A Photography Trait That Makes Me Sad

[@freygallery]

I'm turning 80 this year and each day I get out there and look forward to another bunch of mistakes and failed efforts because it keeps me in shape. Now and then I get a keeper that makes me have a good feeling inside.

[@mikefoster6018]

Perfect comment. One wise photographer said a cameras is a great excuse to do more of whatever you like (getting out and about, countryside, meeting friends or strangers, art, travel or whatever) and it adds value to those experiences. That's why I got into it. I was walking in the countryside a lot and thought "I think I'd love these walks even more with a camera in my hand'. I then discovered urban photography was my favourite.

[@michaelhall2709]

65, same here.

[@AlanBrownPhotography]

No matter what you do, if you’re not making mistakes you’re not trying hard enough, not growing, and not discovering boundaries that can be overcome.

[@mikefoster6018]

A photography trait that makes me sad is a common one. It's the soullessness of over-editing and total stereotyping, in terms of technique and subjects.

[@nadominhoca]

Spot on!! Different folks different strokes… people do whatever they want, who am I to judge… but the overly edited pictures literally disgust me…

[@mikefoster6018]

@@nadominhoca YES! There's one chap who's always posting his pics in Fuji photo groups. His photos have very high Clarity settings, are always black and white, and maybe some more bizarre fiddling. So there are often big halos around edges etc. His photos literally look like he just walks up his local boring high street for 10 minutes pointing his camera without any interest in composition. He then slaps his full signature on all of them, and gets a few dozen likes on each pic! It's like lazy photographers thing the high point is to edit photos until they look like medieval woodcuts. Also there are a lot of youtubers who have amazing technique ... except that they seem to have given up on humanity and just photo silhouetted people carrying umbrellas while they walk across the front of big yellow walls. Or trams.

[@littleshubunkin7926]

There’s a tendency (you see it in camera clubs, for example) to fetishise certain techniques and subjects. The drive to “recover information” is overdone. Things can become cliched, like the jetty and the lake image. Originality is quite rare.

[@littleshubunkin7926]

Puffins with fish in their beaks is another one.

[@mikefoster6018]

@@littleshubunkin7926 It's almost like they can't see good in ordinary things. They have to either find something rarely ethereal, or make it so with editing software. Very discouraging lol. Myself, I do hobby street photos and do ok finding examples of cheerful interaction etc that make vibrant photos. I don't look at a triangular shadow and think "DAMN that'll be a good shot! If only there was a random stranger walking laterally through it!" XD

[@jpsteiner2]

My daughter bought me a used book from 1997 by Robert Hirsch, called "Exploring Color Photography." Early on in the book, Hirsch says, "Something unexpected is not something wrong."

[@AMStark77]

End of March is the deYoung exhibit. I will be there too. Are you interested in doing a meet and greet? I would love to hear your insight into his work.

[@ablesentry7070]

"Shoot, don't over-think!" is the best advice you mentioned, Alex. I shut up shop of photography four months ago. The British weather was changing, and I was fed up finding new, local things to shoot. My creativity was affected. Inspiration waned because I was being too perfectionist. My requested Christmas prezzie book, 'Forever Saul Leiter', just changed that. I realised my "deficiency" was being TOO perfect: Rule of thirds, composition, all things focused...I placed technicality over creativity. I was "playing it safe", as Alex mentions in this video. 'Forever Saul Leiter':just energised my creativity. I have discovered new ways to focus, create mystery, use reflections in a playful way, and invoke abstraction in the mundane.

[@rachelh5641]

I love that book too :)

[@andrecruzmarquez645]

I think Daido Moriyama would be someone you could learn a lot from.

[@MrShanePhoto]

Must give it a look. ❤ For clarification I meant the book. 😂

[@malcolmbanthorpe2983]

As somebody said , “To be creative is to allow yourself to make mistakes. To be an artist us to know which mistakes are worth keeping”. It has been attributed to Scott Adams among many others.

[@MrShanePhoto]

Love this. Exactly what I have tried to explain to many people in the industry who take everything blurry as art and take criticism of technical proficiency as being too strict. It's about balance. And you can't break the rules unless you know the rules. Happy mistakes happen but they're rare and can't be replicated

[@Purdey921]

One of my favorite film photos I ever did was when the ISO was set wrong. The light was incandescent back then, and the mis-setting brought a beautiful warmth to the photos.

