I’m trying to get in gear to take more photos and get to the point where I feel like I’m actually a good photographer and not just a competent one. (Of course, that time will probably never come, so I should just try to get to the point where I can shoot photos that I’m satisfied with.)
I need to just shoot more often, but part of my problem is my “fear” of taking photos: I often feel that if a shot isn’t going to be great, I shouldn’t bother taking it at all. (Not too long ago I could make an argument that I didn’t want to waste film…of course I can’t use that excuse any more.)
Photographer Paul Butzi has an article on his site, Ability, Accomplishment, and Art that was useful to me, and hopefully will inspire me to just shoot, regardless of whether the shot will be a “keeper.” He mentions a book (“Art and Fear”) that he paraphrases:
99% of the art you make will fall short of what you hoped for, and the purpose, the function of that 99% is to enable you to make the 1% that soars and actually exceeds your hopes and expectations.
The article also contains a good anecdote about pottery class students, and ends with: “we need to let go of the quest for quality, and focus on making the art that’s genuinely ours, and trust that the quality will take care of itself.”
Related: Note to self, look into the Greater Brockton Camera Club sometime.
