In my own small way, this is how I feel about my photo journey. When I started out, I just wanted to see if I took lots of photos, over time, consistently, would it be possible to start taking better photos.
I tell you, it's the discipline that has helped me the most. The daily taking and posting of photos. And then, when I missed a day or few, to not beat myself up or try to catch up, but to just start taking and posting photos again.
It was the discipline that was significant. The success — the gradual increase in quality — was secondary. Another success? Finding out what kind of photos I most enjoy taking. For me, macro (close-up) photos of things rather than people.
In college, I was an English major ... literature, criticism and writing. I was always told that the best writers are the ones that write every day ... that just the doing would make one better. Though I go in spurts of writing daily (usually in my journal), I was never quite able to get in the habit of daily writing. Now that I have a blog, I do a bit of writing most days ... though not a lot of editing. I'm not sure if I'm becoming a better writer. I do know that I enjoy flexing my vocabulary here.
I've found that the same thing does hold true for photography. The success comes from the daily baby steps of just being consistent. Now, I'm starting to flex the muscles of my camera's capabilities. I'm learning to use settings other than "auto." I'm learning to frame my subjects better. I'm learning to play with light.
Want to get better, to have more success at something you enjoy doing? Take on Nike's motto:
"Just Do It."
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