Does anyone actually like there own images?

everyone else seems to be taking better shots, maybe they are
 
im sure there are very few people who look at their images and think 'fricking hell im good'

or if there are they probably aren't. I went to uni with this guy http://www.flickr.com/photos/tgkw/, not to study photography but literature. It can be tough but it means i never get above my station plus i really like his work.


i think im rambling, sorry heatstroke from riding a bike all day
 
I don't like many of my pictures. I've a few thoughts about this.
I was there when I took it, so I'm only viewing what I've already seen.
Other photographers pictures, are things you may not have seen, if its a view of Tower Bridge, yes I've seen it before, but the clouds and sunset etc would probably have been different. Currently I'm finding pictures of mine that sell most through picture libraries I use are very mundane and boring. SO what you may not like or think isn't a stunning picture, may be a big seller.
 
The vast majority of the photographs I make I dislike but occasionally I'll make a photo that I really like. I tend to find that I'm very hard on myself but find it hard to be self critical at the same time. By this I mean that I expect a high standard of myself but to be technically critical and objective towards my own photo's is something I struggle with. I don't have this trouble when viewing other's photographs.
 
I like most people love my photos, I would be absolutely devastated if I lost them, hence why they are all backed up on an external hard drive.

If you went through the folders on my computer of all my photos it's like a diary, from when I started out taking the odd snap to progressing to taking photos that I'm genuinely proud of, and enjoy showing people.
 
Forbiddenbiker said:
Bachs said:
... I don't really give a hoot wether they sell or not anymore or even if they gain acceptance from fellow photographers, as long as I get some satisfaction from them.
Click to expand...
I agree with all of Bachs post, especially the portion quoted above.
Click to expand...
Blimey! I completely disagree with it!

Like someone else mentioned, I do get pleasure out of a photograph which documents my life, but the difficult part of that is that it's pretty hard to take a good photo of yourself skiing or biking!

But when I'm taking photographs for the pleasure of photography or because I'm trying to cultivate my "artistic talents" then I'm plenty self-critical. To have someone else buy images that I've taken, or to have them published or for a pro togger to say something nice about them... that would "validate" me, and validate my skills. It would show me that I'm not just wasting my time (actually right now I don't waste enough of it on photography, but that's another story ;) and prove that the photo is actually good, and it's not just me being "up on myself".

I'm sure we've all encountered someone who's images are all "perfect" and wonderful and "you couldn't have taken better, mate". That's not me - I need someone else to praise me, otherwise all my photos are all rubbish. ;)

welly said:
2831486329ef72c49f79b.jpg


This photo is probably my favourite ... but it was more about when and where it was taken. It's a personal thing!
Click to expand...
What a wonderful place! Where was / is it, please?

Stroller.
 
Personally, I usually like the best of my pics a lot ... until I post them up here on TP :D. Then, it's all downhill :(.

Much as I do feel a little buzz about getting a decent image, I'd much rather that other people felt that buzz too. It may be that I have unusual photographic tastes, or it may be that I'm just a rubbish photographer :shrug:. Either way, I'm going to keep at it until I'm sure of the answer ;).

I still like to look at other people's photos, but it's very revealing that the one's that I like best often get little or no positive feedback (apart from from me ;)) and yet some of the pics that attract fifty "Ooh" and "Aahh" responses and glowing admiration, leave me just feeling "Hmm, I've seen that image so many times before :thinking:".
 
I allways over criticise my own pictures. My friends and loved one's think they are good, but i am never happy with the end result. I am allways looking at how i could have shot something better, lit it better etc. I think if you become happy with what you shoot, you can become a little complacent and allmost settle for what you think is your best, but if you are over critical you can allways better yourself by picking up a new skill or tip from someone or something else. Just my thoughts:thinking::lol:
 
I have the same opinion of my viewers of my shots, "Rubbish"
I need to really step up a gear soon otherwise I can feel myself loosing interest. Although I dont want to, its getting frustrating not being able to produce what I want.
 
I'm quite partial to my own stuff - it's why I take photos. Even the photos no-one else likes much - and 12 votes across 3 months in the POTY on here shows I can't be convincing too many folk - I tend to enjoy looking back over.

I've over 1,000 images on flickr - some from the start I'd change if I took them now and I'm always looking for improvements but I don't compare myself to anyone else, only take the shots I want to and only process the ones that catch my eye.

I still get a buzz if I've got what I think is a good image waiting on the memory card ...

