This has really depressed me, I'm a boring photographer

KayJay said:
52 and 365 threads and projects are a waste of time and for exactly this reason. I Leays think that they put unneccessary pressure on people to post an image for the day or week. It's becomes a chore and stifles creativity. Unless you consistently deliver fantastic images for these forced projects you are inevitably going to look back on them and see mediocre photographs. I'm not saying this is exactly what's happening here but it might be close. Let yourself go, loose the project and remove the level of self expectation. You'll find you'll enjoy photography again and take the shots based on feeling and emotion as opposed to filling a photographic blog for the sake of it. I don't know if this all sounds harsh or not but it's what I think and I'm offering you the advice. Just be yourself and enjoy the camera. It's the only way you'll find your own style and soon you'll see the difference.
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I love taking photos, but sometimes I'm not sure what to take - I find the '52 helps me focus on taking a shot and the fact I'm thinking about it for a few days helps me to come up with ideas to match the theme.

I haven't put any photos up that I feel are mediocre - if I did I would definitely give up.

That said, I'm sure it's not for everyone - there's never one size that fits all properly..

Phil
 
yep, totally crap.

only joking.

One of the hardest things I have found as an amateur photographer is finding my style.
I think until you have a style or until every pic you post is a cracker, people are just browsing, when you have a style that people relate to then you get the ones that add you as a bookmark and comment on stuff.
I think you have to be very consistent to get high numbers.

I have had these same thoughts, but have come to the conclusion that I need to know my style and concentrate at perfecting it.

Go through your whole catalog of photos and you will see where your strengths lie.
Looking at your 52, you seem to like stuff with an urban feel to it.

get 20 of your best pics and create an online portfolio.
Then put that link on everything and everywhere.

stick at it and you will get the following you are after.
 
Ahh lots of posts!

The photo of the boots is cool. it give me the mental image of cowboys hobbling around in different sized different coloured boots! :D

Flash In The Pan said:
[PLEASE DON'T TRY TO BYPASS THE SWEAR FILTER]......


Might be an idea to organise some proper photographic trips/events round here, what do you reckon?
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I think you are right. Do you think a journey on the Waverly could produce some good images?

KayJay said:
It's a pain in the arse typing on an iPhone but this thread is worth it. It put in some phantom words in my last response lol.

Fracster you're right. There are exceptions but you only become exceptional when you're at ease with yourself.
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Cheers for going to the effort! I'm dyslexic! So I can generate some wonderfully strange words without the use of an Iphone! :D

I think I see things a bit differently with reguards to the 52. I like it as a map of what I have been doing through the year. I obviously there are photos where I have been thinking "what do I have to post", It was went I took a photo I was quite proud of and it past by unnoticed that got me down. Was starting to think that I had mastered all to the technical aspects of photography with out touching on the creative and aesthetic "art" of photography

I think I just had the wrong attitude, Thank you to everybody who posted on this thread.

Stuart
 
I think we all suffer from a crisis of confidence at times. Surprisingly, in my opinion, this site has to shoulder a wee bit of the blame :exit:. On a regular basis I see pics on this site and my first thought is "WOW that is good" usually followed by "DAMN why cant I do that" :bang:
Yesterday I was amazed at pics of puffins, today it is cricketers and tomorrow it will probably be aeroplanes
On the plus side, if I take one good shot every couple of months then I get a great buzz that I might not get if I took stunning pics every day.
I reckon we always undervalue ourselves and do not see what others see in our photographs. It is quite common for my wife to say to me " that is a really nice photograph " when I think it is mediocre but she usually adds "did you take it ? " :dummy:

ps just checked your 52.....nowt wrong there pal :thumbs:
 
I'd bookmark this thread, then if you ever get depressed about your photography, just come back to it.
 
KayJay said:
52 and 365 threads and projects are a waste of time and for exactly this reason. I Leays think that they put unneccessary pressure on people to post an image for the day or week. It's becomes a chore and stifles creativity. Unless you consistently deliver fantastic images for these forced projects you are inevitably going to look back on them and see mediocre photographs. I'm not saying this is exactly what's happening here but it might be close. Let yourself go, loose the project and remove the level of self expectation. You'll find you'll enjoy photography again and take the shots based on feeling and emotion as opposed to filling a photographic blog for the sake of it. I don't know if this all sounds harsh or not but it's what I think and I'm offering you the advice. Just be yourself and enjoy the camera. It's the only way you'll find your own style and soon you'll see the difference.
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wise man here !!! :thumbs:
 
Shoot film, it's chicken soup for the soul.
 
stu_the_flat said:
Evidently the most interesting thing I can do as a photographer is sell my camera.