[@SteamfanScott]

My father was a great photographer. Never professionally but he did photograph his brother’s wedding. Mostly shot outdoor closeups and landscape in his younger years, but he had sort of drifted away from it after I was born. Such is life and the changes it brings. His camera is a Nikon F that he purchased new while he was in the Air Force in the early 70’s. I had seen his pictures since I was a child but unfortunately didn’t take an interest in it until later in life. I decided to try and use his F for photography and he was able to teach me the basics. I will never forget the moments him and I had together as he showed me his camera. I felt his appreciation and joy that I had taken up an interest in his camera, and more importantly his passion. Shortly after that he sadly became ill and is now unable to further guide me with the things that made him a such a wonderful photographer. But I am taking those things he did teach me and learning and enjoying it just as he did, my mistakes and all. Every time I show him my film images that I have taken with his F, even the ones that didn’t turn out or are flawed, it is a moment will live with me forever. I think that is what is special about Alex and this channel, it captures that same essence and passion of photography that I saw in my father’s photographs, and that I now embrace too.

[@hachewie]

I'm learning so much from your channel Alex. Thank you. I'm an enthusiast and love photography. I also procrastinate all the time and waste time on KZbin with the excuse of learning. I know enough to go and create images and know the best way to learn is to have go and make those mistakes, but something regularly pulls me back. OK. No more procrastination. I'm going for a photo walk now.

[@elizabethjohnson2371]

Wow - same!! 2024 - let’s create some new, creative habits! And have some fun along the way!!🎉

[@hachewie]

@@elizabethjohnson2371 Let's go.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching

[@tompoynton]

Suffering of Light is one of the best photobooks ever, Alex Webb is one of my biggest influences

[@robertmccutchan5450]

I photograph for a non profit organization, and I will shoot upwards of 2,000 pictures in a day. I only keep 100-200 of those images (for documentary purposes), and most of those are only average at best. That means in one day, I've made more than 1,800 mistakes. Out of those 200 keepers, I usually only find one or two that I consider really good. Earlier this year, I was able to photograph wolves inside an enclosure where they could interact with us, and vice versa. I made 1,800 frames in an hour and a half. I got a LOT photographs that I really like, but there are only 2 frames that I would consider "winners". Thanks again for another great video!

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching

[@clubley2]

The battery incident reminds me of a mistake I once made, I went out to take some photos and when I got to where I was going I realised I'd left my memory card in my computer. I now have a spare memory card that lives in each one of my camera bags. One of my older slower smaller capacity ones that's been replaced but still working.

[@TheSynthnut]

I shoot RAW onto one card and jpeg onto the second simultaneously. I then make a point of never taking both cards out at the same time when transferring so if something distracts me or suddenly occurs there's always a card in the camera.

[@Paul_Wetor]

Oh man, so easy to do. I once was using my bridge camera when it was out of room. Turns out there was a small bit of internal memory - but I'd left the memory card at home. One time I filled up a card in my pocket camera and as I was searching a mall to buy a replacement, I remembered I'd put a spare into the little pocket of the case.

[@thethirdman225]

One of the best photos I've ever taken was soft. I haven't been brave enough to show it but I love it.

[@delthomas-n4m]

Once again, more great food for thought. I used to really focus on making every image as near perfect as I was able to but I recently came across a video on KZbin about the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi as applied to photography and it made me realise that nothing is perfect to everyone’s eye. Someone can always find issues with an image. Taking this concept into my photography has helped me be more relaxed in how I look at my images and less critical. Wabi Sabi can be summarised as “Nothing is perfect, nothing is ever finished and nothing is forever”. If you adopt this philosophy then, from my experience, it makes the whole photographic process much more rewarding because it helps you see that there’s no such thing as a mistake. Just my 2 cents worth….

[@luiscurran1]

Wabi Sabi : Seeing perfection in imperfection

[@themanfromphoto]

​I can't stress enough the advantage of taking a graphic design course. Photography is basically a 2 dimensional exercise, so learn graphic design to improve your photos

[@xcolaco999]

Any recommendations?

[@chriscard6544]

visit exhibitions, my only advice

[@L.Spencer]

I was just looking at them, so like, maybe intro to graphic design?

[@chriscard6544]

@@L.Spencer youtube has everything or your local library for books

[@L.Spencer]

good point!@@chriscard6544

[@Bethos1247-Arne]

adding: The "just shoot" comment also works for me. I began serious photography with a Coolpix P340. My fullframe friends wanted to take very good, print-worthy photos. I just shot. Later getting APS-C cameras, now fullframe as well but i still just shoot. Sometimes just because something lit by the low sun against a dark sky looks cool.

