Not sure I have what it takes

Lawrence

Senior Member
The learning curve I have been on since buying my camera and joining this group has been phenomenal but it seems the more I learn the more I need to learn.
I think my photography has improved a little bit but when I look at some of the photos on here and elsewhere I am not sure I have the dedication required to reach great heights.

Seriously … out all night in the hope of catching a good star shot or brilliant sunrise? :eek-new:

I take my hat off to these folks and hope one day to attain this same desire and striving for great shots - but in the meanwhile I salute you one and all. :applouse:

However before even striving for such perfection I need to learn a lot more about basic photography so please excuse me as I return to my "studies" ...
 

RON_RIP

Senior Member
The learning curve I have been on since buying my camera and joining this group has been phenomenal but it seems the more I learn the more I need to learn.
I think my photography has improved a little bit but when I look at some of the photos on here and elsewhere I am not sure I have the dedication required to reach great heights.

Seriously … out all night in the hope of catching a good star shot or brilliant sunrise? :eek-new:

I take my hat off to these folks and hope one day to attain this same desire and striving for great shots - but in the meanwhile I salute you one and all. :applouse:

However before even striving for such perfection I need to learn a lot more about basic photography so please excuse me as I return to my "studies" ...
Never complain, never explain. Your photography has grown by leaps and bounds in the time you have been with us. So just get on with it already.:rolleyes::rolleyes::untroubled:
 

Lawrence

Senior Member
@RON Please don't wake me up again. I am trying to get some rest so that I can stay up all night. :D

Seriously though going to these lengths will require knowing exactly what one is after and, more importantly, how to capture it. Yesterday I was farting around not understanding why my photos were so underexposed …. hello … exposure compensation -4.25 (or something). How did that get there? :confused:

And thank-you for the kind words about my photography.
 

RON_RIP

Senior Member
Stay awake soldier, you can sleep when your dead. In the meantime get out there and take more pictures, and then some more pictures, and then some__________;)
 

john*thomas

Senior Member
It's not all about taking a perfectly composed shot IMO. I've noticed so many things that I missed when I wasn't out taking pictures. I posted some pics of some baby geese hatching. I only noticed all of this because I was out looking for things to photograph. The pics might not have been great but it's O.K. the experience was pretty cool.
 

wev

Senior Member
Contributor
Personally, I'm relying on the longevity of my lucky streak; when it fails me, I will try studying. Or take a nap.
 

Moab Man

Senior Member
Take photos for you. Each of us have a dedication level and you must find your happy place. I will drive seven hours to sit up all night in the middle of the desert to shoot the Milky Way foregoing sleep, but that is me. My wife, MoabLady, loves to look at Milky Way shots but has decided NOPE, not my thing! And she is good with what she shoots and enjoys shooting what she wants to shoot. We love to shoot together, but we do not compete and each of us enjoys shooting at the level we each shoot.

Besides, she is the first to tell me she is an amazing photographer and will always be better than me. And being a smart husband... I am good with that. :)

Keep shooting, it's often times easier for the rest of us to see improvement in others than we can see in our own work. And your pictures are always getting better.
 
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Lawrence

Senior Member
Just what exactly are you trying to achieve? Are you not having fun?

I'm having an amazing amount of fun - didn't mean to come across any other way.
But I can see that there is a lot of fun to still be had. ;)
As MaobMan says its all about shooting for yourself but there are occasions when I think I have taken a great picture only to see someone else's on the same (similar) subject and think "bugger - if only" if you get my drift in a positive way.
 

Moab Man

Senior Member
I'm having an amazing amount of fun - didn't mean to come across any other way.
But I can see that there is a lot of fun to still be had. ;)
As MaobMan says its all about shooting for yourself but there are occasions when I think I have taken a great picture only to see someone else's on the same (similar) subject and think "bugger - if only" if you get my drift in a positive way.

LOL, don't worry, that feeling of "bugger - if only" never goes away.
 

Nathan Lanni

Senior Member
The learning curve I have been on since buying my camera and joining this group has been phenomenal but it seems the more I learn the more I need to learn.
I think my photography has improved a little bit but when I look at some of the photos on here and elsewhere I am not sure I have the dedication required to reach great heights.

Seriously … out all night in the hope of catching a good star shot or brilliant sunrise? :eek-new:

I take my hat off to these folks and hope one day to attain this same desire and striving for great shots - but in the meanwhile I salute you one and all. :applouse:

However before even striving for such perfection I need to learn a lot more about basic photography so please excuse me as I return to my "studies" ...

