From one photog to another: - everyone sucks at taking pictures. The difference between a good photographer and a bad one is largely how well they curate their

From one photog to another: - everyone sucks at taking pictures. The difference between a good photographer and a bad one is largely how well they curate their work. Don't go to the MOMA and get depressed because the walls are lined with incredible works by incredible photographers - realize that it's an incredibly selected subset of everything they've done. After all, you're taking decades of a career and choosing only the finest, oh, 50 photographs? - your keep rate shouldn't be much above 1%. 99% of the pictures you take will be shit, and that's just the natural order of things. Throw these out - preview them at home from the SD/CF card, and make sure none of them ever survive to your HDD. Treat the remaining 1% carefully (back them up). Spend time editing them and looking at them with a critical eye to see if they can be better. - slow down, think more. New photographers mash the shutter release as if it dispenses candy, particularly in the digital age. Put a jar on the kitchen table at home - put a quarter into it for every single picture you take (or $0.50, or $1, depending on what is good for you). Donate this jar to charity or something - the point here is to force you to take fewer pictures. You will work harder for each one, and think more before each shot, and these will make your work dramatically better. Personally, I do this by shooting film. I rarely leave home with more than 50 exposures or so in the camera/bag. On a good day I'll shoot maybe 15 pictures. - go shooting more. What work inspires you? Ansel Adams? Winogrand? Cartier-Bresson? Look at lots of photographs and think about what makes them great and what you like about them. Then go out and try to "see" the same images in real life. A photographer's eye is far more important than their ability to operate a DSLR. - join a critique group. Yes, this will suck for your ego, but it is extremely helpful for your development. Join a small group (5-10 people max) so it's not a complete zoo. These people will tell you how to make your pictures better and give you actual directionality in your improvement. Lots of people in photography are hackers. If you're ever in Seattle, give me a shout and we'll go shooting. Otherwise, keep snapping.