[@alexlee3227]

Embracing failure is something I was encouraged to do when I was learning painting at university. I’ve since realised that the embracing of failure applies to any creative process (for me, now, that’s photography) and it indeed applies to us as humans who want to improve ourselves and our lives. In order to grow in any aspect of our lives, we have to go through the same process. Thanks for an interesting watch and the reminder to myself that I need to be wary of staying in my comfort zone!

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching. X

[@ec8927]

I’m still stuck in the “there’s nothing to take pictures of” phase.

[@StuBobsGhost]

I had that problem for a long while. I got past it in part by trying a style similar to another photographer, without doing an exact copy of it. After a while I started seeing more potential shots when I'm out and about. Some shots work, some don't.

[@lphilpot01]

I can identify. I'm a hobbyist landscape photographer who lives in an unattractive landscape environment. In the past I've taken images of other types / genres but I find most of them come home with me, maybe get processed and then almost certainly disappear onto a hard drive, never to be viewed again (even by me). They just don't mean anything to me.

[@JonathanAcierto]

Making mistakes is a given in jazz and improvisation, which I feel helped me be more experimental and not worry when I picked up photography.

[@LSqrd1960]

Many years ago, I read an article in a magazine (it may have been "Outdoor Photographer") that was a photography study at some remote location. Brilliant photos... in the text the photographer mentioned that he had taken thousands of photos over several weeks in order to come up with the dozen or so we got to see. In the context of this video, he had hundreds of failures for each success.

[@peterlieberzeit3138]

One of your main messages reminds me very much of a language course for beginners. The teacher told us: "Just talk. Nobody will expect you to be perfect. So we will take care of mistakes later. But for the time: talk."

[@davidbiddlecombe8602]

I started my photographic journey 40 years ago and making ‘mistakes’ was a fundamental part of my learning journey. My only source of training was reading Amateur Photographers and in the first year I must have made every mistake possible, but I learned what worked for me. It also gave me the confidence to try new things which lead to some wonderful work and exhibitions around my theatre photography.

[@tedgoldman9121]

The enemy of art is the notion of mistakes. Learning and growing is not about mistakes. And, the ability to embrace imperfection is an asset. Critiques stifle creativity!

[@QuentinBargate]

Better advice than most supply on any subject on KZbin, Alex.

[@jumpingjohn280459]

Than you Alex for another thought-provoking video. You learn so much from mistakes, because they have that edge of ‘pain’ and frustration. I shoot film and I’ve only ever poured in the fix before the dev once. That’s because when I did it, I had exposed a roll of film at 5AM in the morning after getting out of bed at 3AM. Pure foolishness and careless on my part, so no excuse for that! Then there are what some might call ‘stylistic mistakes’. These are often considered mistakes by others, whereas they are bold steps forward by photographers. How much courage did it take for, for example, for Joel Meyerowitz to start shooting in colour, when ‘real’ art photographs worked with black and white? Often ‘mistakes’ are actions of the brave and innovative.

[@Darewrecks415]

I'm from San Francisco, and saw the Irving Penn exhibit. Had no idea who he was until I started watching your videos. As a matter of fact, I didn't any photographers until I started watching your videos. Thanks for sharing, and the exhibit was real good. I didn't like every image he had, but some were really impressive.

[@AK-hk2pd]

I think this trait is not just confined to photography, it applies to most of our lives, work relaxation all have the “fear of making a mistake “. Good stuff 😊

[@78KPK]

Great advice as usual. I feel like some people prefer to have a neat Instagram portfolio filled with similar pictures rather than trying new things and show them.

[@s.alexiangardner1302]

Listening to you Alex is like being back in church. Thank you and Amen!!

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you

[@BethBuelow]

Alex, great message to start the new year. It echoes what I came to fully realize in 2023: the most powerful tool in a photographer's kit is curiosity, a spirit of "what if...?" Some of my favorite images are a result of experimentation and releasing expectations. And interestingly - but at the same time, of course! - those are the ones that end up being the most "me" and resonating with others. I've caught my overthinking self boring my creative self, taking the same photos but trying to take them technically better. It's not that there's never a place for that, esp. early in the journey. But it's easy to get stuck there, as you say, and not lay down the next brick in the bridge to a more authentic expression. As for the idea of "mistakes," I turn to the lesson of improv that says "yes, and." We build on the mistake, transform it, say yes to it and see where it takes us. It might take us down a dead end, but at least we've seen it through to learn something. There's an acceptance of everything that comes along and a willingness to play with it. No judgement, just humility and curiosity. Lastly, I get 100% that desire to impress and hear, "you're really good." Whenever I participate in a photo review, I resist the urge to only submit what I think are my best, and instead submit images that are "the ones that got away," that I wanted to work but something about the scene, my technique, and/or my processing wasn't quite right. We learn way more from that kind of feedback than hearing how good our photos are. Thanks for the thought-provoking message!

