No one wants to fail in photography, right? Success and failure are both attainable, although the latter is easier. Here’s how to set up failure and, therefore, success.
Why do you take pictures? What is your motivation? I suspect your answer will be very different from the answer of the next person. One can see it as just a way of making money. Others enjoy socializing at the camera club or even online in the comments of the photography community. Some photographers love the technical aspects of it, and others love the art. Some want to be in nature, and photography comes second after that. Many people use their cameras just to document their lives. For many people, it combines all of those factors.
Maybe the entire process, from planning the shoot to producing prints, is important to you. Or, you enjoy clicking, but the image stays on the memory card because you can’t cope with spending hours in front of a computer screen editing photos.
Whatever their motivations, few photographers argue that the things they enjoy most are creative things. Those moments when you bring the camera to your eyes and press the shutter, knowing you have a photo worth saving, are more special than any other. It is these good things that are the door to success.
Equipment acquisition syndrome and the path to failure
Oddly enough, however, when writers write an article about equipment, it gets read over and over again, such as an article that helps a photographer hone their technique. Likewise, when I view the Google news feed on my phone, most of the photography articles it shows me are about the device. The world seems to be obsessed with shopping. However, many people admit that the joy of buying things is short-lived and often leads to a low mood. Likewise, comparing our belongings to other things inevitably leads to poor mental health.
There are times when we need to upgrade our kits. However, while owning a poor-quality camera may hold you back, owning the latest $3,000 Sonikanon D1d Mark III won’t make you a successful photographer. So if you want to fail, buy lots of shiny new camera gear and forget everything else.
Failure mindset
As with life, success in any creative art requires a balance between confidence and self-awareness. When these things get out of control, it is easy to achieve failure.
Maybe you’ve met someone who considers himself to be particularly good at photography. They brag about owning the latest equipment and are quick to criticize the work of others. How many times have you rolled your eyes at someone who spent his life making negative comments on photography forums? Looking at their galleries, do you ever think that they should spend their time improving their technique instead of getting mad at the world and being mean to others?
Years ago, I knew someone like that. Eric (not his real name) is a balanced soul, with a chip on both shoulders. He gets mad about taking pictures of other people, trying to find holes in everything to make himself feel superior. Instead of improving his photography, he tries to put others down. Meanwhile, he thinks he’s the king of cameras. He used to hire models to take pictures for the public and tried to convince clients to pay him to take pictures of them but was unsuccessful. Meanwhile, he continued to earn a living by working a regular nine to five o’clock, job for which he was never promoted. It was something else he was angry about.
Truth is, Eric’s photography isn’t up to it, and his model shots look sloppy. But he was so convinced he was the next David Bailey that he never watched his own performance again.
Eric could have become a good photographer if he had tried. But instead of constantly learning, he never gets anywhere because he spends his time finding holes in other people’s work, trying to take them down.
Giving positive words of encouragement and praise will improve your mind and creativity, while constantly sharing honey with the world does the opposite. Trying to take others down negatively affects both your thinking and what others think of you.
Facing the imposter syndrome
Around the same time, I met an amazing photographer, Sarah (also not her real name). She has a natural talent. However, although she loves photography and is good at taking pictures, she doesn’t appreciate her own creativity. She has a clear case of imposter syndrome, in which an individual feels unworthy of their talents, skills, or achievements. Sufferers fear being exposed as a scam, and they also struggle to accept praise. Sarah feels fear and guilt when she succeeds.
Some people confuse imposter syndrome with self-doubt, but it’s more than that. Despite her successes, Sarah remained depressed from her lack of faith in her talents. Self-doubt is natural, but if the doubt becomes too great, then the person needs help to overcome it.
Now, of course, there are those who falsely claim that imposter syndrome is a badge of merit, as if it gave them a badge of authority because of this inference: “I have impostor syndrome. name. People with imposter syndrome are very good at what they do. So I have to be good.” They’re easy to spot because imposter syndrome occurs in high achievers, and people who falsely claim they have it don’t always fit that description. If someone openly declares to the world that they have it, they probably don’t.
If you’re really distressed by it, it’s important to acknowledge those feelings, and if they seem insurmountable, seek support from a trusted colleague, a business advisor. or better yet, a professional therapist. Ask for honest feedback and talk about how you can improve your work. The most skilled and respected photographers are constantly improving.
The people you choose to help you should help get you out of your negative thoughts, focus on your past accomplishments, and help you set achievable goals to give you confidence in achieving them. Record how you have improved and only compare yourself to where you were before, not to others.
If You Want To Fail, Be Lazy
Like anything in life, it takes hard work and perseverance to become good enough at this art. Many people expect immediate success in photography as if it were an entitlement. Social media is to blame for this. Because of it, we see people who seem to have no talent become famous.
However, many people don’t understand the hard work and dedication behind their success. Moreover, the worldview presented by social networks is not only rosy, but also extremely prone to the misconception of perfection, which makes us lose confidence. We look at people’s Instagram feeds and see some great photos, but don’t see hundreds of photos that go to the recycling bin. Instagram doesn’t reflect what’s really going on in people’s lives.
Doug Chiang and the art of success
I recently finished watching a series on Disney Plus called Light and Magic. The previous episode aired in part with artist Doug Chiang. In addition to his many Star Wars productions, he has also worked on various films such as Ghost, The Mask, Beowulf, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Forrest Gump. He’s determined to make a Star Wars movie, but he feels his skills need to improve. So he gave himself a task every day for a week. He thinks he’ll get enough work done by the end of the week. He ended up doing it for a whole year and was actually recruited to head the art department for the prequel films. If you want to be the best, it requires that level of commitment and determination. If you want to fail, do the opposite.
Anyone who makes a living with photography or any creative skill puts in that level of commitment. They experiment all the time and continuously hone their skills. They also always support others. The most important message from that series is how the entire team at Industrial Light and Magic works together and helps each other succeed.
Common traits of successful photographers
Like everything in life, besides hard work, there are common traits that successful photographers all have. Success in photography comes from a deep passion for the art and a confident approach to the work and challenges it presents. Of course, things will not go as planned, and there needs to be resilience and the ability to recover from setbacks.
You should also set clear goals, know what you want to achieve. Otherwise, you wander aimlessly and achieve nothing. Those goals need to have a purpose. For example, you may have decided to photograph a tree once a week for a year, but why would you want to do that? Without purpose, there is no reason to do something, and enthusiasm is lost. Knowing that the project will be featured in a magazine or that it will win you an award will motivate you to keep going. Setting goals and a schedule to achieve those goals is a great way to organize and manage your time.
Another essential feature of success in photography is adaptability. The path to becoming a successful photographer often means changing direction from the one you’ve set. When I ask professional photographers to look back at their original business plans, what they are doing now rarely resembles that model; Mine definitely doesn’t.
Ultimately, if you want to be successful, build strong, positive relationships with other photographers.
There are times when on the road to success, you will encounter challenges and things will not go as planned. But this is not a failure, it’s just that things don’t go according to plan, like the photos I used to illustrate this article.
If you want to always fail in photography, be lazy and indifferent. When things go wrong, give up. Don’t care about every aspect of art. Follow a narrow path and don’t get distracted by better opportunities, and treat other photographers like trash.
(If you’re worried, the young woman survived a dip in these waves. Please don’t put yourself in danger like this. Sadly, an incident many years ago caused I’m surprised, and I wasn’t set up and ready for it. These are faulty photos that I would otherwise have trashed, but think they’ll be useful one day.)
