Thursday, May 11, 2017

Oops! I did it again!

by Linda



You know those times when you upload your pictures to you computer and you start looking at them and deciding what to keep and what to pitch? You generally have an idea why they suck and must be destroyed. I do too and today I'm going to share 10 photos that suck and why I think they suck.

Ready?

I'll start with the above photo-

1. no-pre thought, just went out and snapped.

ever done that?


2. bad framing
I mean, really? was I even looking through the viewfinder?



3. too much light
what on earth is that?



4. too dark
again, what on earth is that?



5. bad focus
pick a spot, any spot, please!



6. red is hard
'nuff said



7. get over sunflare
I mean, seriously




8. too busy
maybe I could have added MORE branches in this shot (facepalm)




9. wrong equipment
I knew I was going to a butterfly area, why was my zoom lens not used?




10. bokeh is not always your friend
yeah, like in this photo

...

I could go on and on with things I do wrong, see wrong, think wrong, use wrong, but there's only so many hours in the day.

I think it is a good exercise to identify the things that are making your photos end up on the cutting room floor. It will make you a better photographer, it will train your eye to avoid all the little pitfalls.

Now if only I could remember these things when I have that camera with me!

...









6 comments:

Carol said...

Thank you Linda! This is. a brilliant post! Useful info from work in progress and so good to go public wit it as a learning curve. Thank you thank you!

kelly said...

Linda I beg to differ with you on a couple of points...#1) I sort of love it when a shot is over exposed and #2) there's no such thing as too man sunflares. ;) xoxo

Dotti said...

Misery loves company and I'm so glad to know I have company! There are plenty of "oops" photos in my LR catalog, although I am pretty ruthless now about getting rid of them. However, what Kelly says is also true, we all see beauty in different ways. I love sunflares! I will say that with travel photos, I tend to cull only the worst and then I let them germinate for a while, going back later. I find that after a period of time my impressions of the stories and photos may have changed.

terriporter said...

It's always good to know that you're not the only one who takes photos and then wonders what you were thinking (or not thinking!) But you're right that going through your shots and determining what you did wrong and what you could have done differently is such a good learning tool!

Anonymous said...

I agree with Dotti about letting photos "germinate" for a while. I often find that my first look yields disappointment because the photos don't register the emotional impact I felt while taking them. If I go back to them a few days later, I often do find that emotional response. That's not to say that there aren't still many that need to be culled, but I often quite like some that I'd have deleted at first glance.

Cathy H. said...

Is good to know I'm not alone! So many times, I've wondered what in the world was I thinking about; obviously not photography! I'll pay more attention to my BAD photos and see how I could have improved them. Great idea here!

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