I suck at photography.

[nerwin]

I need to let some steam out.

I'm going to admit it, I suck at photography, I am not that good despite what some people might say. I'm tired of friends and family saying I'm that good at photography when in reality I am a crap photographer who doesn't even know what he's doing half the time.

Sure...I might get an okay shot every now and then but that can happen to anyone who owns a camera even if they don't know anything about photography.

To make matters worse, I'll look at other photographers work who only been shooting for a year or two absolutely blow my photos out of the water and make them look like snapshots compared to theirs. Almost tempts me to click format on my hard drives and just give it up.

But I love photography too much to just give it up like that. I want to get better at it. But I don't know where to begin.

Now that everyone knows I suck at photography, what should be the first step to get better? Should I start a project? What kind of a project?! I don't know what to do.

Winter is right around the corner and I hate snow and the cold so I'm going to be stuck inside 90% of the time. What can I do inside during winter that could help me get better at photography?

 

[Braineack]

welcome to the club.

 

[KenC]

You said you love it too much to give it up, so don't let yourself. Everyone goes through this a few times early on, but you will improve. The only people who don't improve are the ones who don't even realize they need to and the ones who don't care enough and just give up.

Re the winter, try to get out anyway and see what you can do. I lived in Chicago for a while and went out on 15 deg days and I was more than a little bit older than you at the time (layers man, layers). There is also a lot you can do indoors - macro work, portraits (doesn't have to be people - pets, or even inanimate objects lit as you would a portrait), window light (still lifes on window sills are pretty common).

 

[SquarePeg]

First off, just took a quick peek through your Flickr and you don't suck at photography. I like your stuff but the car shots and the cat shots really stand out IMO. Are those the things that your passionate about? I get what you are saying about getting better as I am at a similar stage in my photos. Maybe a project over the winter is a good idea for you. I recently decided that I'm going to convince all my relatives to pose for me and I'm going to do a family portrait book. It's a big endeavor as I have 12 aunts and uncles and 27 first cousins most of whom have several children. Going to have to learn portraits which I am a novice at. Going to have to learn to light which is new for me. And then there's the whole pp of portraits which I kind of suck at at this point...

 

[astroNikon]

What you should do is a project.

Pick a subject, then work on that subject by traveling and improving at that subject.
For instance, churches. Churches can be grande or small, or really old. Learn perspective in the shots, not only outside but inside. Many have some very intricate details, large and small alike.

Learn not to take "snapshots" .. don't think like a vacationer. Don't take the normal "shots" that vacationers take. Think outside of the box per say.

So pick a subject instead of just anything. And then plan out where/what to travel or to photograph. Use this to improve a particular skill. You'll find you'll improve much quicker if you focus on one particular thing. And what you learn and improve at will help other areas too.

 

[nerwin]

First off, just took a quick peek through your Flickr and you don't suck at photography. I like your stuff but the car shots and the cat shots really stand out IMO. Are those the things that your passionate about? I get what you are saying about getting better as I am at a similar stage in my photos. Maybe a project over the winter is a good idea for you. I recently decided that I'm going to convince all my relatives to pose for me and I'm going to do a family portrait book. It's a big endeavor as I have 12 aunts and uncles and 27 first cousins most of whom have several children. Going to have to learn portraits which I am a novice at. Going to have to learn to light which is new for me. And then there's the whole pp of portraits which I kind of suck at at this point...

I have so many photo queued up to upload and share because I'm afraid what people will think so I'm really slow at sharing them. I never use to think think this way until I started having my photos critiqued and having people destroy my photos which makes me feel awful and that I'm no good. A lot of photographers say C&C is required to get better at photography but is it okay to not accept C&C? Does it make me look like I don't care about photography? It's driving me nuts.

 

[spiralout462]

Go to the tropics in the Winter! ! Instant inspiration.

 

[nerwin]

What you should do is a project.

Pick a subject, then work on that subject by traveling and improving at that subject.
For instance, churches. Churches can be grande or small, or really old. Learn perspective in the shots, not only outside but inside. Many have some very intricate details, large and small alike.

Learn not to take "snapshots" .. don't think like a vacationer. Don't take the normal "shots" that vacationers take. Think outside of the box per say.