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching

[@remembershooting2064]

I really appreciate the message and intent here. I think part of the issue for beginner/intermediate photographers is that so much 'tutorial' information, on YT and elsewhere, focuses on '8 beginner mistakes...', or 'why your photos aren't sharp'. It gives the impression that there's an aesthetic ideal to aspire to and ultimately to reach. If you follow x, y and z, you will be 'good'. And uncomfortably, there's some truth in that. These technical guidelines are very useful if you want to make 'crowd pleasers' but they're anathema to finding your own creative voice. That's my experience, at least. I'm a competent wildlife and landscape photographer but I have lost all excitement for those genres having learned to make images according to 'pro' formulae. The process of getting better at the technical exercise was satisfying in a way but I have little emotional connection to most of the photographs. The ones I connect with most are the spontaneous and accidental, the snapshots, the incidental details. This will be the year of taking photos for myself, come what may.

[@chrisbrown6432]

Thank you Alex. As a painter I like to take on a challenge and sometimes it works out and sometimes it is a failure. I have come to the conclusion that when I take a photograph or paint a picture I consider it as practising. So that helps me to get out of my chair and go and paint or take photographs without thinking this is too difficult. I agree with your thoughts here. Then I get into the moment and start enjoying it. Thanks for the wonderful photographs too. Also making mistakes of course, is the best way to learn.

[@leemd251]

Love the thought process here. Like Bob Ross would say, make happy little mistakes. Nothing is perfect, that is how we continue to develop. Great listen again, thank you Alex

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you

[@mrsmscuriositycabinet6925]

Your photography channel is so refreshing. I love that you refer to books by other photographers in your videos as looking at other artists (regardless of discipline/medium) is such a big part of learning: both learning the why but also the range of things we might try things in figuring out our own style/progress. Also great to hear a distinction between 'imitating' and 'copying'. Imitating as part of a learning process can be so useful to find out how to walk to the beat of your own drum... Oh, and best wishes for 2024!

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Best wishes to you

[@bobbyellis5006]

I'm giving a photography talk to some students in the next few months and the main lesson is going to be using mistakes to help define your own style. It's really the only way to learn how to put yourself into your work.

[@tonyb736]

I think it’s about not caring if you make a “mistake” because that perceived mistake (not what you were originally hoping or intending the photo be) could actually turn out better. I believe in photography don’t restrict yourself to thinking what you believe others expect to see from you. Just be totally open minded about any subject and then trying to see the “photo” in any subject. Best piece of advice I was ever given was to go to art galleries or in art books and study the paintings to see how light has been used, I believe that light makes the photo. I believe with some of these photographers who were around 20s-70s they didn’t the have technology we have today so they really had train themselves to think and imagine in their minds eye what the photo would look like (I guess there was also some trial and error). There was no instant review of the photo. I guess it was a steep learning curve and they learnt a lot from that. I’m by no means a great photographer but I do try to breakdown photo lighting and posing to see what I can take away from that and to learn. It’s not easy for me, I do try and learn something new every day with or without a camera to hand, I really enjoy photography. The other thing I’ve managed to come to terms with photography it’s a creative art. I don’t worry what other people think I’m doing it for myself, it’s nice if people like what I produce. In the not caring what other people think of your photography that will free your creative mind to be more creative and not restrict oneself… Now, I wish I was a good photographer 🤣 Hope all this waffle kind of makes sense, it seemed to make sense to me as I was writing it 🤷‍♂️

[@pauls1ngh]

Your advice is as timely as it is reassuring. A lighthouse, stopping me from running aground.

[@carolynmartin3947]

Great thoughts, Alex. My reframe is that most of my frames are experiments, just to see what a little change will do. No mistakes, just experiments.

