What is your constraint? You or your equipment?

a bit of both. I'm useless at posed shots and studio which I've no real experience in. But gear wise I need a wide angle zoom, a fast prime and a body with a faster af system

I've built up a pretty good kit, now if I could just get better at sneaking up on birds.

I'd say for sure its me, I have a good collection of gear for what I like to shoot I just need to use it more to gain experience and knowledge. I feel I do well with my drag racing photos and always try to put a different twist on my photos as so many racing shots look alike but, away from the track my inexperience definitely shows when doing portrait/posed shots but, that is due to just a lack of interest in that type of work.

Was me for a long time, but I find myself bumping up against lens limitations now, especially in the sharpness and occasionally speed category. Haven't run into anything particularly limiting about the body yet except for astrophotography, where lower noise would mean I didn't have to shoot so many darks, saving me a little time.

I have a pretty good kit so for the majority of my usage, my equipment doesn't hold me back. There are times where I could use a faster or longer lens (or longer and faster) but those times aren't often enough to justify the much higher prices of longer and faster glass right now. When my needs change, I will probably add a 135/2 and 300/4 or something simular.

Me. I suck. I could cry for more FPS or a better af system, but both fall far behind my uselessness.

Me, but i am satisfied with how I am growing again as I've reentered serious photography after being out for 12 years or so. I have carefully purchased lenses to increase my ability in the situations I encounter most. Skipping endless details, a few things I like are Steam Locomotive Cab interiors, Family Travel and Coffee House Rock Concerts. I began with a 40D and 50/1.8 II and then bought a 28-135 IS USM shortly to get me started. My daughter dropped the 50/1.8 II (!) and I gave her the 28-135 IS USM to supplant her 18-55 IS. I bought the 12-24 for Locos whenever i can get back to them, the 70-300 for Travel and Concerts when i can set up flash systems or have bright stage lighting. Works better than expected. When i can not use flash, I use the 100 f/2 with great success. Sometimes you need fast shutter speed to stop the musicians movement, more than the 4 stops of IS to stop my movement! It is when I get sloppy that I loose shots to blur. I am pretty good at improvising a steady grip or support and getting WB correct. Amazed I have not used Mono or Tripod much. Myself at error again, as I have misplaced my Flash Meter and didn't have the correct synch cable to try out my wireless triggers last weekend with my studio light system. ( A mint condition system, I sort of had in storage for 12-13 years). So, equipment is coming together nicely, and I shoot monthly in a situation for the concerts that most only dream of (total freedom to move around during the concert, etc. and shoot for 2 hours during band practice/set up time too). I need to prepare and continue challenging myself each month. Never take a short cut if you can avoid it. Aim for stunning images and you really can get them with even a kit lens, my daughter has proven that many times. Creativity, seeing what others pass by. Higher ISO would help, but my equipment does not fail me. It is my mind.

The limiting factor is almost always me. Sometimes my gear comes up short but I can usually find a workaround for whatever problem I encounter. But I've yet to find a workaround for my own lack of creativity and patience at times.

Definitely ME hahaha

Shooting landscape: Definitely Me.
Shooting nature: Definitely Me.
Shooting wildlife: Equipment, lack of long lenses (mostly), for now I have something to blame on, so let me live like this for a while

I don't shoot anything else so don't have much else to blame on.

All you need to do is see work of famous photographers from 60 years ago, with much inferior equipment they created the magic of light. I can't do it, so it must be and not the equipment.

sloanbj wrote in post #15724398
If you consider the quality of your photographs at present and your aspirations to improve, what is the most critical shortcoming standing in your way?

THE most critical? Well, if I had to narrow it down to the single-most limiting factor, it would be getting myself to the best locations, at the best time of year for any given subject. I really should be spending 25 to 30 weeks a year on the road, photographing wildlife in various places across the US and Canada. As it is, I am only able to manage about 10 weeks a year, due to financial shortcomings. Hence, I spend a lot of time photographing the wildlife within an hour or two of my home. Unfortunately, these opportunities are not the best that our continent has to offer, so I have to "make do" with the local stuff most of the time.

sloanbj wrote in post #15724398
Time - are you spending enough time, taking enough photos, experiencing enough situations that you are improving at the pace you desire?

