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Just a fun encore: You Might Be a Bad Photographer if...

6/11/2013

10 Comments

 
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Scott Bourne ran this post a long time ago and I ran it on the PhotoResource blog, but I came across it recently and just started laughing again.

Well, that got me thinking about whether or not Scott had covered it all. So, I added more signs of my own and it was just too easy!   Enjoy it for the laughs and if you ever find yourself hitting any one of the signs we've listed, get yourself to a decent workshop ASAP...like SCU! (Come on, you'd be disappointed in me if I didn't plug one of the best workshops out there! LOL)

Feel free to send your own additions to the list and we'll make it an ongoing project.


by Scott Bourne

(With a hat tip to Jeff Foxworthy!)

You might be a bad photographer if:

1. You think that merely owning a Leica means your images will hang in a museum.

2. You know nothing about and care nothing about your subject.

3. You need to get drunk or stoned before you think making pictures is fun.

4. You think that paying extra for the “PRO” account on Flickr makes you a professional photographer.

5. You spend more time explaining your photographs than you do making them.

6. You think that picking up your camera once a year during a national holiday means you’re avoiding getting rusty.

7. You spend more time on camera forums belittling other people’s photographs than you do trying to figure out how to make your own better.

8. You spend ANY time complaining that your pictures don’t get enough LIKES on Facebook or Flickr.

9. You’re more interested in making photographs that cause the cool kids to promote you on Google+ than you are telling stories with your camera that matter to your subjects.

10. You think that pixel-peeping and measure-beating will cause you to be a successful and famous artist – or – to get that girl you met in college to like you.

Well, those were Scott's, but I want to add a few of my own...

11. You're too tired and hungover at any of the big conventions to make the workshop programs you signed up for, so you spend the day in bed.

12. Your website galleries have way too many images that are no better than what "Uncle Harry" could shoot.

13. You've spent too much time talking about your camera gear instead of showing you know how to use it.

14. Your holiday cards were bought at CVS rather than created with your own images.

15. Your portfolio is loaded with images from workshops where you stood right behind the instructor during a hands-on shooting session.

Okay, I'm having too much fun with this, but here's the thing that's so cool. If you're reading this blog you're more than likely not even close to being in the category of a bad photographer. You might lack the experience to create amazing images, but taking the time to read everything you can, says you're doing the things you need to do to grow. Passion will always trump complacency and welcome to the photography industry - you've got passion! Which all boils down to your commitment to grow your skill set.

"The kind of commitment I find among the best performers across virtually every field is a single-minded passion for what they do, an unwavering desire for excellence in the way they think and the way they work. Genuine confidence is what launches you out of bed in the morning, and through your day with a spring in your step."

Jim Collins, Business Author

10 Comments
Carey Nash link
6/11/2013 04:02:40 am

you think that selective coloring is awesome and about to take off!

Reply
Richard Shoaf link
6/11/2013 06:58:46 am

Amen....

Reply
Photojenic link
6/11/2013 04:46:16 am

OK just one to add from me but it usually screams bad photographer or possibly just new photographer if I am being generous.
.
You think that spot colour actually works in wedding photography and your fb page has LOT's of this type of processed image.

Reply
Jared M. Burns link
6/11/2013 05:01:33 am

You are a self-declared "natural light only photographer" because you think direct flash looks un-natural and didn't know a flash can (and should) be moved OFF the camera.

Reply
Richard Shoaf link
6/11/2013 06:46:14 am

Incessantly reduce your prices to compete with the "photographers" on Groupon and Craigslist in a race to the bottom.

Reply
Everardo Kemee link
6/11/2013 07:29:00 am

Goes perfect with this website, it's like The People of Walmart but for photographers
http://youarenotaphotographer.com/

Reply
Michael Novo link
6/11/2013 10:11:29 am

You might be a bad photographer if your watermark is prettier than your images.

Reply
Angel Pachkowski link
6/12/2013 12:23:26 am

I could add a million her are two of my favorites...
- You add tons of filters to all your images, because that is the only way to make them look good.
- You have not figured out why the camera won't focus where you want it to. Those pesky boxes keep moving. So you just let the camera choose what to focus on, it has to be right. Right?

Reply
Brook Rieman link
6/12/2013 01:21:29 am

You spend all of your time online critiquing other people's photography and never let anyone see your own.

Reply
Brian Smith link
6/13/2013 06:11:21 am

You Might Be a Bad Photographer if...your dream is to land a job as photographer for the DMV.

Reply

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