[@PhilipRanson-d5t]

Your show has really good insights into the creative process and isn’t obsessed by gear ,refreshing

[@Bethos1247-Arne]

this is a method I developed for myself over the years: Using the 'wrong' lens for a subject, doing photos wrong like shooting against the sun, or just photographing something which is not photo-worthy and so on. Over time I saw what worked and if something does not, why it does not work. Or if it works only in specific circumstances, which those circumstances that would be. With unsharp photos, I usually delete them but if the photo otherwise is good enough, I used photos which are out-of-focus or have quite a bit of motion blur. Not often, but sometimes a 'bad' photo is still good enough. It mostly benefited me in portrait stuff. Almost everyone uses 85 mm, I normally use 50 mm or less. Many use a tripod, I almost always photograph without. In one photo I was so bad, that part of the head was off the frame, even the eyes were not in the photo. I still used it because in that specific situation it worked.

[@Consciousphotography]

I find it hard to find people who can give me the feedback I need to improve my photography. Most of the time I'm getting advice about compensation or lighting but I got the impression that the people haven't thought about the why of their tip

[@christopherward5065]

The difficulties in image making often arise in making engaging images. The mistakes we make become more esoteric and lead us to new places and realisations. Being reflective on what goes wrong and how to use that knowledge is important. My present to myself this Christmas was a 14mm lens. The mistakes I make with it are quite intriguing and challenging. I think it will inspire a lot of experiments and “explorations” eventually I will get into a groove with it and it will find an aesthetic that I will use. The learning curve is important and I will develop more esoteric ways of seeing potential images. Shooting with it is building an image grammar by iterative examination of images that don’t quite work.

[@graemeoliver-q1n]

"Best Wishes for 2024 Alex." I have been a subscriber since the very beginning and am still really enjoying your KZbin videos. It is great to feel connected to creative like-minded people. I have been a freelance photojournalist for motorsport magazines since 1984, and also have a love affair with black+white fine art photography. Your channel is inspirational to both seasoned photographers and those who have only recently found their niche. Keep up the great work Alex! Best Wishes from here in New Zealand.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Happy new year

[@kenharnish5778]

I want to thank you for your content. I appreciate that discuss mindset without being preachy about. I usually focus on landscapes and watch landscape videos. The process is what I watch for. You obviously have a deep passion for photography. Thank you for sharing it.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Love that!

[@photoguybrian]

Alex, happy New Year. Many times your discussions have helped get me out of a funk and "just shoot". You constantly remind us to shoot for ourselves and to challenge ourselves, and forget about how our work is received and perceived. I thank you for that.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Happy new year

[@1st1anarkissed]

If success vs failure is chance, like a coin flip, then I have a truckload of success coming my way. ❤ Love the paradigm.

[@thepathofbri]

Thanks Alex, always for "inspiration for thinking". Good subject to start the year for sure. I do believe that today's world (social media) has caused a decline in "individuality" for sure. The need to fit it, get more views, fear of the comments, or whatever the cause may be, thanks for bringing it to "the coffee table discussion".

[@tackoa]

You are really the most inspiring channel for photography!

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Wow, thank you!

[@laxcdn]

Their not mistakes, they are trial and error, experimentation, pushing/breaking rules/boundaries. Same with KZbinrs that say, "oh the light isn't right I am not going to take that photo today" Don't wait, you never know what will happen, you may die, it may burn down, you may move, etc. Don't wait for perfect, make your perfect. You can't learn without trying, it may not work, but you can learn from everything you do

[@Paul_Wetor]

Fear of making a mistake was more of a problem with film. Not only was film finite per roll, but you had to reload and could possibly miss a good photo. Digital changed that. These days some photographers over-shoot. I've seen photos of models where you can barely tell what had changed from one shot to the next. Maybe they want to be sure the model didn't blink, but if you shoot constantly the model will have to blink eventually.

[@joverby11]

Excellent topic and well done. Your use of this approach to life is a fundamental of a philosophy of a life well lived. The fact that you were reading this biography is evidence that you have an inner spark to improve yourself. This spark can only lead to improved photography as a side benefit to a generalized self-improvement.

[@MonsterCookieMuncher]

Happy New Year Alex! Slick and polished on it's own is not being creative, it might be popular for Instagram etc. Look at any art, any photographic work by the greats, understand what matters that makes it a masterpiece, be inspired by it to create without fear, because perfection doesn't exist.

[@iainmc9859]

I rarely watch anything that smacks of self-help or business development. It usually sounds like common sense with trendy terminology ... however I saw something recently that made sense me. All aspects of life can be mapped out on a simple line graph. The vertical axis is improvement ( getting better at what you already know and do ), the horizontal axis is progress ( learning a new way of doing something ). Progress always starts off low before you improve on it, improvement makes no progress if you don't learn something new.

