Lack of confidence (Page 5): I think "working the scene" are key words here. It doesn't always get me exactly what I want but it beats NOT working the scene.

Horseart Loc: Alabama

I think "working the scene" are key words here. It doesn't always get me exactly what I want but it beats NOT working the scene.

frangeo Loc: Texas

I've been asked many times how did I get so good at photography. My reply is , " I have thrown more images in the waste basket then you have ever taken. Learn by your mistakes. NEVER give up. If you get 1 in a hundred, be happy. Soon it'll be 10 in a 100. Then 90 in a hundred. I learned more from my bad images then I learned from my good images.

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TerryVS wrote:

I think you've nailed your problem, "preconce... (show quote)

Agreed. Amatuers do not see much of whats before them. They see only enuf to trigger knee jerk approval of the scene as fodder for executing some familiar cliche: Lighthouses, Red barns, Sunsets, Canyons, Riverboats or other camera clubbing blue ribbon materiale.

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

gvarner wrote:

So we have one thing in common: you want me to do it your way and I want to do it my way.

You're the fellow who asked for the advice, not Paul Sager.

A. T.

CHG_CANON wrote:

Alas, falling for this nonsense will get you nowhere.

You posted earlier in 2024 about a coming car show. There were 77 replies, of the typically varying UHH quality. Did that car show happen? What were you results? Where are your results posted?

If we gave two people the same camera and lens, and after a week we learned only one had practiced, who do you think will be better?

Practice aka 'shooting more', not less ....

Amen.......you can study until you're blue in the face but until you get out there and "fail often", you'll never get better.

A. T.

CHG_CANON wrote:

Alas, this idea builds on the false myth that a i... (show quote)

I totally agree with you Paul. EVERY famous/successful photographer never reveals the not so good, missed, out of focus, bad composition images, you only see the best. I have learned that there are no short cuts to great images and you will take a bunch of crappie photos to get that one.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

gvarner wrote:

I’ll have to admit it. After all these years of taking pictures, I lack confidence that my effort will come out the way I want it to. Maybe by admitting the problem I can overcome it. I do mostly snapshots because they don’t present this problem, you get what you get. But "making" a photo with a preconceived result is a real struggle.

Few photographers with deliberate intentions of becoming a PHOTOGRAPHER like many of their first ten thousand images (give or take a few thousand). That was an expensive problem in the days of film and paper, but in today's virtual world, 10,000 images just take time to make and sort through. My kids passed that number in their teens. They're now 25 and 33. (Thank digital cameras, iPod Touches, and iPhones.)

Heck, I passed that number in high school in the early '70s, but I was an anomaly back then. I was on a yearbook staff, and they paid for film, paper, chemicals, and more. Today's kids have it all too easy.

I agree with certain Very Famous Photographers — I see 50% of photography as what happens "in the field," up to the point where an exposure has been made. The other half is what you do with what you captured. Often an image can be converted from a lowly snapshot to a decent photo, with some judicious post processing.

I guess my point is, keep going. Keep making exposures. Keep processing them. Take visual chances.

Train your brain to see good images, too. We become what we think about. Looking at really well-crafted photographs and art works can program your subconscious to know what a good image might look like.

For example, my wife and I were at Montserrat in Catalonia, Spain, in October of 2022. It's an ancient cathedral. They have a great little art museum there with a well-curated selection of works from some of the great old masters. The tasteful compositions and subject treatments in those works of art were unsurprising! Good use of the frame, colors, light, lines, forms, shapes, shadows, and perspectives carries over into photography and every other 2D art form. I'm no student of art or art history, but found myself enthralled by the stimulation. I don't really care who the artists are, but what I can learn from their visual presentation techniques.

I used to devour books on photography, including many of the works of 20th Century photographers. I went through a period in my 20s when I went to the public library every week or two and pored over their collection of photo books.

I took a couple dozen magazines at one point, a third of which were on photography. I have a shelf full of books on photography, and another shelf full of books by photographers presenting their works. I've revisited all of them over the years. They remind me of "what good is."

Horseart Loc: Alabama

A. T. wrote:

Amen.......you can study until you're blue in the face but until you get out there and "fail often", you'll never get better.

Oh Mercy! I must be getting better. I get out there and fail more than anybody else here!!!

Horseart Loc: Alabama

burkphoto wrote:

Few photographers with deliberate intentions of becoming a PHOTOGRAPHER like many of their first ten thousand images (give or take a few thousand). That was an expensive problem in the days of film and paper, but in today's virtual world, 10,000 images just take time to make and sort through. My kids passed that number in their teens. They're now 25 and 33. (Thank digital cameras, iPod Touches, and iPhones.)

Heck, I passed that number in high school in the early '70s, but I was an anomaly back then. I was on a yearbook staff, and they paid for film, paper, chemicals, and more. Today's kids have it all too easy.

I agree with certain Very Famous Photographers — I see 50% of photography as what happens "in the field," up to the point where an exposure has been made. The other half is what you do with what you captured. Often an image can be converted from a lowly snapshot to a decent photo, with some judicious post processing.

I guess my point is, keep going. Keep making exposures. Keep processing them. Take visual chances.

Train your brain to see good images, too. We become what we think about. Looking at really well-crafted photographs and art works can program your subconscious to know what a good image might look like.

