Humbling experience......

T

Tim

Guest
Looking through the galleries, and some posts....(notably Frank and Pherdinands recent posts in the "personal photo" thread.

It's both wonderful and frustrating. Some seriously great pics, but I rage at my own inadequacies. I know I can take halfway decent landscapes (and they are only halfway decent compared to some of my photographic heros) but I am trying to do the whole B&W people shots, and I'm just not getting there...... :bang:

Oh well, must keep on practicing!!

Thanks everyone here, for providing me with real-life inspiration and something to aspire to!
(in spite of the frustration!)

tim
 
Keep shooting, and I think it helps to keep looking at what others are doing. I am no great photographer (obviously), but I think I am improving because of what I see and how I go about things with my growing knowledge.
 
To paraphrase the realestate saying - how to improve your photos, - "Shoot, shoot, shoot...."
You will be surprised at how your shots will improve over time,
:)
 
Well, if you would see how many crap prints i have in my drawers :)
Sometimes i go quickly through them and throw out a bunch but there are still too many that make me very unsure of why i am insisting on this hobby.
But then comes a magic moment and i manage to take a frame that satisfies me and that's just so nice:)

But hey, it's not only about the results if it's your hobby (photography or not)! When i go fishing, most cases i don't catch anything worthy of mentioning, but i still enjoy doing it all day long!
 
I just looked at you pictures. Lets see; Leica IIIf focus/compose with separate finders- got that down; super-wide lens on an RF- got that down; morning exposure, evening exposure- got that down; "Bumbling" GET IT OFF before everyone else feels bad!
 
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Well... nothing more humbling than Richard's shots of SF Chinatown, Graksi's street shots, Taffer's girl walking by a door, or Tim's photo of a tired boy in his dad's arms...

Ooops! Wait a sec... that's yours! :eek:

In my case, when facing such great images I decided to pursue my own experimenting agenda. I change perspectives, go down to my knees when shooting; try new angles, play with shapes, exposure, perspective and, most importantly, keep my lens (and mind) wide open!

However, nothing helps more than talking about these things. A photographer from photo.net gave me an invaluable piece of advice for street shots: visualize your photo and look for it, because great images come to your mind, not to you when you're out in the street.
 
SolaresLarrave said:
Well... nothing more humbling than Richard's shots of SF Chinatown, Graksi's street shots, Taffer's girl walking by a door, or Tim's photo of a tired boy in his dad's arms...

Ooops! Wait a sec... that's yours! :eek:
Click to expand...

To quote Bradbury, "you reach quality through quantity." Keep omn writing, photographing.

Speaking of a tired boy, in his Dad's arms.....

Russ
 
Indeed shoot, shoot, shoot! I shot on average about a roll per day over an entire year. That's 365 rolls x 36 exposures = 13140 shots per year. The best shots are taken when I encounter interesting weather, interesting places, interesting people. Snow, rain, night time, Mongolia, India, the old city centre of Amsterdam, etc. They all give me ample opportunities to shoot, shoot, shoot. :)
 
Oddly enough... I no longer shoot that much. In my last trip I noticed that, as usual, the first two or three rolls are throwayas because you think everything is new and original, and if you pause a bit and "see" your shots, the results improve.

I decided to stop and visualize my shots.

However, before doing it, I did burn my share of film.

In any case, we all follow different roads to reach the same goal.

So, Tim, keep shooting! :)
 
Well, thanks for the kind words...... I guess I'm my own harshest critic; that's a common problem I think?

Pherdinand is right tho - how many shots do we take, just to get those one or two that we are happy with? And thinking rationally, most of the people we call masters probably aren't much different - I seem to recall reading in many places that they shot huge amounts of film to get their masterpieces.

But I at least (and most of us?) am still susceptible to seeing a picture that really talks to me, and thinking "I wish I could take shots like that!" without acknowledging that just maybe some of my own shots do it for other people........

Oh well. Must get out and burn more film. And LOOK at my own shots critically and honestly! (probably harder than taking them in the first place....)

tim
 
Tim,
I seem to remember reading that out of the 12 -15 shots that make up the average National Geographic article, hundreds of shots are taken and discarded by the editors. No one takes 100% "keepers", not even me - LOL :D
 
It is also a humbling experience for me when I see the quality of the RF book photos. Fantastic perspectives and composition is evident in the photos by Graksi, Modsoul, Designer and others. Their works make mine look very dull!
 
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Tim,

Just reviewed your gallery and I must say you are not doing to badly yourself. I still really like "Catch this". This kind of people shot requires a lot of shooting, and you'll get a lot of duds in between the dazzling shots. So get yourself a bulk roll of Tri-X and a gallon of D-76 and warm up your scanner.

Just to give you my perspective, I don't shoot landscape because a good landscape shot is, IMHO
- 40% location
- 40% weather
- 10% photographer
and I'm not sure what the other 10% is.

I have neither the energy to scout good locations nor the patience to wait for the right weather.

Though photography is hobby, I never go out of my way to photograph something. Life's too busy and there are enough interesting opportunities in life as it is to satisfy my creative desires.

To paraphrase the great Eddie Mercx (cyclist), "shoot lots".
 
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