Everyone takes bad photos: Don’t fear failure because even the best photographers still mess up

 

 

In today's world of social media and sharing photos, it can be easy to think that your favorite photographers only take awesome photos. After all, if you're following talented photographers, you only see great shot after great shot on Instagram. When you're just starting out, being inundated with amazing work can be inspiring, but it can also be frustrating and perhaps even a bit scary.

As photographer Manny Ortiz points out in his latest video, it's important to remember that no matter how good a photographer is, they do still take bad photos. You just aren't likely to ever see them. In contrast, you see all your own photos, the good, the bad and the ugly. If you ever feel down when you compare your work to the work you see online, keep in mind that you aren't alone. The best photographers still take bad images.

Ortiz admits he still takes poor images. As he has learned, practiced and become more experienced, he takes less bad photos than he used to. His good work is also better than it used to be as well. I like to think that there's a sliding scale that all photographers operate within. That scale goes from bad to good and you'll regularly hit both extremes. As you shoot more and improve, you still have that scale, which goes from bad to good, but the bad is less bad and the good is even better. You can't be afraid of taking bad images. There's always valuable lessons to be learned, and perhaps the best lessons come from the biggest mistakes. 

Note: The video below does contain some mild NSFW language

(Via Manny Ortiz)