Persevering
I know hardly anything about photography, and yet the subject fascinates me. I took a class in high school where I produced maybe one photo that wasn’t utterly mediocre (and that photo’s quality is up for debate). And then I didn’t do anything else with photography for about 7 years, when I bought a digital camera for the sole purpose of taking photos of my jewelry. Since then, I’ve gradually become more interested in photography again.
I started taking my little point and shoot along when my fiance wanted to take photos with his film camera and huge lenses. He took artistic shots with high shutter speeds and water. I snapped whatever looked interesting - bright colors, pretty rocks, intriguing textures. Gradually, my interest grew until I decided I wanted to take good photos. Maybe eventually get good enough I could make a little extra money selling to micro-stock agencies.
So I’ve been doing more reading in books, websites, and forums. I took some photos this weekend in the backyard and tried improving them in GIMP. But after spending an hour trying to find a photo worth editing, I realized something: My photos are terrible.
It’s not such a bad thing, really, considering my almost complete lack of experience and knowledge. But I was so happy taking all my photos of pretty colors that I didn’t notice the general lack of decent composition, the blurriness when viewed at 100%, and many thousands of other imperfections which combine to shriek at me: “You suck!”
I get discouraged easily when I try to judge my work objectively. I’m usually happiest when I try for my personal best, hoping that no one else will ever see it. The fear sets in when I think someone else might see what I’ve been doing (like a drawer full of novels stuck at Chapter 3).
After my great realization, it took me a while to remember that the main reason I wanted to improve my photography skills was not so I could be acclaimed as a brilliant artist, nor even to make a little money on the side. I wanted to improve because I like to learn about things I enjoy doing. It’s an innocent goal, and something I can hardly fail to accomplish unless I stop trying. So yesterday afternoon I re-shot some of the photos I was so disappointed with the day before. I had learned a few things already: get closer. I remembered that my camera has a macro setting. Being willing to learn put me in control, and suddenly photography was fun again.
This is my second attempt to photograph wild grapes (or maybe berries). It’s still not in perfect focus, shows too much glare, and many other problems, I’m sure. But it’s a lot better than my first attempt.
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Posted: September 10th, 2007 under Photography.
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