Does anyone else just hate all their work?

thedude

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Is it just me or do you take a photo like it for about a day then go back and look and hate every aspect of it? Im continuosly causing myself no end of stress about it and how i feel everything i have done is just pants.
 
I'm not paid for taking pictures and don't consider myself a struggling artist so I only have a hobby not "work" ;).
The only thing I find truly frustrating is looking at a shot I've taken recently and seeing some silly mistake that ruins it when I keep kidding myself I'm getting more competent :) Wonky horizons and bad exposure are my recurring nightmare :(

All my digital pictures are on the PC in the lounge which is also our TV recorder. It scrolls through everything at random as a screensaver. I'm seldom impressed with what scrolls past but I don't hate much either. One of the interesting things is seeing early stuff shot with compact cameras that holds it's own against some of my most recent stuff.
 
Is it just me or do you take a photo like it for about a day then go back and look and hate every aspect of it? Im continuosly causing myself no end of stress about it and how i feel everything i have done is just pants.

I've had photos where I've been excited for all of about an hour for then I put it online, it gets destroyed and I think WHYYYY do I bother?

You learn, you get better, it gets better.

Hopefully you'll find a balance of wanting to improve and not beating yourself up.
 
I do look at a lot of stuff I've shot after taking them and wonder why I took some of them in the first place "seemed like a good idea at the time" LOL - but once I've sorted out the potential keepers and processed them I'm generally happy with them from then on - sure I can spot things I'd change/shoot differently given the choice but it doesn't really spoil my enjoyment of the shots TBH and even if posted for critique and not well received it doesn't really bother me and I still enjoy the images.

Jim
 
Trial and error is a big part of my learning process, so failing lots is good :)
 
One of my old lecturers used to say that you didn't really understand a programming language until you'd generated all the errors - and figured out how to get rid of them....
 
I started liking my work more when i started caring less about what other people thought and focused on just enjoying myself

Always open to feedback and enjoy debating various aspects of photography and equipment but when i was trying to take pictures i thought other people wanted to see or expected i stopped enjoying it
 
Yep, I can't see past my faults :rolleyes:
 
It's hard when there are so many I suppose.... :devil: :D (speaks from experience)
 
I have more keepers when I take the camera out with a purpose and plan in advance what I'm trying to achieve. Means I get to the right place at the right time with the right kit.
 
I decided I didn't want to be "Court Photographer" years ago so re-assessed my horizons. My ability satisfies my needs. I accept that like most things, you have to practice just to keep still and get annoyed when I look through a folder of work to find an example to blow up and hang on the wall, that it's all rubbish. However, I do enjoy a private grin when out at a tourist site be-jewelled with gear and a tourist comes up and asks for a photo with their partner and is really pleased with the result. (It's all about viewfinder composition).

Identify what particular aspect of your work annoys you and join a class on just that issue.

Oh, and buy a Canon.
 
I'm the best photographer alive. Therefore I don't get stressed about my photos. They are all amazing and I have the "keeper rate" steady at 100%.
 
I'm the best blind photographer alive. Therefore I don't get stressed about my photos. They are all amazing and I have the "keeper rate" steady at 100%.

...that would explain it :devil: ;) :D
 
...that would explain it :devil: ;) :D

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:)
 
You just keep telling yourself that ;)
 
...you sure it's not the voices in your head? :D
 
I wasn't talking to you.... :blush: :D
 
My 2cp...
If your sole purpose in life is to get acceptance from other people for your photography, then prepare to be soulburned for the rest of your life. The first thing that happens, when you stop giving shit about what other people think about your photography, that's when you get happy, that's the first thing. Your photos are not pants, at least not the ones you have in Flickr. As a hobbyist, I'm secure enough in my own self and my photography, that I can say that. I actually quite liked your stuff. You go for very clean lines, you obviously thrive towards technical perfection (there's another fun killer right there!) and absolutely flawless shots. Not too keen on the studio shots, but then, I never like pure studio stuff. It's not just yours, it's everyone's. Give yourself some artistic freedom. However, if you are not that way inclined, then I guess, as a photographer, you are forever doomed to be stressed about your work. Perfectionists usually are :) I could name a few others I "know" here in the forums ;) But yeah, if you think everything you do is pants, when believe me, it actually isn't, then maybe you should think about another hobby :) Give yourself some room, try to steer away from the perfectionism more towards real life, and you're laughing.
 
cheers M and its just a hobby, i have done paid work but hated that work i did but they were happy. So it could just be me actually striving for what i want not necessarly what others want. Im learning all the time and i enjoy taking photos i may take some tomorrow as i am off and i could do with some more perfect studio shots. :p
 
However, if you are not that way inclined, then I guess, as a photographer, you are forever doomed to be stressed about your work. Perfectionists usually are :) I could name a few others I "know" here in the forums ;) But yeah, if you think everything you do is pants, when believe me, it actually isn't, then maybe you should think about another hobby :) Give yourself some room, try to steer away from the perfectionism more towards real life, and you're laughing.

No idea who you could be referring to ;) :p
 
I'm still procrastinating over a lot of photographs I took last year. Because I am a perfectionist, I may have got the editing down to a fine art but I look at things and think "it's all pants". Then I'll shove that aside and get down to editing, then uploading.
 
I guess its the habits for all human beings, they always think that their own work doesn't look good at all! I guess myself also included in this list ;)
 

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