So am I that crap? should I just chuck it and give up?

Stuart
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:bat: No !!!!!
So stop that nonsense right now.

I think you need to ask yourself why you started your 52.

Personally I know that I couldn't stick to a 365 because I'd end up with a year's worth of rubbish.
With a 52, I find that it gives me a reason to get the camera out at least once a week and shoot when I usually may not have bothered. Focusing on getting at least one "decent" (for me) photo a week has really helped me to improve.
And yes, the C&C is helpful and encouraging (thank you everyone), but at the end of the day, I'm doing this for myself rather than for anyone else.
It may not be the same for everyone.

If this is something that you're doing for yourself and for fun, it really shouldn't matter too much that you haven't had hundreds of comments.

I try to get around all the themed 52s each week, but I know that there are a lot of unthemed 52s and 365s that I just don't get time to visit . . . yours has fallen into that category sorry Stuart. But I promise to pop in later this evening when I have the time to give a bit more thought and effort to your photos than I would right now.

And from your side, try to pop into a few of the other 52s and leave some C&C. You'll find that people will reciprocate. It's just that with so many in there it's impossible to get around all of them.
 
I looked at your photos the other day and thought they were very good,and to be honest the only reason I never commented is because I can never think of anything constructive to put on peoples photos:thinking:.

But I get the same on my flickr page with my photos,in that unless I used to put them in a stupid amount of groups they hardly ever got looked at,while my contacts get tons of comments and 'explored' pictures for putting them in one' group :shrug:

Nowadays I just put them on there with a 'they either get viewed or they don't' attitude,as I now care only about the enjoyment I personally get from taking them and looking at them myself.
In fact the only consistent comments I get is my kit being too much for my capabilities lol,but once again I'm happy which is all that matters!

So as everybody else has said before me,just enjoy your hobby and don't stress on it too much ;)
 
James Thomas 75 said:
I looked at your photos the other day and thought they were very good,and to be honest the only reason I never commented is because I can never think of anything constructive to put on peoples photos:thinking:.

But I get the same on my flickr page with my photos,in that unless I used to put them in a stupid amount of groups they hardly ever got looked at,while my contacts get tons of comments and 'explored' pictures for putting them in one' group :shrug:

Nowadays I just put them on there with a 'they either get viewed or they don't' attitude,as I now care only about the enjoyment I personally get from taking them and looking at them myself.
In fact the only consistent comments I get is my kit being too much for my capabilities lol,but once again I'm happy which is all that matters!

So as everybody else has said before me,just enjoy your hobby and don't stress on it too much ;)
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Add a flickr link to your signature and people will drop in from this forum quite often. :thumbs:
 
Opening another can of worms, but I think the recent discussion which broadly lambasted 'nice shot' responses has perhaps discouraged people who might otherwise have made an encouraging comment when they didn't feel they wanted to give an appropriate critique.

I think there was a lot of useful discussion around the trouble with people saying 'great shot' on very average photos making it difficult for others to offer constructive criticism, but I think there are room for both styles of comment.

Phil
 
You clearly have talent for photography, the shots in your 52 thread prove this.

I started a photo project and found the pressure on myself to go out and take a picture overwhelming - so I stopped and now just take photos when I want to.

And on another note, if the stunning blonde in a couple of your shots is your girlfriend/wife/partner - why the hell are you worrying about photography!! Enjoy:thumbs:
 
Starastin said:
who said this wonderful though (oh ! I think will smith did) -

“Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like.”
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The first time I read something that was in Design for the Real World by Victor Papanek and it goes something like - "There are professions more harmful than industrial design, but only a very few of them...

... And possibly only one profession is phonier. Advertising design, in persuading people to buy things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, in order to impress others who don’t care, is probably the phoniest field in existence today."

HTH.
 
I take photos and apart from the occasional one where I try to be 'arty' I don't think they're anything special in terms of aesthetics. I've even had one member PM me and actually tell me that I produce crap photos.

The thing is though, I produce my photographs not to be artistic but for documentary reasons. The kind of stuff I shoot (apart from the occasional party or pet pictures) isn't your everyday content, and as long as the photo is sharp and recognisable it's already serving its purpose - I am not aiming to produce a photographic wonder, and in actual fact most of the best photos I have seen are actually quite poor quality - but the content is what made it.

Do what I did and ask yourself why you take photos. Do you do it to please other people or do you do it because you like it?
 
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