Okay, the third Starting Out Post in a row!  Crazy, right?

Well, what can I say?  I just love photo tutorials.  And I might be too lazy to go and find my card reader to upload newly taken photos to form a blog post with newly taken photos and newly occurring stories.

And thus we have the third Starting Out post in a row.

With old photos.

Nevermind.

Today’s topic is pretty stinking simple- GET BETTER.

If you don’t look at your past photos and cringe, then you haven’t gotten better.  I, for one, look at my past photos and want to HIDE UNDER THE TABLE.

Example A from one of my first trial photo shoots back, back, WAY back.

Notice the complete over processing:

Notice the complete lack of appropriate exposure (it’s back when I CONSTANTLY forgot to change my shutter speed when I changed light- I thought I’d NEVER get it!)

They weren’t ALL bad, of course.  In fact, apart from being overly processed, this still remains one of my favorite photos ever taken:

It’s just that 1/100 or so photos was actually GOOD.

But I read blogs of photographers who had LOTS of GOOD photos.  And sometimes I got REALLY discouraged.  ”I’ll never be as good as them- I know that.”

But Denise said, “I will.  I’m going to be as good them someday.”

And I marveled at her confidence.

Everyday, I’d look at their photos.  I’d see what I loved about them, I’d think how I might be able to incorporate their styles while still staying true to my own.  I’d notice my favorite poses weren’t really poses.  I thought less about creating pictures and more about creating moments.  I tweaked my exposure settings.  I worked and worked and worked.

And I got better.

I’m still not as good as them.  There’s a reason they charge 10,000 a wedding and I don’t.

But someday, I MIGHT be.

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Tags: children's photography, family photography, Finland, Helsinki, lasten valokuvaus, photography tips, professional photographer, wedding photographer