That said, I still think most other photographers are better than me - I just don't beat myself up about it!
 
I can't stand most of my pics. And I only take them for others to like. I get no pleasure looking at my own pics, and the please for me is in taking the pic and the quest to one day produce a stunning shot.
 
Some I like, some I don't (which usually get deleted!) I worry too much about what other people think of them, but they are mine and they mean something to me so that's the most important thing :)
 
You have to Love your photos.

Photography is art and art is always a labour of love. If you have no emotional attachment to the images I can't see how you can work with them.

Of course I'm talking about shooting for pleasure here (not commercial or weddings). Do you never get that moment when you look through the viewfinder and think, wow - that's a picture! ??

You might get back home and realize that your shot has not really captured the WOW - but thats just a matter of refining your technique and practice. But if you have no love for your art - that's a sad thing.

For me - If I shoot something, but don't get around to taking it off the camera and processing it - I can lose some of the enthusiasm for the shot, simply because some of the feeling has dissipated over time. So I try to work my shots up as soon as I get home while the feeling is fresh - I try to keep the WOW in my head - I want my shots to communicate the same feelings that I had when I stood there just before I raised the camera to my eye.

Sorry to rant on and get all artsy and emotional - but there is plenty of good advice on this forum for technique and equipment etc. But not enough talk about the art and emotion of what we do and why we do it.

So I would say you need to learn to love your art - for its own sake. I admire a lot of other people's work. I even love some other people's photos - but you have to love your own, they are your own creation.
 
I like some of my images.

They may be completely different to examples of my work that other people like or dislike.

I'd be devastated if I lost all my images though.

I need to invest in a USB HD.
 
Strolls said:
What a wonderful place! Where was / is it, please?

Stroller.
Click to expand...

It was Sulphur Mountain at Banff, Alberta in Canada. Stunning place.. everywhere you turned was a photo opportunity.
 
I like some of my images and not others. I'm not that bothered about it all these days. I only got my camera before xmas and kinda wish i had just bought a decent digi cam or just used my sons old one. I guess i have yet to find the type of photography that interests me. I think the camera is over complicated for my usage and i don't need all the stuff on it so i may sell it and downsize. I'll give it a year and see if photography is for me.
 
nigelcampbell said:
You have to Love your photos.

Photography is art and art is always a labour of love. If you have no emotional attachment to the images I can't see how you can work with them.

Of course I'm talking about shooting for pleasure here (not commercial or weddings). Do you never get that moment when you look through the viewfinder and think, wow - that's a picture! ??

You might get back home and realize that your shot has not really captured the WOW - but thats just a matter of refining your technique and practice. But if you have no love for your art - that's a sad thing.

For me - If I shoot something, but don't get around to taking it off the camera and processing it - I can lose some of the enthusiasm for the shot, simply because some of the feeling has dissipated over time. So I try to work my shots up as soon as I get home while the feeling is fresh - I try to keep the WOW in my head - I want my shots to communicate the same feelings that I had when I stood there just before I raised the camera to my eye.

Sorry to rant on and get all artsy and emotional - but there is plenty of good advice on this forum for technique and equipment etc. But not enough talk about the art and emotion of what we do and why we do it.

So I would say you need to learn to love your art - for its own sake. I admire a lot of other people's work. I even love some other people's photos - but you have to love your own, they are your own creation.
Click to expand...

:clap: And the "Post of the Month" award goes to ...... NIGEL CAMPBELL :eek:!

:1st:


:( I wasn't being sarcastic there, BTW, I genuinely felt better after reading it :).
 
After taking photos since the early 50s and just as a hobby I quite like some of them, not for there technical merit, for I never even consider that, but if they are nice to look at that’s the only consideration for me.
I try not to take my photography too seriously; after all I don’t have to earn a living from it!
On the question of losing them, I lost a whole Canadian holiday worth of shots when a hard drive went down and I was mortified!
 
nigelcampbell said:
Do you never get that moment when you look through the viewfinder and think, wow - that's a picture! ??
Click to expand...

As someone who doesn't like their own pics, I'll take your post as being aimed at someone like me, and reply...

I quite often look through the viewfinder and think "wow". I might even be sat eating a Mars bar and suddenly go "wow" (inside my head) and get all tingly as the light changes and there's maybe a warm orange glow on some damp rocks.