[@DunkelRuhrOutdoors]

We make ourselves out of mistakes... not success

[@Tom_367]

Hi Alex, I wish you a healthy and happy 2024! Thank you so much for your book recommendations. Regarding photography for me it is the sum of my errors. May it be finding the intended exposure, which was more difficult in the film days. It is much easier nowadays with digital cameras. Or my falling repeatedly into the trap of Auto-ISO which led to a too long shutter speed. Completely my fault, but I keep working on it. Then the composition. Two years ago I went to the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart with my son to teach him basics of photography. For myself I only had two ideas. First: Watch for the background. Second: You don't have to show the whole car. The result were images that I put into a large calendar for myself that I enjoyed every single day looking at. For me it helped a lot to break things down, to simplify my vision of what I wanted to photograph. And after seeing the results and feeling that I succeeded taking on the next challenge. In my case portraits. With lots of bad photos but in the also with good results.

[@joelbarto1103]

In the US, we call it “ polishing a turd”. I’ve just begun the 36 photos of 1 subject challenge. Seems like a reasonable place to start.

[@Uebagi]

I came back from Japan a week ago. One of my favorite shots is one of 3 men at night in an alle. The 3 men are dark and out of focus. The iso was 20,000 iso. The background is colorful but noisy. It's a beautiful photo.

[@MrShanePhoto]

This is such an interesting topic. We all make mistakes and photography as an art form can really take on a life of its own. Capturing a beautiful moment can be soft and be over or under exposed and it can still be an incredible photo. I'm nearly 20 years in photography and by no means consider myself the best I'm learning every day. I had an interesting experience recently on a corporate job with a second shooter. I highered a friend of a friend a nearly 30 year vet. My mistake was not looking at his work beforehand. He wasn't up to the task unfortunately. Handed in over blown, out of focus images that were badly framed and most were unusable for the project. I assumed he had a bad day like we all do. But looking deeper at his socials and website portfolio I could sadly see he'd lost his touch or he simply wasn't that good. What was interesting was how other photographers react to this story. Talking with peers I find people were divided in two opinions. 1) I was being too critical and didn't understand the art and style of my better/senior. 2) There are lots of cowboys and chancers in the business. I didn't show his work and never named him. But its interesting how people react to hearing that. Yes you can be an incredible photographer and your pictures can be soft and over or under exposed and framed badly but they have something special, emotion and life. But those two things are rarely exclusive. You don't have to be technically perfect every time but you still have to be able to achieve the fundamentals. But you'd be suprised what you can get away with.

[@neilt]

I was interested in your comments about overthinking things. My favourite few images recently resulted from an almost completely automatic process on my part. Yet when I've spent some time thinking through composition and settings, I've generally not got great results. Also, over time, I've usually gone for the "shoot everything" tactic on holidays and got a pretty good success rate. Happy New Year to you, Alex.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Happy new year

[@daverostad2260]

You remind me about my good photos. Yet I look at them and see more

[@daverostad2260]

Thanks Man !!!! 17:53

[@dreamscuba]

Very inspirational video. Thank you. I am waiting for my “Photographers A-Z” to arrive end of next week. I recently received the book “Marr’s Guitars”. I’m a guitarist, but I like the book partly because of that and also for the interesting abstract images in the book. They fascinate me more than the classic pictures of Johnny Marr’s guitars. All the images are great though. Thanks.

[@stephan2774]

Just a thought. I see something of interest. The foto developes in my head. I take the shoot and go to process the image….until it matches the picture in my head. Quite often I can process it as much as I want, the result will not fit. In 90% of this issues the settings of the camera have been fine, means they are not the cause that „brain picture“ and real picture do not match. Sometimes my process knowledge is limited (that can be improved quite easy) but most of the time, the root cause is a disturbed translation process between my brain and the process of taken the foto. Depending on how important it is to overlap mind and reality I will dig deeper into it. I am not a professional fotographer, which gives me the freedom to go one way or the other. But when I dig into it, the fun of learning starts. And the moment when I achieve the result thats it. And I do not care, if other people like it or not. Its my picture! 😊

[@WickBeavers]

I think you're the best photography teacher I've heard. I'm a subscriber, thanks!

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Wow, thanks!

