I suck at photography.

[PersistentNomad]

It seems like the photos I hate the most, people seem to love. I don't understand it.

Another kernel of truth from the art world: more often than not, artists have no idea which works they create are the best. They have their favorites, which are usually their favorites for reasons totally separate from them being amazing technically and they are blinded by those reasons from being objective. And everyone else looks at the other works that the artist hates and they think those ones are the amazing ones. I had one artist actually start putting together portfolios that didn't include any of their favorite pieces. They started getting in shows and selling work.

It also sounds like you are struggling with more than just "Am I a good enough photographer?" I hope you are opening up to the other people in your life about how you are feeling and getting support from them. As someone else already said, this isn't really the place for therapy, but I think we're all being pretty clear that if you love it that much and it's the only thing you feel you have, there is absolutely no reason to quit. This would be true if you were taking crappy, blurry, underexposed and uninspired pictures of toe fungus. If you really love it and it's your anchor for this world, keep clicking the shutter and to hell with if they are amazing photos or not. If you genuinely want to get better, then there's no other way to do it than to keep clicking. Nobody gets to be an amazing photographer overnight, and yes, it's a fact of life that some people pick things up quicker than others. That doesn't mean you should give up just because someone is advancing further than you in a shorter timeline.

 

[thereyougo!]

I think your depression is directing too much of your thoughts. Making you put your photography on a pedestal in the sense of importance as a means to smash your morale.

My best friend is 40, stunningly beautiful, fairly recently divorced with a chronically ill but sweet and very smart daughter. Because she is pretty, and has low self esteem, her efforts via dating websites have been largely unsuccessful and she has dated all the wrong kind of people. I had dinner with her the day before she went for a date. Because I have known her longer than I have known my wife (I have known her for 16 years) she gives what I say quite a lot of credence which means I have to choose what I say carefully.

I told her not to invest hope in the date. She looked at me quizzically. I told her to just go on the date, have fun, don't think about the future beyond that date. Enjoy it for what it is, but not to go into it hoping for him to be 'the one'. Depression is an evil master, I told her. It will take hope and use it as a weapon against you.

Stop feeding the master, and it will take less of a part of your life. Shoot for fun. Don't think about it. You don't even have to download them on to your computer. Get into enjoying shooting and stop using the results being the knife that depression twists. Explore life with and without your camera. If you're not finding it fun explore something else for a while. Stop feeding the monster inside your head that says that because your photography is important to you that you HAVE to excel at it NOW.

You don't need to be a world-beater in order to enjoy doing something, but you can get really good at things you allow yourself to enjoy. Right now, you're not allowing yourself to enjoy photography. Look at the things other than results that make you enjoy it.

Good Luck, and keep on keeping on...

 

[Peeb]

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.

Pix gave me a TTL flash for my Nikon that included a box that had been chewed by one of his ferrets. I'm pretty sure a bit of that saliva was transferred to the flash, which made all the difference in my photography. Ferret saliva- there is your solution.

EDIT: OK, I've finished reading all the posts (to date) and it appears that you need advice from a forum other than a photo forum. As to your PHOTO comments- I've been familiar with your work for the 12+ months that I've been a member of this forum and you seem to be a very fine photographer, so I'm not sure what more I can say about that.

 

[Luke345678]

Just went through your flickr. You're wrong, sir. You DO NOT suck.

We all have room to improve and it happens every time we shoot. Keep doing you, man!

 

[BananaRepublic]

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?

At least you admitted it, we've known for years

 

[The Barbarian]

You're doing it exactly right, I think. To become good, you need to do the photographs you like, and be relentlessly critical of yourself, and how well you manage to do it the way you like.

I cringe when I see what I was doing a few years ago. What I'm getting isn't always what everyone else likes, but I'm doing what pleases me, and getting better at that. If you happen to engage someone else, who sees what you were trying to say, so much the better. But that shouldn't be your reason for doing it, unless you want to make money at it.

Edit: Looked at your Flickr stuff. You don't suck, not at all. Not all of it engages me, but that doesn't mean anything. There's nothing whatever to be ashamed of there.