So pick a subject instead of just anything. And then plan out where/what to travel or to photograph. Use this to improve a particular skill. You'll find you'll improve much quicker if you focus on one particular thing. And what you learn and improve at will help other areas too.

That's what everyone says..travel...travel. I wish I could. Maybe someday I will be able to, but not today. I have to rely on other people to go places so it makes it very difficult to just travel around. Unfortunately, my crappy life gets in the way and prevents me from doing these things.

 

[nerwin]

Go to the tropics in the Winter! ! Instant inspiration.

Pay for all the expenses and I will, oh wait. I'm not allowed on planes. Bummer. Lol.

 

[limr]

Go to the tropics in the Winter! ! Instant inspiration.

Pay for all the expenses and I will, oh wait. I'm not allowed on planes. Bummer. Lol.

Boats exist.

 

[pixmedic]

dont sweat it man...
I suck at photography too and we got paid pretty decent money to do it for over a decade.

for indoor suggestions, try portrait work (real portraits...you know, with backdrops and lights and stuff) or macro work. (one of these days im going to pick up another macro lens and dabble a bit)
alternatively, you can do what I did and just start photographing your ferrets. if you dont have any ferrets, there is simply no hope for you.

 

[nerwin]

dont sweat it man...
I suck at photography too and we got paid pretty decent money to do it for over a decade.

for indoor suggestions, try portrait work (real portraits...you know, with backdrops and lights and stuff) or macro work. (one of these days im going to pick up another macro lens and dabble a bit)
alternatively, you can do what I did and just start photographing your ferrets. if you dont have any ferrets, there is simply no hope for you.

Yeah...I've been debating picking up a macro and a speedlight again. Biggest mistake was selling them...but I did what I had to do to pay for some things.

 

[robbins.photo]

Now that everyone knows I suck at photography, what should be the first step to get better? Should I start a project? What kind of a project?! I don't know what to do.

Ok, honestly?

Stop buying gear. Forget about having the latest and greatest of this or this lens being a moderate hair sharper than that one, etc.

Take the gear you have and go shoot with it. Push it to it's absolute limits. When you think your shot isn't what it should be, don't look at the gear. Look at your settings and your methodology and be sure that your getting the absolute most out of the gear you already have, don't just fall back on the idea that the gear is what's limiting you and that a new lens or a new body will take you to the next level. It won't.

As Peg mentions, the best stuff to shoot is stuff that you love. Start there. If cars are a passion, shoot cars to start with and stick with it. Look at magazines, the internet, etc - see the kind of shots you want to take and ask yourself, ok, how did they do that. Then experiment and find for yourself what works best.

Read as much as you can about composition, lighting, etc, etc... and put those ideas to practical use. Then go shoot some more.

 

[pixmedic]

dont sweat it man...
I suck at photography too and we got paid pretty decent money to do it for over a decade.

for indoor suggestions, try portrait work (real portraits...you know, with backdrops and lights and stuff) or macro work. (one of these days im going to pick up another macro lens and dabble a bit)
alternatively, you can do what I did and just start photographing your ferrets. if you dont have any ferrets, there is simply no hope for you.

Yeah...I've been debating picking up a macro and a speedlight again. Biggest mistake was selling them...but I did what I had to do to pay for some things.

absolutely know the feeling.
the flashes/triggers were the only nikon gear we kept aside from the light stands and brollys.
thankfully flashes are pretty cheap. our yongnuo 568EX's are barely over $100 now...new.

 

[Gary A.]

1) Shoot;
2) Shoot again; and
3) At the end of the day when you think you're done, shoot some more.

Just follow those three easy steps and you will improve. There is other things you can do, I.e. Find a mentor to kick your butt is extremely useful. By recognizing that there is room for improvement, by being hard on yourself, by being able to self-critique your images is extremely useful and necessary for improvement. The delete button is the best tool you can use to court improvement.

Some people improve with baby steps, incrementally a little bit at a time. Others improve in leaps, but those leaps don't happen very often. Those leaps photogs keeps banging at the wall with no real improvement, then bam ... one day they find the door and all of a suddenly, without rhyme or reason, they're at the next level.

Photography is a of things, one of which is craft. Like any craft, one will/should get better over time as you build up your skills through experience.

As for the winter, get a macro and some lights and discover the small things around the house and experiment with a tabletop studio.

Good Luck and Good Shooting,
Gary