I’ve spent the last 2 weeks redoing my basement. We started with just replacing the nasty carpet and ended up laying over 500sqft of new tile. In between laying the tile and actually going to work I’ve been slowly plucking away at the piles of crap lodged in all the corners of my house. (Spring cleaning from hell…) Today I chose to tackle my old photo albums. I’ve read a few articles that emphasize the importance of occasionally printing your best photos because sometimes you need something tangible in a now all digital world. I agree…mostly. I love seeing the few photos I’ve printed displayed on my walls. Today I went through my 6 photo albums from my 3 middle school German class trips to Germany. These things are all roughly 20 years old now. All great memories, but that was back in the day of film and in order to see your photos at all, ALL of them got printed.
However, in my quest to downsize my massive quantity of photos that I haven’t looked at a very long time I realized something: I used to be an awful photographer. Now, I’ve always had a knack for art, but being completely honest here, these photos are technically terrible. They’re all the typical tourist “look where I am!” shots with a few goodies thrown in by luck. They also feature middle school aged Ashley, which is terrifying to behold. Most of the photos are underexposed to the point of being unable to discern the subject. The colors are awful and the white balance is nonexistant. If middle school me had Instagram all hell would have broken loose and everyone would have unsubscribed. I took a LOT of photos! While disgustedly tossing memories into the trash can I realized something else: I’ve also come a long way.
I have a few friends who are new to photography and get easily discouraged. They wonder why they don’t see things that seem obvious after the fact, why they can’t remember to get the horizon lines straight, and why their photos don’t look like the ones on Pinterest. It takes time, practice. and perseverance to push through the awkward beginner phase and to keep going. I obviously didn’t start out taking great photos. We get bombarded with amazing photography every day now online and it’s easy to compare your photos to other people’s and be disappointed. But you know what? I do this too! I’ll find awesome photos and wonder why I didn’t think of that technique, etc. Just try it next time! Practice doesn’t make perfect, but it does make better! Just hang in there!
So here are literally some of the worst photos I’ve ever taken. Hopefully they inspire someone, somehow.
I’ve gathered this dark hulk is a cathedral of some kind… I managed to guess at the rule of thirds though.
One of my favorite things about going on photo walks with my friends is seeing the differences in how people view the world, what they take pictures of, and how they do it. Everyone sees and interprets a scene differently. I enjoy small details and urban decay, while another friend likes macro flowers, another likes landscapes, and another loves people. My photos of people may never be as natural as hers, but that doesn’t mean I can’t practice and improve MY shots. At the end of the day we shoot different styles. And that’s OK!
Something I noticed while going through my albums was that I kept a lot of photos of people, even though I don’t generally care about them. They were the things that kept the memories alive. I don’t remember the building, but I remember my old friend cracking a joke in front of it. I kept the photo of her and tossed the one without.
Back to my shitty photo albums… I found my pictures of the gorgeous Neuschwanstein castle. They were purple somehow. (it was noon, not sunset… no excuses there…) They were also blurry (I had autofocus and am not prone to seizures…). It was a serious blow to my self esteem… but then towards the end I finally find a perfectly exposed shot with great color and clarity! …it was a postcard I bought and shoved into the album. Nevermind then… >:/
So I suppose in the end all I really wanted to say was to find something that you enjoy and keep on keeping on…