[@andrewchristie6483]

Happy New Year, Alex. Thanks for your weekly conversations that help me understand the art of photography. I find it incredible that generally, society judges mistakes to be failure, when in fact mistakes are perfect opportunities for growth. Exactly like you say.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Happy new year

[@TimWells745]

I needed to hear this. I'm made a resolution this year to get back to doing photography. I got burnt out and stopped for some time, but I miss it and want to get back into it. I was definitely overthinking things and also worried about making "mistakes", despite my mistakes in the past being most helpful learning opportunities. However, there is also that concern that you'll put something out there as a mistake and rather than getting useful learning feedback you get abuse or nothing at all. Still. I want to get back to it as it's something I loved doing. I'd be keen for some books I can get that might help inspire me and help renew my creativity if anyone has recommendations.

[@johnbarnard8142]

I got back into photography last year after also getting burnt out trying to make images for everyone but myself. Hope you stick with it and find what you love. Sean Tucker's book The Meaning in the Making really sparked my passion again.

[@TimWells745]

@@johnbarnard8142 Thanks. I'll check it out. 🙂

[@washingtonradio]

As a photographer I would add try different genres or situations that you do not normally do, for me it would be doing street and urban photography more. As each genre has its own quirks that one needs to learn to be good at it.

[@bjdlh01]

Thank you. I have been invited to speak to a Hight School class about my experiences in photo and videos. I have learned a lot from you which I will pass on,

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for sharing!

[@chrisstewart6208]

I was in a photo critique group on flickr years ago. You had to submit a photo once per week to stay in the group. I did not shoot one photo per week that was very good, so I was constantly hearing : the horizon is off by 1/2 degree…..It is oversharpened……It is soft …..etc. Eventually I thought I was a complete failure and quit taking photos for many years. I no longer care what others think and I am enjoying photography more and more. I rarely put a photo on facebook or instagram. Embrace your failures and missteps.

[@DouglasKnisely]

Your selections in this video are brilliant and inspiring.

[@Just-a-Guy1]

I remember being told that if I had on good shot on a 36 exposure roll I shot a successful roll. I try to be a good shooter but I find what is in front of me pleases me first and them making the effort to grab the moment. I make tons of mistakes, try to recognize what I did and try to fro better the next time. If my work was always great I would no longer be challenged.

[@lenscap8925]

You can't jump a chasm in two leaps...wisdom!

[@gregpantelides1355]

Amazing video, Alex! Thank You!

[@ThePhotographicEye]

My pleasure!

[@CalMukumoto]

My father use to say if you got one keeper per roll of 36, you are doing well. He wasn’t talking about exposure but composition and storytelling. With digital, my hit rate is higher, because I m willing to risk more. Low cost, more shots .

[@chancewoolery3702]

The writer writes, the painter paints, the poet composes poetry, and the photographer stops time. Just kidding, the photographer takes photographs, and we make many mistakes because photography is art and a science with some magic thrown in. Another hobby of mine is building Cigar Box Guitars which I have been building and selling/ gifting for around seven years now. With a CBG you take an object (cigar box) which is really imperfect for a resonator on a guitar, but you embrace the crude cast off box and construct a machine to produce an art. The finished product, and the process, and the sound is crude and imperfect, but that is what makes it beautiful. I embrace happy accidents (mistakes) in the build because it is imperfect prior to starting. Approaching photography from this perspective has help me.

[@davidskinner274]

Screw it and do it, go against the grain resonates with me too... Particularly with my take on street and architecture, as I see in your work, I think I have a similar style, I think that's why your street and architecture are inspiring.for me and I like your style. Cheers, Alex

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you

[@13opacus]

If I can have 1% of anything I do that is good I will be happy with that.

[@Baronvonfarron]

Thanks mate. I`m always into the idea of getting out and about and trying stuff.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Go for it!

[@darylneumann8636]

Great advice. You have mentioned "nuggets of gold " in this video. Great work. Well done.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you very much!

[@michaelhurley8958]

Some of the photographic mistakes I have made, have turned out to be rather interesting. And have taught me something.

[@tonyperez5360]

Thank you Alex from Tony in LA

[@tedbrown7908]

reserved is the word for someone who hesitate to make further mistakes.

[@KevinRusso]

I teach my students that Failure is not an option........................ It's a necessity.

[@BraveNewWorldAH]

people should share their mistake photos more often. this obsession with perfection is harmful imo

[@L.Spencer]

that's a great idea!

