One Thing Every Photographer Needs to Do to Improve

There is one thing that every photographer needs to do to improve.  I am positive that most, if not all, of the successful photographers that continually put out good work have done this.  And they are still doing it.  What's the secret? 

Getting your photos critiqued.

Not from your mom.
Not from your best friend.
Not from your significant other.
Not from your acquaintances and Facebook friends.
Not from the parents of the children who you've photographed.

You need to get feedback and/or constructive criticism on your work from other photographers. Your peers. It doesn't count when it comes from anybody else who is not a photographer.  Why is that? Because they are not looking at the photo with a photographer's eyes. They are not seeing your white balance problems. They aren't trained to recognize good or bad composition. They don't know that the whites are blown out and that this is a bad thing. They don't notice that your subject is completely out of focus. All they see is a cute child. And if it's their sweet, precious, photogenic angel? Yeah, good luck getting an honest response out of them. 

This is my sweet, precious, photogenic angel and I'm getting this on canvas, fo' sure. What do you mean the sky's blown out and his head's chopped off?

When I first started getting into photography as a hobby with my little point-and-shoot camera, I was getting a lot of compliments from my friends and family members on my pictures. Everyone kept telling me that I should be a professional! My mom thought I was Annie Lebowitz. I watched my siblings (and in-laws) react to the photos I took of their children with happy tears in their eyes, and I held my head up high and said, "Damn, I'm good at this. Nothing can stop me."

And then I posted a photo of one of my nieces that I had taken with my little P&S in a photography group and asked the people there if they thought I could make it as a professional.  The following day after reading their responses, I'm pretty sure I curled up into the fetal position with a big fluffly blanket and a box of tissues. 

"This looks like a snapshot."
"Not professional quality at all."

"There's nothing special about this."

"The lighting is completely flat."

"You need to practice a lot more."

I'm not sure what I was expecting, exactly. I don't think I ever replied. I took their comments to heart. 

But then do you know what I did? I put my big girl panties on and I freaking practiced. I looked up what "flat lighting" was. I started learning how to pose my nieces and nephews so that my photos had more of that "professional" quality to them. And when I was ready, I upgraded my camera to a DSLR and started shooting in manual mode. 

Since then, I believe I have made some big improvements. (At least, I certainly hope so!) I still ask for critiques on a regular basis. Just a few months ago, I posted a link to my Facebook page and website on one of the photography forums I frequent and asked them to lay it on me. They pointed out my strengths and weaknesses, and it was tremendously helpful to me.

Photography is a journey. It doesn't matter how long you've been doing this or how quickly you learn, there is always, always, always room for improvement. Don't be too proud of your own work to the point that you cannot face the fact that you could be better.  There is no harm in asking other photographers what you need to work on. Let go of your fear and remember that it is not an attack on you. It's not even an attack on your photography skills! Never take it personally and remember that you are doing this for you! Constructive criticism can draw your attention to something you didn't even realize you needed improvement on. Sometimes, you might recognize that something isn't right, but a critique can help you solve how to fix it or prevent it. 

If you don't want feedback on the photo as a whole, it's okay to narrow it down. "How are my skin tones here?" or "Does this composition work?" are good examples of specific questions to ask when you know what you want help with and need quick, direct feedback. 

Don't be afraid to ask for harsh constructive criticism. You don't want gentle feedback. When you ask everyone to be easy on you, you run the risk of everybody glossing over the flaws for fear of hurting your feelings. I witnessed this today, which prompted me to write this post--somebody asked for feedback on an image where the family of three was completely out of focus; the focus had fallen on the trees behind the subjects. Everybody was too busy going gaga over the beautiful fall foliage to tell the photographer that her clients were blurry. Just after I mentioned it, the original poster deleted her image. 

Maybe she's curled up in the fetal position with a warm blanket and a box of kleenexes. But I can tell you one thing: she learned something.

 Lastly, be sure to join in on other photo critiques, as well! It's a great learning experience. You will learn exactly what to look for in terms of focus, composition, white balance, skin tones, etc. There are hundreds of Facebook groups for this kind of thing, and just about any of the popular photographer communities have critique sections--try Clickin Moms or Light Inspired. 

If you haven't put your work out there for feedback, I challenge you to do it THIS WEEK! I would be happy to give honest, constructive critiques this week for anybody who is interested. E-mail me any photos you have questions about!