For example, my wife and I were at Montserrat in Catalonia, Spain, in October of 2022. It's an ancient cathedral. They have a great little art museum there with a well-curated selection of works from some of the great old masters. The tasteful compositions and subject treatments in those works of art were unsurprising! Good use of the frame, colors, light, lines, forms, shapes, shadows, and perspectives carries over into photography and every other 2D art form. I'm no student of art or art history, but found myself enthralled by the stimulation. I don't really care who the artists are, but what I can learn from their visual presentation techniques.

I used to devour books on photography, including many of the works of 20th Century photographers. I went through a period in my 20s when I went to the public library every week or two and pored over their collection of photo books.

I took a couple dozen magazines at one point, a third of which were on photography. I have a shelf full of books on photography, and another shelf full of books by photographers presenting their works. I've revisited all of them over the years. They remind me of "what good is."

Few photographers with deliberate intentions of be... (show quote)

I'm a lot older than you, but seems we did all the same things. The photo books, magazines, library...etc.
I probably took those 10,000 pictures at 10 years old. I had my own darkroom at home and loved it, BUT I started painting at 4 years old and I think instead of art helping with photography as it does for some, it got in the way. I grew up to make a darn good living with my art, and have sold quite a few photos but my photography stinks (sorry, that's the only word that comes to mind). At my age now (86), I believe that God meant for me to stick to art and just have fun with photography.....and music and cooking and gardening and animals......

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Horseart wrote:

I'm a lot older than you, but seems we did all the... (show quote)

I am fascinated by the life stories of those who found a calling at an early age, stuck with it, and made it their life's purpose. Success in any endeavor has an inspired path and follows certain universal disciplines.

In the past year or so, I've been following the story of a group of sisters who are musicians from Monterrey Mexico. They learned classical piano from early ages — 3, 5, and 6. Their parents, a dentist and an engineer, gave them the video game, Rock Band. Then they asked for real instruments and lessons on them... At 7, 10, and 12, they started playing together.

I love a variety of music from classical, to jazz, to folk, to blues, to rock and roll, to rock, to hard rock, to country, to Motown soul, to reggae. If it's well written and performed well, I'll watch and listen.

I first saw The Warning on YouTube in 2014, at the ages of 9, 12, and 14, playing note-for-note covers of rock songs as if it were perfectly normal for kids whose English is a second language to play and sing them as well as the originals. (Their cover of Metallica's Enter Sandman has over 25.5 MILLION views on YouTube now). But I lost track until last year, when a suggestion showed up in my YouTube feed.

By 2023, they had been a band for almost ten years, had released an EP and two albums independently, and had released a third album on a major US record label. They had been opening concerts for major rock acts in Mexico, the USA, Canada, Argentina, the UK, and Europe, along with playing to sold-out crowds in smaller venues, and much larger crowds at music festivals. Right now, they're on a 19-concert tour of Europe and the UK. They have released five singles from their fourth album, which ships June 28.

They gave TEDx Talks two years in a row at the University of Nevada, 2016 and 2017. The drummer is Drumeo's Rock Drummer of the Year for 2023, and has been nominated for many other awards. She's been "banging on things" since she was six, and singing like an angel while doing it.

Here is their story if you're interested. https://youtu.be/EIEcjGZmQ8w? and/or https://youtu.be/s7iQG0ug4HI?

They released this amazing song a month ago: https://youtu.be/s6b_FgQnXL8?

It is loud, hard, driving rock, with a serious message about how you can simultaneously feel trapped by the routine of, and invigorated by, living out your dream. I get it... I've been there, done that, in several roles. Most of us have. This song is a pressure relief valve.

Horseart Loc: Alabama

burkphoto wrote:

img src="https://static.uglyhedgehog.com/images/s... (show quote)

Pretty amazing! When I am painting I listen to soft, easy listening music because to me painting is so relaxing and the music matches that feeling. I can just imagine what might show up on a canvas I painted while listening to this. LOL!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Horseart wrote:

Pretty amazing! When I am painting I listen to soft, easy listening music because to me painting is so relaxing and the music matches that feeling. I can just imagine what might show up on a canvas I painted while listening to this. LOL!

They have some softer ballads like Revenant, Show Me the Light,and Crimson Queen, but they don't do easy listening. They are fast becoming known as a world class stadium rock band. I'm sure the people who saw them perform at their school in 2015 are in awe of what they have done.

Their work ethic is off the charts. 110 live shows in 2022, 75 shows plus recording an album in 2023… They go to Japan later this summer for concerts there with some friends in a Japanese band. Several Americans and Europeans already have tickets, plane, and hotel reservations. I'll wait for them to come back to Charlotte...

Coming back around to my point, success (continuous pursuit of a worthy goal) in many ways is a determination sparked by passion and anchored by discipline. If you have the flame to be something, the discipline and determination will follow.

If I could spend the rest of my life interviewing successful people and documenting their journeys, I'd never be bored.

Horseart Loc: Alabama

I agree about success. I think time has always been my worst enemy...
No, wait...how I spend my time! I always spent so much time painting and raising/riding/showing horses that I poured all of my time, energy and efforts into it. Other things, like photography, playing the organ, cooking, sewing, building things, flower gardening had to take whatever time was left over.
We raised and sold a lot of champion bred horses over about 50 years and I sold every piece I ever pained for 70 years, so I guess my third choice (photography) suffered because they missed out on a lot of that time and energy. I'm trying to make up for some of that now since I have retired from commission painting and wall murals, but I have lagged behind for too long I think. However, I do not intend to give up!!!!