Have you made any progress in a year?

Having reached the landmark 1000 posts has put me in a reflective mood. Have I gotten any better in the past year? Fortunately, I don't ever burn anything to cd so everything since I've gone digital is still on the computer :D

After going back thru some older photos, I don't think I've made that much progress image-wise. I'm much more consistant, and have a much higher keeper ratio, but other than that, I'm looking pretty similar. Here's a 2004 and 2005, both from July, so almost exactly a year apart. 2004 is the one on the chair, 2005 is outside. In order to correct this stagnent-ness (is that a word?) I'm attending a 3 day workshop next weekend. Hopefully that will give me the boost I need.

Anyone else?

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Originally Posted by adina

Having reached the landmark 1000 posts has put me in a reflective mood. Have I gotten any better in the past year? Fortunately, I don't ever burn anything to cd so everything since I've gone digital is still on the computer :D

After going back thru some older photos, I don't think I've made that much progress image-wise. I'm much more consistant, and have a much higher keeper ratio, but other than that, I'm looking pretty similar. Here's a 2004 and 2005, both from July, so almost exactly a year apart. 2004 is the one on the chair, 2005 is outside. In order to correct this stagnent-ness (is that a word?) I'm attending a 3 day workshop next weekend. Hopefully that will give me the boost I need.

Anyone else?

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I think you're being a little tough on yourself. Your images have always been exemplary, and the fact that you find more consistency speaks volumes about your growth. I find myself getting less consistent in the past year. Part of that is the lack of personal photography outside of the clinical setting, part of it is a lack of desire and vision, both of which I intend to rectify by forcing myself to take more pictures this half of the remaining year.
Again, keep taking pictures, and as always, share some like you have been to keep the rest of us (slackers like me) inspired.
Leon

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Originally Posted by adina

Having reached the landmark 1000 posts has put me in a reflective mood. Have I gotten any better in the past year? Fortunately, I don't ever burn anything to cd so everything since I've gone digital is still on the computer :D

After going back thru some older photos, I don't think I've made that much progress image-wise. I'm much more consistant, and have a much higher keeper ratio, but other than that, I'm looking pretty similar. Here's a 2004 and 2005, both from July, so almost exactly a year apart. 2004 is the one on the chair, 2005 is outside. In order to correct this stagnent-ness (is that a word?) I'm attending a 3 day workshop next weekend. Hopefully that will give me the boost I need.

Anyone else?

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I've posted about this before to some degree, but I think what happens as you get better is that your standards ratchet up ever higher. Sometimes we end up out of equilibrium for a while where very little (or nothing) meets our standards. Getting better equipment doesn't always help. We end up saying: "If I can't take great pictures with this $X lens, I must really stink."

To answer your question, I kinda feel like you do. I just completed my first year completely digital and with better lenses than I had before. I have improved some. My photos generally look professional to me and I get more "keepers."

But -- and here's the but -- the number of zingers hasn't improved much. By that I mean I haven't added to my own list of favorite photos much this year, especially those of my kids, although I feel that I can fire off technically proficient, pro quality photos whenever I want.

Does that make sense?

Have I gotten "better" in a year? Hmmmmmm.......

I think the answer is: in some ways yes, in some ways no. I don't think I've gotten "technically" much better in the sense that a greater number of my photographs are stunning, capture light better, are sharper, better subjects, etc. However, I have worked a great deal on understanding exposure better, so now I have a better command of it --- when I ask it of myself. What I'm saying is, I'm "better" in that I can choose to have total control and be comfortable with it. I couldn't really do that a year ago.

I do think I took some of my best photos, though, before I had that command. I still take some decent shots. It seems to go in streaks. Sometimes I come home and spend hours gazing at my "I-can't-believe-I-took-these" shots. Other times I come home, download my card, give my shots a quick glance, and then can't bear to revisit them again for months. None of this has changed over the past year.

What HAS changed the most, though, is my confidence level. I don't really have to keep asking others if my photos are good or not. I know I have an abundance of really good shots, and now I just need to take the next step: print, display and market them.