Yes, I do spend enough time at this. I spend very significant amounts of time every week pursuing wildlife photography.

This includes:
- Research: looking for subjects, obtaining landowner permission for photographing on private property, researching species for which I do not have sufficient knowledge, erecting/constructing blinds, communicating with fish & wildlife department officials and biologists.

- Driving to far-away areas about a half dozen times a year. Also driving 3-4 hours a day around my county to photograph the local wildlife.

- I spend time reading daily bird watcher's reports for any rare species that are seen within a 5 hour radius of my home. Also, I keep in touch with numerous other wildlife photographers, with whom I mutually share locations and opportunities.

- Time at the computer downloading / editing images, as well as examining my images and those of other wildlife & nature photographers.

I figure that I spend about 75 hours a week pursuing wildlife photography. I honestly can not spend any more time than this, as there are some other things that need to be done, such as family time and other odd jobs that produce some much-needed income.

sloanbj wrote in post #15724398
Do you review your photos to learn how you could have better composed, focused or exposed them? Do you seek input from more experienced photographers, or just family and friends?

I constantly examine my own photos. That is primarily how I spend my evenings the year around.

sloanbj wrote in post #15724398
Body - are you using your current body to its full capability with regard to your needs? Is there any one thing which your body lacks which would improve your photos? Think about it's frame size, noise, resolution, FPS, size, weight, etc.

I do believe that I am using my 50D and my 5D classic to their fullest potential, with regard to my needs and my particular photographic genre.

If there was one thing I could change about my 50D it would be the level of noise if produces at higher ISOs. I would like it to produce the same low level of noise that the 1D mark 4 produces at the same ISO and same exposure. Having to shoot to the right just to keep noise down is ridiculous, and costs me some much-needed shutter speed, especially when shooting fast action in very low-light situations.

If there was one thing I could change about my 5D classic, it would be the frame rate. It produces pretty good image quality, even at 800 ISO, but shooting at only 3 fps costs me countless images that I really, really need.

sloanbj wrote in post #15724398
Lenses - do you typically have the lens you require for any given situation? Long enough, wide enough, fast enough? Would a different lens really make that much difference?

No, I do not have the lenses I really need for most situations.

-More and more, I am using the 2x extender with my 400 f2.8. That gives me 800mm at f5.6, but most images shot with this combination take a hit in sharpness and resolution of very fine feather and hair detail. Also, the focusing speed is atrocious with this combo. The "real" 800mm f5.6 lens would be a much better fit, much of the time.

-I could really use a better zoom lens for many situations, including shooting under the forest canopy in deciduous forests. Sigma's 120-300mm f2.8 OS would be a great lens to have, and I would use it extensively.

-I could also really use a shorter zoom lens that is fast and has a range of at least 4x. I own the 24-105 f4, and while it has helped me create a good number of quality images, I wish it could do better. It is ok in the sharpness department - just ok. I wish it had the sharpness and resolving ability of my 400 f2.8 prime (on 24-105 images, I zoom in on them and wish the individual hairs and feathers were more sharply defined). I also wish it was faster - a 2.8 aperture would be very useful. And I wish it had the latest 4 stop version of IS. I would be fine with the increased weight and size - that wouldn't bother me in the least.

My 100-400 covers a very useful focal length range, but I do wish it would have the latest 4 stop IS. I often use that lens in situations when there is no time to set up a tripod, and not having really good IS has cost me many images.

So, to answer your question, yes, additional lenses would really make a big difference. Having the lenses I "really need" would likely result in an additional 2,000 to 3,000 marketable images every year.

sloanbj wrote in post #15724398
Post-processing - are you happy with your software, hardware and skill level? What would help you improve? More time spent learning processing or better kit?

I know Jack about post processing. But then again, I photograph nature, and try to show my subjects in a way that is realistic, and very close to how they looked in "real life". Hence, for what I shoot, world-class post processing skills are not necessary. That being said, I could still use a lot of improvement.

