Did you ever have this feeling?

P

Peter

Guest
I was looking at my photos last week and the more I look at them, the more I feel they are really bad! Does anyone here feels that way? Maybe I should just burn all my negatives and start shooting from scratch! :confused:
 
Peter,

I've told you before I had the exact feeling as yours. Remember what you've advised me? You are great, Peter!! Don't get upset.

Max
 
It happens so often I don't even look at my old photos.

I like it, however, when, looking at them on rainy days I feel like a genius.

As a feeling, it probably depends on the weather, your stress level, your last good meal and a number of things...

Just keep shooting!

BTW, I made a major toss-out of prints and negs a few years ago. It's getting to be a necessary cleansing ritual!
 
I look back on my photos with the seller's regret- and end up thinking about how I can get back that *one* camera that did portraits so well.

Thankfully, I've had opportunity to do so, and have re-introduced old friends to my camera cupboard.

"Toss out?" Oh, man, I don't look forward to that day.
 
Thanks guys, it is good to know that one is not alone. There was a pioneer artist here in Singapore that actually burned quite alot of his mediocre paintings in frustration!
 
I like to think that once taken and shown (online, for example) your images will get their own life.

So in fact you can forget about them and do as if you were shooting from scratch WITHOUT destroying anything :)

And your images already have lots of life on them !!

Oscar
 
Taffer, I have that same feeling! I shoot my shots, it takes about a week before I get them developed, then some rolls get scanned right away, the scans get posted, and they take on a life of their own.

The shots that don't get scanned right away get scanned some 2 months-2 years later. By then they've taken on a life of their own as well. Many I can't even remember taking. It's like I threw them out and find them in an old shoebox. :)
 
I gave a friend some photos of wildflowers a few years ago. It was one of those big frames with spaces for lots of little pictures. She said she loved it and has it hanging on her wall. I can't help but think there's a bunch of crappy flower pictures on a wall in Los Angeles and it's all my fault.
It would be so much better if re-did it now. I know, I will re-do it now! I think of it as a good excuse to shoot more and a challenge to see if I really can do it better now.
 
I have a good friend (he's on this forum), who goes through this frequently. He's a great photographer, but it's a very normal process.
Maybe it's age, but I know I occasionally shoot "crap" and the rest I'm really happy with.
 
I feel that way and so does every photog and artist I know. One of the reasons some photogs (me for example) spend so much money on equipment is that we think (hope, pray) a different camera/lens/film/developer/scanner/printer/paper will help us make better photos.

Take some photos of friends, family, neighbors, patients and give them a couple prints. Think of photography as an opportunity for sharing views, experiences, and emotions, and that should get you through the doldrums that occasionally strike each person.

Like Chenick said, above: Shoot.

Don
 
I don't dwell on my bad shots, except to try to learn from them. The pictures I enlarge and display are the exceptional ones that I love - as much for their subject matter as for any artistic or technical merit on my part. I have some of these hanging in my home and office and they give me positive reenforcement.
 
Brian, I do like your photos and they will be the document of your girl's childhood, which she will cherish when she grows up. Sociologists say that people in our environment are like our mirrors. Their attitude and comments make us 'see' ourselves and we modify our behaviour accordingly. But what I am feeling now is not just a reflection of my peers but my own objective evaluation of my own work. I guess I should not be overly concerned of my less desirable photos but like what Oldprof does to his favourite shots.
 
Peter,
I just left your gallery and your pictures are amazing -- yours along with other members are some that I admire the most. Often I will continually reload the random image page just to sample what is posted on this site and I have seen so many incredible photos by many members.

My wife kids me because she is well accustomed to my routine now: I hate everything I've photographed as soon as it either comes back from processing or after I've developed it (B&W):bang: . Then I put the pictures away for a month or so and when I look at them again I see them differently and usually find some I like:). I use to get pictures developed on vacation the same day that I'd take them, then I'd go through the stack and say "I hate this" and "I hate that" and Karen would just laugh at me. Now I wait until I get home to have the processing done and I usually find a few that I like.

Anyway, there must be some wierd alignemnt with the moon and planets right now that may be having an effect on your thoughts: your work is incredible! You sure do inspire me to try to improve my work.

Warm regards,

D2
 
I've never had a print of any of my photos displayed anywhere in my home or office.

I think this thread motivated me to do so.
Think I will print a few photos this weekend.
 
I can always find things good and bad about all of my rolls - though I do usually have a bit of time between exposure and developement so that does probably help.

I did get one shot of my son in 2003 at a July 4 picnic that was so obviously good even to me that we made enlargements of it, framed them and gave them to the family at last Christmas. My mother-in-law is no longer saying that we need to take him to a studio for a "professional" portrait, so I did something right... :) I put it and a couple of other decent ones of him into the gallary.

William
 
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