This is the very question that made me post my before and after thread a couple weeks ago. I have noticed some vast improvements in my photography in the past year. Those improvements don't always show up in my photos, but they are noticeable in other areas, such as work flow, and just understanding and knowing what I did right or wrong, and how to fix it the next time. Like everything else, there is a learning curve with photography. I saw some vast improvements in the early part of the year with my shooting. I think once we get over that initial hump, the differances are much more subtle. They are still there, but maybe just not as noticeable. One of the biggest areas that I have made noticeable improvement, is in my level of confidence. A year ago, I wouldn't have given any thought to taking someones portrait, now I'm looking forward to doing more!

Just a few of my thoughts. Time to get to work. :)

I'm gonna say no. Wanting to get into some professional work, I started doing weddings and then figured out it wasn't for me. Seems like now I have a hard time "seeing". Technical stuff is fine but I haven't taken a shot that I'm really excited about in awhile. So I guess the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. :) I'm hoping next week's vacation will help, and maybe I need another workshop to set me straight.

I can say Yes without hesitation.
I guess the reason is because I have only been shooting for two years and I have lots of room for improvement. Also, I've been learning from a complete manual camera and now have start to do darkroom work. The more I learn about the basics the further my photography has progressed and the more I learn about what I can achieve.
The confidence factor has also gone up as everyone else stated...I don't have to get others opinions as much now. I know what I want from a picture and know what I did to do it right or wrong.
However, I know I will need to take more classes and find good teachers to further my skills...but as with everything - slow and steady.

I have to say yes. I've been shooting for a solo show in September - and having to shoot a lot more and a lot more often has brought me into a really great "zone". I've experienced some breakthroughs that are really exciting to me, and I've really learned a lot from the experience. But - I do agree that it ebbs and flows. I've had some pretty slow stagnant years as well. Fortunately, this wasn't one of them!

The three day seminar sounds like a great way to expose yourself to new ideas and people - good on you for getting the juices flowing again.

Good post.

I'm still thinking about it. Adina, you gave me the idea to go over some of my photos over the past year(s). I have more of an understanding about what I want to capture, and how to get there. But I don't always capture it......the way I envisioned it.

I'll do my reply in a 2 part series. :o The 2nd part will be after I check out my older pictures. :cool:

Liz

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Originally Posted by adina

Having reached the landmark 1000 posts has put me in a reflective mood. Have I gotten any better in the past year? Fortunately, I don't ever burn anything to cd so everything since I've gone digital is still on the computer :D

After going back thru some older photos, I don't think I've made that much progress image-wise. I'm much more consistant, and have a much higher keeper ratio, but other than that, I'm looking pretty similar. Here's a 2004 and 2005, both from July, so almost exactly a year apart. 2004 is the one on the chair, 2005 is outside. In order to correct this stagnent-ness (is that a word?) I'm attending a 3 day workshop next weekend. Hopefully that will give me the boost I need.

Anyone else?

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You have found a good quality style Adie, and you said it yourself "I'm much more consistant, and have a much higher keeper ratio" Some photogs would tell you that's what its all about. If not quite all, it certainly is a big part of it.

You rock, so say we all!

So it's not just me :)

If I went back two years, I'd see a big change. I think digital helped me get better, and I've been digital for almost 2 years now. Not that new equipment made me better, but I shoot much more, I was always worried about "wasting" film.

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Originally Posted by adina

So it's not just me :)

If I went back two years, I'd see a big change. I think digital helped me get better, and I've been digital for almost 2 years now. Not that new equipment made me better, but I shoot much more, I was always worried about "wasting" film.

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That's me in a nutshell babe. I think most of us are/were afraid to waste film. It even carried over slightly into digital for me at first, but I soon got used to have the equivalent of 5 rolls of 36 in my camera at all times...:D

I think most of us here would agree that digital has been one of the best things to happen to us, photographicly speaking.

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Originally Posted by almo

That's me in a nutshell babe. I think most of us are/were afraid to waste film. It even carried over slightly into digital for me at first, but I soon got used to have the equivalent of 5 rolls of 36 in my camera at all times...:D

I think most of us here would agree that digital has been one of the best things to happen to us, photographicly speaking.

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Well yes, but .... with digital I take a LOT MORE pictures, so my "keeper ratio" is less. Whereas before digital I was much more judicious, so I had more "keepers" from each roll, (let's say for purposes of argument a roll is 24). Now, with digital, out of every 24 pictures I take, I keep maybe one. Why? Because out of every 24, I'm taking 24 exposures of the same subject (from different angles and such). So out of all of them, I choose one. I may have 15 "good ones", but my BEST is the only one I really keep.