A Bad Day?

[Scottes]

I met with a group of photographers today and we rented the local butterfly house for a few hours. It was great to meet this bunch, and it was very nice to have the place to ourselves. Alas, I think I had a poor day. I'm trying to stay objective and not get depressed, but I think got only one decent shot all day.

Do many of you go through a day like this? This was the most pictures that I've ever taken in a day, just over 200. I quickly peeled it down to... hmmm... 42. Of those another 20 will get deleted when I finally decide which composition or exposure to keep. Of the remaining 22, somewhere between 18 and 22 should get deleted because they're simply not keepers.

Don't get me wrong. I have very low standards when it comes to my photography. I'm a photo slut - I'll take a picture of just about anything, and I'll enjoy many of them. But I'm trying to consider my pictures with a tougher eye, and it's not easy sometimes.

Did you ever have a bad day?

Again I have to say "Don't get me wrong." Half the reason I do this photography stuff is that it's gets me outside and looking at stuff. Before I bought a camera I'd never seen a bald eagle, a bufflehead, or a loon. That's cool stuff. And since I got the camera I've seen more sunrises than I ever saw before, and that's cool stuff, too.


By the way, the one good picture is here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=29599. Note that it's in the Critique forum so you can't tell me if it's not worth keeping :-)

[Drk Orange]

I know I'm just starting out, but I would consider one 'keeper' a day would get me quite a portfolio by the end of the year.

[Belmondo]

I'll echo the previous post. In fact, I said essentially the same thing in the other thread. A very nice shot.

[G3]

Scottes...dude...I've had days when I burned up 15 36 exposure rolls of film (remember that stuff?) and DID NOT HAVE ONE SINGLE "KEEPER"!! If I shoot all day and get one keeper, I'm satisfied with it. That's a successful day. Now, I'm not talking about shooting a wedding or a portrait shoot or product shoot where you do the same thing day in and day out and barring some equipment problem you can pretty well predict what you are going to get...I'm talking about the kind of photography you just did. Unpredictable..spontaneous. In that sort of shooting, if I get 3 keepers in a day's shooting, I'm ecstatic. The shot you got is definitely a keeper..be happy with it. You did good.

[John_T]

No Scottes, every day and opportunity you can shoot is a good day.

A bad day is when you've got no light.

[shniks]

I agree with all above, even one good photo is better than none, and I certainly have gone out and taken 100's of shots without any success.

The strangest thing is, I have noticed that when I am doing something creative, I tend to have 'good' days and 'bad' days, with a big difference between the two. For example, sometimes I draw, and some days no matter what I do I just can't draw right. Then other days its easy. I dont understand why, it just is. It doesnt seem to happen with other types of tasks I perform, just the creative ones, including photography. I see it in others too. Maybe you were just having a 'bad' day. No big deal, I bet you have good days too!

[Laziferous]

Yeah, what shniks said :)

I have all sorts of hobbies, and with each I have "off" days. Photography, guitar, bass guitar, MTB, skating, surfing, skimboarding, etc, etc..... Some days, I just "flow". It's easy. It's natural. It requires no effort. Other days, I just suck.

It can be discouraging , but then that magic will happen again where it all just kind of happens automatically, and you remember why you enjoy it so much (whatever hobby it may be), and you're stoked all over again. Be sure to post up when you have your next "good" day.... could be tomorrow :wink:

[Scottes]

Aha!

I think shniks & Laz guys nailed it once I look back at the day.

This was the 3rd time I went to go shoot these butterflies. The first time was miserable - I had just gotten the camera and when I looked at the pics I obviously didn't know what I was doing. The second time was months later since this place isn't open year round. I was psyched to go shooting, the butterflies really made it apparent that spring was here, and I had a good time. I had a lot of keepers that day.

This time I was really trying to pay attention to things. Composition and light and distractions. I tried variations of things, as much as butterflies will let you since they're not always cooperating. So perhaps I went too far, past "fun" and into "work." I tried too hard, and it wasn't fun any more, and I didn't "flow" that day.

I'm a mathematician by nature, computer engineer by trade, so "art" doesn't come easy to me because I'm too linear. An old artist girlfriend of mine used to tell me that I was "too linear, and not random" which certainly makes sense knowing me. This last trip to the butterfly place had too much thought process of the linear, non-random kind, and didn't flow.


Or maybe I just sucked yesterday. :)

[Mills]

The one you posted made the day worthwhile, in my opinion.

[IanD]

Scottes,
I have had bad weeks when nothing seemed like a keeper. Have also had a couple of bad years but we wont get into that :lol:

[mson]

We all have bad days, weeks, etc... Sometimes I get down and think "why the HE// did I spend all this money?" Then I get a shot that reminds me why I love photography.

[IndyJeff]

Scottes, yesterday I took my lens and shot 134 images of skateboarders, bikers, and a few rollerbladers. I mainly wanted the bikers and, out of about 40 shots, not one is great. I left all the focus points on and it did more focusing behind them than on them. I had several that if the rider was in focus would have been GREAT shots but, the rider was soft and the background was dead on sharp.
Now for the boarders, well out of 60-70 shots, there are 5-10 that are great and another 15 that are good enough to print and sell. The roller guys technically are some good shots but nothing which stands out as good action.

Considering most of the time I was firing a burst of 3-6 shots tho, that is to be expected as results. I was just really disappointed with the bikers shots. Oh well live and learn, that is why I practice....so when the money is on the line I get a greater number of useable shots.

[John_T]

Cheer up Scottes! There are only two absolute constants in life, human stupidity and change. Life would be utterly boring without these two, think about it. We learn far, far more from failures than successes. All the misses are hits, because without them we would never progress. Everything is exactly as it should be, and all you have to do is accept it. When we don't accept it, we always get stuck in the past when life is only happening now.

Here's my butterfly for the day...

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/message.php?Action=downloadfile&FileID=32706