Like others have said, hang in there - it will get better with time.

I too have struggled. It's interesting that I bought my dslr about a year ago, and looking back I'm not satisfied with many of the images I shot back then. There's been a lot of looking at other photographer's work trying to see what they were seeing when they created their images. The biggest evolution for me is the transition from seeing other people's work as an "image" and now I'm beginning to analyze their work with a photographer's eye to the detail they may have been seeing at the time. Looking at a photograph and saying to myself "that little highlight in the model's eye tells me he had a flash over there, etc. Every once in a while having a real "flash" of inspiration. Not saying my photos are great but maybe someday I'll get there myself.

Sort of my crazy way of rationalizing things is this: My guess is once a person begins a new endeavor with passion, I believe the brain begins to create new pathways to organize the data being stored in a new context. The first couple of years are tough. The other thing is most of us don't have the benefit of being mentored - to my way of thinking forums like this fill that void. But it basically means we make the same mistakes and repeat the same learning curve. Schools help in this regard.

FWIW
 

RON_RIP

Senior Member
^^^^ tough school
The road to excellence is tough one and most of us here are our own worst critics. That is what this avocation demands of us. But we must not dispair. We can and will win thru and in the meantime, we have an incredible experience filled with beauty and wonder. Can the attorney or the accountant say that ? We are blessed with vision that we are compelled to share with world . We literally capture time in a bottle and allow others to see the precious moments that we have captured to share with them. Of course it helps to be lucky too.
 

Pretzel

Senior Member
Speaking to the title, not the messages... do you love delving into photography, and are you committed to YOUR OWN gradual improvement?

If so, then you have what it takes.

FWIW, I've seen some great photos in your thread... ;)
 

Eyelight

Senior Member
Somewhere I have the first photograph I took some 45 +/- years ago. Honestly, I can't remember the exact shot, but if/when I see that photo, it will retell the story of that moment.

Every photograph tells a story to the one who created it. Sometimes it's a story we would like to share and sometimes a story we prefer no one ever know, but they all teach us where we've been and help us toward where we would like to go.
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
I'm having an amazing amount of fun - didn't mean to come across any other way.
But I can see that there is a lot of fun to still be had. ;)
As MaobMan says its all about shooting for yourself but there are occasions when I think I have taken a great picture only to see someone else's on the same (similar) subject and think "bugger - if only" if you get my drift in a positive way.

Well, then there is no problem. As for other peoples work looking better, I wouldn't worry about it.

When I see some fantastic shot taken by someone else, I know that one day I will be able to make my stuff look just as good.
Now I just keep practicing and having fun at the same time.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I don't have the time to read through the advice you've already been given, but I can tell that I've seen you grow as a photographer since you've joined here, in leaps and bounds. This is not a race that you finish, it's a constant journey where you never arrive at the final destination.

I think any of us who have striven (I can't believe that's a word?!) to grow as photographers can look back at our work over time and point to those times where we've jumped ahead tremendously, and those times where growth seems slow, but it was really a time of filtering through the process and the information to find ourselves in what we'd gleaned from others.

As for your experience of going out for a night and coming back with nothing, we've all been there, many times. I've had days where I can't make a photo, and it's not for a lack of trying. Sometimes conditions and environment just don't cooperate - and sometimes the brain and eyes just can't find it. I think back on a quote I heard at a Kelby workshop where a great landscape photographer was asked how he achieved so many marvelous shots. His answer? "I keep going back to them, over and over and over again, at the right time of year, and the right time of day. Visit a place often enough and you'll eventually get a shot worth taking. Some have taken me 15 years before I got the shot." So, don't sweat a bad night. ;)
 

Vixen

Senior Member
Hehe Lawrence.....notice how you don't see any milkyway or sunrise shots from me either :D Really, find something you like taking pics of and go for it. Somehow it seems suddenly it just clicks and you have it. MM is right tho, the "bugger - if only" is always there I think :D
 

SteveH

Senior Member
I know how you feel Lawrence!
I take a shot, get it through Lightroom, then just as I'm posting it up, I see a similar shot only better! lol

I enjoy the learning process, and I'm happy that I am improving - But I want to improve faster!
 

sonicbuffalo_RIP

Senior Member
Hang in there Lawrence....you definitely have what it takes....you are way better than me in shooting....and I'm older so you have more time to learn. Be patient, but get out there and shoot!
 
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