My main problem is with the entire computer environment. I can usually figure out how to edit an image to get it to look the way I want it to look - but I can't figure out things like how to get images onto a separate drive, or how to get some files, but not others, to import when downloading a card. Or how to "install" a "plug-in". Or how to set the rate of jPeg compression to exactly the requirements of an agency like Alamy.

Basically, my biggest shortcomings are with file management, and not really understanding how computers work, how different programs "talk" to the computer, and to each other, etc.

sloanbj wrote in post #15724398
I have observed a whole of people spend too little time learning the craft before jumping ahead to the latest and greatest equipment. I guess this is human nature.

Oh, learning the craft is actually the easy part! Getting tens of thousands of dollars of cash (per year) for gear upgrades and cross-continental photo trips is the hard part. Having world-class photography skills won't help me get great images of Polar Bears playing on icebergs if I can't afford to travel to the iceberg . . .

Definitely Me. Think i have pretty well rounded gear.Software to go with it. At times i feel i put to much time in learning the software and learning to get around in it.When i have the time to shoot its like i go brain dead. Just got back from a vacation with the family.Downloaded all the shots into LR and just looking at them thinking why did i stand in one spot and keep clicking away. Blew a few OK shots just cause i didn't changed the lens like i was thinking i would but didn't. Another thing i noticed was most of the days the camera didn't feel good in my hands looking back now.Very thankful for this thread. Made me see what i have been doing with others that are struggling.Guess like sports sometimes the players try to hard to get that home run,touchdown or prefect picture.Definitely Me

For me, its-me!! Gear is good, software/hardware good, I tend to stay safe rather than explore various ideas. Time to explore, is limited, so I always try to make the shots count, and sometimes I get more worried about that than actually catching the moments I intended to get.

The only limiting factor is me. Ive dumped +$8000 on gear and I barely ever use it. I spend so much time researching photography and not actually doing photography. I will spend hours critiquing my and others work on this site, flickr, 500px, etc. I will read book after book on photography and great photographers. However, I just dont let myself be creative.

I tend to shoot street, urban life, cityscapes, etc. Luckily I have a career that places me in different parts of the world every few years. However I find that I dont take advantage of it like I should. I will sometimes take a day or a weekend and dedicate it to shooting. I will find that even when I do that, Ill let initial shots I take in the day that Im not happy about shake my confidence in my shooting abilities for the rest of the day. So there will be shots that I would like to take, but Ill let my shakey self confidence take over and Ill convince myself not to take the shot. Ill make up every excuse to not take a shot instead of just taking the shot and seeing if it comes out how I visualized it.

I know Im a good photographer. I have a good eye for composition, exposure, and visualizing a scene. I have some of the best gear for my style of shooting. I have access to locations and scenes most people dont have the ability to get to. I have every reason in the world for why I should be making great photographs, I just dont dont allow myself to.

So again, to answer the question in the OP, my constraint is me.

I'm surprised at the candid responses here, most of which indicated more time and dedication to the craft were the main impediments to reaching goals. 90% of the chatter on these boards is about gear, gear, gear! A lot of the talk is about fps, IS and aperture. I guess I'm in the camp where the great majority of third party photographs I admire are not taken at sporting events or inside dark venues, sitautions were fps, IS and aperture can be important.

I'm also surprised at the number of people who said they wanted to do more landscape photos. Landscape photos probably have the lowest gear requirements of any photographic style -almost any lens and body will do. There is nothing stopping any of us from becoming great landscape photographers other than time, talent, and access to nature. A huge part of the "talent" is patience. I'm not a patient person. Great landscape photographers have been known to camp for days or weeks in a location to await the perfect lighting and sky conditions. I initially struggled to wait more than five minutes for a bird in a tree to appear, but I'm getting better. The camera is teaching me patience!

BTW, since posting this I've had a knife in my face on the sidewalk at 6pm Sunday. First time muggee. No camera with me, thank heavens, just cash and phone, which mister teenage punk did not manage to score this time. It did make me reconsider what I carry with me outside the house.