Or . . .

Use a less than perfect image as an opportunity to learn new post processing skills.

One can give up too easily because it is so easy to hit "delete" in disgust. I personally won't do delete until I have exhausted all possible avenues to improve an image.

Case in point. I used to do retouching work for a fashion photographer who was working on her portfolio, so she could not afford the big-ticket, Madison Ave level retouchers. Having done some of that work in the past, I would help out from time to time with that task. It would not be unusual for me to spend anywhere from 60-120 minutes on a single headshot in Photoshop. She was a good photographer and usually had a good MUA to properly prep the model(s) - so the work was relatively straightforward. However, to make an image that would be convincing to a prospect, the images ALL needed a retoucher's magic to make it happen. None of those images were even close to being trash-bin worthy, but none were presentable to highly critical creative directors.

The other case is when you are doing photo restoration. You may have a badly faded or damaged print to work with, and again, you'd need to explore whatever toolboxes are available to you to make something nice happen.

This image was the result of about an hour's worth of work. It was from a 4x6 print that was pulled out of a flooded home. Trash bin or delete was not an option. Just sayin'

The more challenges/learning opportunities you take on, the deeper your skill set becomes, making it easier to actually recognize the difference between a "delete" and a "let me see what I can do with this image" moment. There is a certain feeling of accomplishment, not to mention the joy when you hand over a restored image to a client that is completely priceless.

As always, there is a lot of sense in what you have said.

We learn from our mistakes and would never learn from taking perfect photos each time.

I have a partner who insists in helping me with my photos. He would hold my hand if I let him, but what would I learn? One only learn from his or her mistakes so I go out of my way to avoid his help to the point of not telling me what I am putting in a competition. I avoid the question and probably say something like "I will choose something from my PC when I get home".

Recently I did a still life of a cup, saucer and a strainer using a black back drop of different thicknesses and once the photo was printed it became clear that I should have used the same backdrop of the same thickness. I managed to pp the photo a little more and reprinted it. As it was in B&W the results were very good. It wasn't until I had printed the photo that I disclosed what photo I was entering and you couldn't believe my excitement. I learned so much from doing it all myself. When my partner eventually got to see it he was thrilled for me and told me "you did it all yourself", so yes, we learn from our mistakes and trying harder.