 

[JohnFranklin]

Mr. Nerwin. You have many good photographs on your flicker blogger album. I liked a great many of them, especially the feline shots. Do not be so hard on yourself. Although this forum is infested with faux photographers who preach morals and discuss equipment minutia ad nauseum instead of spending time in the field snapping pictures, there are several of us here who enjoy photography for photography's sake. No matter if I'm using the latest gadgetry or a pinhole, I can enjoy myself just as well by the mere act of taking a picture. Once you realize this, your mind will be at ease.

 

[photo1x1.com]

You sure don't suck. You have a certain style in your images that is hard to describe, but it is good.
One thing a good photographer has to learn is picking only the best images to showcase yor work. If you only picked the best 10 images of your flicker account and made them public, many people would just say wow! Having so many images just distracts from the great ones, especially if the number of different motives is somewhat limited.

I think as soon as a photographer is totally happy with his images, he will stop creating great images. It's the feeling to suck, that gives you the drive to create new awesome pictures .

If I were you, I'd try to get out of my comfort zone and experiment a lot. Use a cheap styroform board instead of a flash to lighten up shadows. That will help you see where the light is comming from. Photograph more people, other animals. Use brighter settings to give your images a different mood. And enjoy the process!!!

 

[petrochemist]

Why shoot at manual if that's hampering you? Use any mode. Go out there and shoot.

Exactly!
There are a few times when manual mode comes into it's own, but most of the time it just slows you down. If that slowing means you're missing shots rather than just thinking about them longer, it's not the mode to be using.
I tend to stick to Av most of the time as DOF is important for most photos. If I want a fast shutter speed its usually a case of opening the aperture to give the minimum DOF I can accept. There are relatively few times where I want a specific speed (Photographing propellers is one) Tv comes into it's own for those (at airshows I use AV for jets & Tv for props allowing a single control to instant switch between settings). At night when the cameras meter doesn't work so well I tend to use manual as I want to control both settings.

 

[Andrew_Smith]

Nicholas, I really love your work. I browsed through your Flickr page and I enjoyed it. Seriously, keep up the hard work!

And PS: I love your desk setup.

 

[chuasam]

I won't mince words. I actually like your stuff.

 

[pgriz]

You've had enough comments to let you know that your stuff is OK, maybe even good. Do you need to do a sales job on yourself to believe it? Maybe. Are you trying to impress someone? If so, why? Nothing wrong with trying to impress people - the trick in my mind, is to decide who is worth impressing, and who is not. And once you have your target audience, WHY is it important to YOU to impress them? Once you figure that out, you can then decide what to do and how to do it. Me, I like to challenge myself and come up with an image that may have started in some corner of my mind. Usually, I totally suck the first few (or thousand) times I try. Pftttt. No biggie. I try to see what the issue is - is it technical or it is just not that exciting? If technical, there are many ways to improve the technical side. If it's perceptual or conceptual, then doing something different (painting, drawing, writing, singing, dancing, whatever) that kinda intersects with my "block" sometimes opens up a new door of perception. Sometimes it comes together, and I get there, more or less. Often I don't. That's fine. I don't base my value on those "achievements".

One thing that helps me, especially with perception, is talking to my wife who is an artist and an instructor. She comes at stuff very intuitively. I tend to be analytic. When we discuss stuff, whether it's photography, or her art, or something we see at an exhibition, we come at it from different points of view. She often lets me see an aspect that I was blind to before, not by pointing it out to me, but by asking me about what I feel or what I think I perceive. If you're stuck on something, find someone to talk about what you hope to achieve or do. They may be able to get your mind focused on a new vantage point. Because ultimately, it's all in your head. It's your perception, it's your thoughts about whether something was worth the effort, or not. And you are the only one who has access to those perceptions and to your mind. You actively influence what your see or "see", and how you think about it. So, do you suck? Sure, if that's what you want to think. But probably not.

Oh, and one other question - how old are you? That may have something to do with your angst.

 

[astrayasagiri]

I am a shitty noob photog, but I love taking pic of people and reality.
Their smiles, tears, and emotions.

 

[DScience]

Just try and have fun.

 

[OGsPhotography]

We all suck its why were here.