I thought we were talking about whether we liked our own images? :shrug:

I don't. I strive/struggle ( ;) ) to create a "wow" image. And it's that aspect which I love and enjoy. If along the way I create some images that other people like then it certainly keeps me going. And I feed off of that reaction that I get from people. But personally, all I see are "what if's" and "maybe's" when I look at my own work.
 
I like mine. I have several of mine printed on canvas around our home and in friends homes.
 
Would be extremely gutted if I lost my images, even the rubbish ones, but there's no way I like all my shots.

If anything I like about five per cent of them. At university when we shot film my tutor said that if I can get one good shot from a 36-exposure film I was doing well. The instant, cost-effective nature of digital just encourages us to take more sots and I'd say most of us take fewer good shots than if we were shooting film with the associated D&P costs.

I have my faves, most of them are on my website, but there are a lot that I look through to only remind me how rubbish I can be at times :)
 
newyorkaddict said:
I always over criticise my own pictures. My friends and loved one's think they are good,
Click to expand...
One of the girls who works in a customer's office told me a while back that "that looks really professional"; the occasion is memorable for me because I guess she was taken with the pic, actually looked at it for a minute or two and said it "could be professional" more than once. But in my mind that's because she "doesn't know any better" - it was a complete snapshot! Yes, it was a good snapshot, a lucky snapshot (snapshots from dSLRs tend to be better & luckier than snapshots with cheaper cameras, IMO) and a good pose (and since pets are rarely obliging, that's a matter of luck, too!), but there was so much wrong with it I can't count!

newyorkaddict said:
but i am never happy with the end result. I am always looking at how i could have shot something better, lit it better etc.
Click to expand...
:plusone:

I do this exactly. I guess the positive side of this is that we're always learning (hopefully!).
:thumbs:

nigelcampbell said:
You have to Love your photos.

Photography is art and art is always a labour of love. If you have no emotional attachment to the images I can't see how you can work with them.
Click to expand...
It's not that I lack emotional involvement (and you've expressed that very well), it's just that I don't think they're very good.

I guess it's analogous to loving my photos, but not liking them (in my case). Like the mother violent criminals, I'm emotionally involved enough, I just know how bad they are. ;)

To be balanced I am at least very fond of the one or two of my photos that I like and that I think are "good work". I think I'll have to get a couple printed at a decent size to encourage me.

Stroller.
 
I am a new one user for pictures on canvas
and i want to know how could i take a picure in a group.
i am trying it from many days if any person can help me then please let me know........
 
Photography for me in the right conditions evokes a passion. Yes, I have to be in the right frame of mind to take the shot and lets face it occasionally you have to be a bit selfish with your time.I have had to make up to the boss on many an occasion when I stayed at a location for "just a little bit longer"

I have to process the images as soon as I get home. If I cannot look at or process them I become restless.

To say that you hate your own work is bollards. If I hated my own work then I would have to take up another hobby such as cockleshell polishing....now where's the Brasso;)
 
I'd be gutted if I lost any of my images. My main problem with my photos is that I am hyper critical of any photos that I take, I've always felt that way, and never rate any photo I take...
 
I once heard it said that art is never finished just eventually abandoned. I think its likely the perfect image will never occur but surely perfection is only part of why we enjoy photography.
If you don't enjoy it, spend your time on something you do enjoy.:shrug:
 
Strolls said:
....

But when I'm taking photographs for the pleasure of photography or because I'm trying to cultivate my "artistic talents" then I'm plenty self-critical. To have someone else buy images that I've taken, or to have them published or for a pro togger to say something nice about them... that would "validate" me, and validate my skills. It would show me that I'm not just wasting my time (actually right now I don't waste enough of it on photography, but that's another story ;) and prove that the photo is actually good, and it's not just me being "up on myself".

I'm sure we've all encountered someone who's images are all "perfect" and wonderful and "you couldn't have taken better, mate". That's not me - I need someone else to praise me, otherwise all my photos are all rubbish. ;)

.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree, nothing like getting cool critique to validate ones work... I feel you've misunderstood me slightly, The point I was trying to make to Blinkers, is that one needs to follow ones heart, as he’s making images to please everyone else, rather than shooting what he’s interested in.

Inevitably shooting a particular field isn't going to please everyone all of the time.

I did say the majority in my post, which implies the minorities opinions of my images are actually very important to me still. ...I do sell lots of my arty work, and I have two galleries running, so I'm not doing to bad I guess, (And that really is a guess) but I figure how can continue I learn and improve whilst also not waste my time shooting stuff I don't get excited about.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top