? Also, do you go looking for the perfect shot that is already there, or do you wait somewhere in anticipation of there being a perfect moment?

A friend of mine is doing one of those 365 projects and he said that he can now visualize the shot before he takes it. He said he was struggling with his photography last year but his 365 project really helped him a lot. We all noticed a change in his pictures this year. What I'm trying to get across is that you gotta get out there and shoot and keep shooting and your photography will improve over time.

I've only been shooting for a year and a half and I've noticed a slight improvement in my pictures and I know I still have a long way to go before I can consider myself "good". Many of my shooting buddies have been shooting much longer than I have and I've learned not to compare my shots to what they're producing now. But if I look at some of their earlier images (like when they were 1.5 years into this hobby), those images look just like the kind of shots I'm taking now and I'm encouraged by that.

A freelance photographer friend of mine said he actually struggles more with his shots now than when he first started. But that's because he knows what he's looking for and has to work harder to get the shot he's seeing in his head. He told me this after I asked him if it got easier to take pictures after being in the business for over 20 years.

Clawed · Jul 28, 2009

^ I am sure you're right. I have a very tough time forcing myself to get out there in the 100+ degree weather, and deciding where to go and exactly what to shoot is another story, lol... but if I do not, how can I complain?

Good stuff to think about. I have heard the term '365 project' before, I will go see exactly what that is. I want to commit myself to shooting better, otherwise, I will probably just get frustrated and quit. I really do not want that... thanks for taking the time Sam.

Boutte · Jul 28, 2009

I went out last saturday determined not use the auto mode on my camera. I took over a hundred bad pics! Amid all the crap there was 1 really good shot (I think so anyway). It was worth it to get that one shot.

Clawed · Jul 28, 2009

Boutte said:
I went out last saturday determined not use the auto mode on my camera. I took over a hundred bad pics! Amid all the crap there was 1 really good shot (I think so anyway). It was worth it to get that one shot.

Hmm, that's another way to look at it. Seeing the glass as half full, instead of the old negativity I can so easily succumb to. Not a bad philosophy starting out.

Bitter Jeweler · Jul 28, 2009

I disagree with only shooting 25 shots on a photo Safari. Especially as you are a "novice" (like me). Going out for 25 will come in time. I shoot a lot and as often as possibly, and I can see in my self that I am developing an eye for full frame compositions in the field. Less major cropping, and the number of good shots is climbing. Just keep at it. The more you shoot, the more you learn from your "mistakes", why they weren't so good, and you will start weedin' them out in your head.

When I go on photo safaris, I just pic an area and go. I am constantly looking for stuff. Even while driving. I would have missed quite a few really cool things if I didn't look behind me, and only in front. Everywhere I go I am aware of my surroundings and make notes on places to go back to with my camera.

Clawed, I like your work a lot, so keep shooting.

Clawed · Jul 28, 2009

Bitter Jeweler said:
I disagree with only shooting 25 shots on a photo Safari. Especially as you are a "novice" (like me). Going out for 25 will come in time. I shoot a lot and as often as possibly, and I can see in my self that I am developing an eye for full frame compositions in the field. Less major cropping, and the number of good shots is climbing. Just keep at it. The more you shoot, the more you learn from your "mistakes", why they weren't so good, and you will start weedin' them out in your head.

When I go on photo safaris, I just pic an area and go. I am constantly looking for stuff. Even while driving. I would have missed quite a few really cool things if I didn't look behind me, and only in front. Everywhere I go I am aware of my surroundings and make notes on places to go back to with my camera.

Clawed, I like your work a lot, so keep shooting.

First, let me say that coming from you, that actually means a lot. For a 'novice,' your work is quite good. Let me ask you this, then: how often do you get out and shoot and how do you find such interesting subject matter? Do you take a drive with the sole purpose of trying to find something to shoot?

I can definitely relate to always looking for things to photograph and have thought on a few occasions that I really wished I had grabbed my camera before leaving the house. In fact, I am ALWAYS looking around me wondering how any given scene would photograph... it's an obsession.

Samanax · Jul 28, 2009

Clawed said:
I have heard the term '365 project' before, I will go see exactly what that is.

A 365 Project is just committing yourself to taking a picture a day for the entire year. Some people join Flickr Groups to help them stick with it and some are able to keep at it by themselves. You just pick a topic or something that you're interested in and take a picture a day for the entire year. Self portraits tend to be popular. I don't know what theme my friend is doing since the subjects have been so varied. I've been meaning to start my own 365 Project, but I'm lazy...LOL...