As I See It

Everyone learns to take good pictures by first taking bad ones. But we first have to understand that creating the image which puts absolution to the moment is somewhat of an arduous task. And in fact, most photos fail to come close to meet this somewhat abstract criterion for a Good Photo.

Although understanding this, most people will never admit to a bad photo. They come up with cleaver reasonings to vindicate a shot and thus first place a primal block on their chance of learning from their mistakes. Working with some of these people, I’ve heard some pretty good excuses, most using the “creativity” moniker as a mental force field against constructive criticism.

What we really need to understand is that taking a bad photo is indeed a good thing. Taking the underexposed 35 degree tilted, center focused slightly blurry photo with major white balance problems is where most people start. Eventually, we learn to focus, compose and the desire to correct ourselves pushes us to the better image.

Sometimes, from the back of a thousand poorly taken photographs spurs an image redemptive of each past failing exchange. But most of the time, we just end up taking the shot and moving on.