From the book
From the book
From the book
#3: The Pros Take Lots of Bad Photos
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You just don’t see them, because one of the traits of a real pro is that they only show their very best work. I know a lot of folks think that these pros walk up to a scene, take one amazing shot, and then walk away and do it again someplace else—every time they press the shutter button, they create yet another amazing shot. I can tell you, for certain, that’s just not how it works (if it was that way, the photographer’s workday would be all of five minutes long, right?). I’ve worked and taught alongside some of the most famous photographers in the world today and they’d be the first ones to tell you that it often takes hundreds of shots of the same subject to come away with that one amazing shot (the only one that anyone will see). But, when we shoot, we see all our shots (the good ones and bad ones), so we start to compare all our shots to the pros’ highlight reels, and it bums us out. Remember: we’re not judged as photographers by the bad shots we take; we’re judged by the ones we share. Take a cue from the pros—only share your best shots and just know that pros simply don’t nail every shot. So, don’t compare all your shots to the pros’ cream of the crop. By the way, if I shoot 200 or 300 shots and I come away with five or six really good ones in there, I’m thrilled. Sometimes I get a few more than that; sometimes I literally walk away with none, which is disappointing, but it happens. If that happens to you, don’t let it get you down—chances are that at the next shoot you’ll make up for it. One more thing: every once in a while something amazing happens right in front of us and we raise our camera, shoot, and capture something magical. It happens to both amateurs and pros and it’s called “getting lucky.” Thankfully, it happens more often than you’d think.