Why you SUCK at photography & Things to Avoid
If you are frustrated that your photos just can’t seem to hit the standard you are looking for and have likely hit a plateau in your photography journey you’ve come to the correct article.
Here are my 6 reasons to help you shift your mindset and improve your skills.
1. You idolize your gear too much
You think that gear will help you to achieve a magical effect. You think that having the 1.4 aperture would be able to get you that nice bokeh shot. You spent hours fantasizing about a particular brand of cameras that would be able to help you get nice 4K images.
All these might be true, but a lot of the things involved in taking good photographs boil down to the photographer rather than the gear.
2. You think that good gear can compensate for your lack of skills
Having the latest and greatest is not everything, let me give you an analogy in sports. This should be relatable for those of you who have played sports at some point in your life.
In the sport of badminton, do you think that by giving the best badminton racquet in the whole world to an amateur player, he will do well in a high-level competition? Probably not.
This player would definitely need to train his skills in the way that he handles the racquet to be able to do well. Having the best racquet in the whole world does not necessarily help this player achieve the results, but having hard training every day and learning how to swing the racquet correctly, will.
It is the same for photography. Having a good camera, without knowing how to use its functions, does not necessarily help you to take a good photo. So try to work on your skills on your current gear first before getting more expensive gear thinking that it will help you bring your photography to the next level.
3. You prefer to get better technology than to master what you already have
Let’s take me for example. I don’t have the latest Sony cameras and am just using the Sony A7II, which is 5–6 years old already. I’m still using it to take a lot of my food photography shots which I’m being paid for. Not only that, the majority of the time, I also only use my kit lens to achieve these shots.
Having the fanciest of new gear is not everything. Re-learn or rediscover what your gear can do and you will be surprised at the potential of your current equipment.
4. Allow yourself to fail
Failure is a very strong deterring factor that prevents us from trying new things or things that have a high risk but also a large reward. You might be thinking — I’m not good enough to shoot this, or I don’t have enough experience, but honestly, who starts out having experience?
Unless your family has been doing this for ages, you will always start out from Ground Zero. Failing only shows how much inexperience you have but it is a very good learning tool to be able to help you move forward if you can overcome that.
5. Stop labelling yourself
Stop labelling yourself as a failure. Just move on ahead and give it another shot. Continue to fail and try again. Learn how you can improve from where you think you failed, be it the composition, lighting, or storytelling of a scene.
What’s important is that you don’t overthink and just continue to learn and improve, everybody hits bumps at some point.
If you want more helpful and constructive advice, consider joining Facebook groups. Post your latest capture and people will help to critique your photo along with helpful practical advice.
6. Learn from different sources.
Be humble and keep on learning. YouTube and many other sources on the Internet are an excellent and often free source of information to help you understand more about your camera and gear.
There are many photographers with renowned works that share their struggles which will help you relate to the rut you are finding yourself in now as well as ways to navigate it.
Let’s wrap things up!
I hope these six points have given you a perspective on your photography journey. Knowing what is wrong will allow you the wisdom to alter your direction.
I would safely say that without failure or coming to an understanding of these lessons I would not have the success I have now.