[@kennamorrison8564]

Hi Alex, as you suggested, I'll make a comment. As you always do, you've shared many great photos, but today one jarred with me. Maybe that's what you intended? It's the photo of the woman leaning against a building at 18:02. My photographic instinct, at my stage of development as a photographer, is that she should have been further to the right, looking across the image rather than out of it; but she is so beautifully balanced by the window above her. And while I don't understand the role played by the dark fence(?) beside her, it all works! I can see myself trying to movie her far to the right, to place the window to her left and probably using landscape, but I suspect the result would have lacked whatever it is that you've achieved. Was it a quick shot, or carefully composed? I'll have to give this shot a lot more thought so as to work out what I'm learning from it.

[@LoraineMorenoPhotography-mo5tn]

I have questions like that for Alex Webb. I'm always amazed at the way he composes his shots, and there's one I'd like to ask him why he kept a pole in. I would have left it out. But he's a genius. I think I'm starting to imitate him, in some ways.

[@arranalexander1720]

Thanks Alex

[@marilyngiannuzzi9867]

Thank you for this video,I needed to hear this!

[@ThePhotographicEye]

You are so welcome!

[@TheSynthnut]

There are mistakes that limit your ability to shoot, such as the battery saga, which if you are there to record an event, then yeah, that's a proper cockup. As for creativity, its so easy to get hung up on "rules" and end up with little or nothing. Professional pride/ego may not want to admit their celebrated shot was a happy accident, but sometimes serendipity is just how it is. The skill is in allowing the serendipity to occur and not be so focused (sorry) on preconceived notions that you miss what's right there. Sometimes it will pay off, sometimes it doesn't. But your idea of damage limitations may be another's inspiration, so maybe not all is lost...

[@joshpoltergeist]

What was the name of the high contrast black and white film you said used to exist? I was having a hard time catching it but I really would like to know, thanks!

[@SloopJohnBee-vq6dw]

Howzit! I am happy to have just one definite keeper from any shoot. There will be plenty of good shots and equally a bad amount. But it’s all about the special ones. I am beginning to be quite swift at deleting the average. Post production can improve a half decent image but I would rather pursue the ultimate. Yes I do sometimes find an image within the original but that’s equally as rare as an immediate keeper. Great video man. 👍📸

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you

[@TDtog2112]

Inspiring as always. You always give the viewer something to think about. You challenge us to look at ourselves and to make us see what we can achieve by looking at things from a different angle. Thanks again and I liked the way you ended the video with the cough 😂😂

[@ThePhotographicEye]

☺️ thank you for watching

[@chadreed8032]

Thank you 🙏

[@thevirologist6036]

I really enjoy your videos; thank you

[@Anon54387]

Take someone like a surgeon, engineer, truck driver, logger, etc. that is interested in photography. They are drawn to it specifically BECAUSE a mistake is not the end of the world and might turn out to have a neat visual effect. A mistake in photography, if it turns out to be such, doesn't mean that the walkway at the Hyatt Regency collapses. Only artists without a day job take oil painting or photography or writing a novel or a song so very seriously.

[@sailslikeagirl3154]

Have always wanted critique and positive feed back on my photos but can’t find anyone with the knowledge to give it. After attending three different workshops thinking that the instructors would help me grow. I came away disappointed feeling that they had taught me nothing of value.

[@seaeagles6025]

Hi Alex, i made a mistake on New years Eve when shooting fireworks and camera on my Tripod, and forgot to turn off Vibration Reduction. I won't be making that mistake again. Always nice to see the photos you show. Thanks for this video and happy new year. 😊

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you, happy new year

[@seaeagles6025]

@@ThePhotographicEye Your very welcome Alex, you too 😊

[@daemon1143]

What is a mistake, visually? I used to think it was an image that I didn’t find appealing, but I found this excluded many uncomfortable but good images. Then I decided it was an image I couldn’t be bothered to go back to and look at again. This at least has the virtue of excluding the postcard pretty repetitions of the same old scene. I love the dog images starting at 14:15.

[@Ziqver]

Art isn't supposed to be perfect. I know people on Instagram WOWNESS like to think this way. What is it the music teacher says in the movie "The Man Who Wasn't There" after the girl plays the piano perfectly? "Maybe someday she can become a good typewriter"

[@donaldgibson1642]

Thank you...

[@judeemclaughlin7394]

Safe picture v scary picture. The safe picture is the mainstream one you know is the same as the newest trendy one. The scary picture is the off the track one. The one that has the most risk. I also think they are the most satisfying. I was told years ago that if 1% of your pictures work, you are doing good.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you

[@kevinhanley3023]

When I haven’t “isolated “ a subject well and my eyes wander in an image, it’s usually a mistake.