It’s not because some people describe their lack of skill as self-expression, that the concept in itself is bullshit, though. As we say in my mother language, don’t throw away the baby with the dirty bath water. :p

I guess it depends on the kind of photography and the effect you want to achieve. If you do studio/object/portrait photography, you’ll probably look for different conditions/set-ups than when you’re a street or landscape photographer.

It’s about light & shadows, colours. For example, if you photograph a city in the middle of the day on a sunny day, your shots will come out with bright colours and high contrast. Go on a grey, but clear day, and the contrast will be less pronounced, the colours duller. Go out early in the day or late at night, when the sun is just starting to rise or set, during golden hour or magic hour, and the lights and colours are completely different, have a more ephemeral quality.

If you’re interested in landscape photography, for example, the best times are usually those: the early and late hours, the sunset and sunrise hours. It gives the landscape a more mysterious aura. If that’s the effect you want to achieve, at least.

A good exercise might be to go to the same spot on different times to photograph the same scene. Early in the day, or at night, during magic/blue/golden hour, when it’s raining, or just overcast, in the middle of the day when the sun is shining bright… You’ll get a feel of how the light changes, how it affects your photos and what you like best.

Just wanted to add that, in my experience, if you go out with the idea to shoot perfect shots, you won’t find any. It’s only when you let go of those expectations, that you’re really able to see the world around you with an open mind. That’s when you find the shots. Or they find you. That sounds super new-agey, I know, but it works.

So don’t think about the results. Or even photography. Go out, take your camera, just in case, and have fun, be curious, look around you. That’s when the photos find you.

I struggled with this too, in the beginning. But it really gets easier the more you do it. And you’re right, the more people, the less you get noticed. Try going out during a city festival or something, the busier the better. No one will glance at you twice.

A thought that might help too is that everyone is taking photos & videos these days with their mobile phones, so making photos is just a normal thing to do these days. Some even film themselves doing silly dances, so how special is one person with a camera anyway, right? :)

This might sound weird, but, if you don’t like the way your photos come out, maybe it means you’re on the right track? The thing to do now is to figure out what exactly it is that you don’t like and how you can change that.

Don’t let perfectionism get the better of you. It can be both a disadvantage ánd an advantage. Don’t give up! Go out there and shoot, just for the fun of it. Experiment. Try out new things. For now, don’t think about the result. You’ll get there eventually!

Not a pro, so please don’t come after me. My guess is that they get tons of requests for advice/help from people trying to go pro, ranging from absolute beginners with zero experience who think photography is just pushing a button, to actual professionals trying to get into other branches.

They probably worked hard too, to get to where they are now and don’t own any random stranger on the internet their professional time or advice.

The fact that they even replied to you, is a courtesy.

I’ve stumbled upon this landscape photographer on YouTube a couple of times:

Thomas Heaton.

His channel might be a good resource. (I’m not into landscape photography specifically myself and I’ve only watched one or two of his videos so I can’t say for sure, but it might be worth giving it a try.)

From a promotional point of view, you want a name that is unique for you, but easy to remember and pronounce. The comma might look ok on paper, in writing, but it gets confusing once clients start talking about your business or looking for you on social media.

What about something that’s related to your genre of photography? I like how you describe it, creating precious memories, keepsakes. Perfect frozen moments. Gifts. So, a combination of that idea and your name? Like, say, Memories by Meghan, or something like it.

Difficult, isn’t it! 😅 But you’ll know when you find the one, I’m sure! Good luck

It’s not my definition. It’s literally what the word means.

undercutting/ˌʌndəˈkʌt/

1. offer goods or services at a lower price than (a competitor)."these industries have been undercut by more efficient foreign producers (similar: charge less than charge a lower price than undersell)

(Definiton from Oxford languages on Google.)

As I said, if you are a fulltime pro, depending on the work to make a living, you’ll have costs a “semi-pro” taking on a job once in a while doesn’t have. Those might be a website, promotion budget, income taxes (!), professional quality equipment, a studio, printer + way too expensive ink & paper, office, assistant, accountant… You HAVE to ask higher prices, which clients might not be willing to pay, because a “semi-pro” can do it cheaper, with or without the same quality of work.

“The point of my comment was to express my genuine surprise at someone who seemingly lacks a basic beginner skill going professional. As I have already explained in another comment, I am only talking about that basic skill. Taking sharp photos of still objects. No matter de circumstance.”

Thát is what I am getting at. Taking sharp photos of still objects. It’s the first thing I learned when I took beginner photography classes. Learning how to control your camera settings (ISO, shutter speed, aperture) to take sharp photos of still objects. It’s what you learn to do, in different circumstances, by training, not by going professional, taking people’s money and inevitably messing up shoots because you’re not ready for the job.

“If this restaurant is paying a low cost photographer it is doubtful they’d pay someone twice the price to do the same thing.”

That’s exactly what undercutting is, isn’t it? But I get what you are saying, and you’re right. Someone who can’t afford to spend €500 on a designer purse will never buy the original one anyway. They will buy the retail dupe. But at the other hand, someone who is a fulltime professional and fully depends on it to make an income, will have costs, expenses, taxes, that a photographer who does a paid job here and there doesn’t have. They háve to ask higher prices, for the same work. Because not all of them are in the luxury bracket of the market.

I guess it all depends on the situation, it’s not that black & white. My undercutting comment was just an afterthought, that’s why I put it in brackets.

The point of my comment was to express my genuine surprise at someone who seemingly lacks a basic beginner skill going professional. As I have already explained in another comment, I am only talking about that basic skill. Taking sharp photos of still objects. No matter de circumstance.

I am not talking about managing & leading shoots, setting up lighting, making contracts, directing models, dealing with client expectations. I am not talking about taking photos of moving objects, people, action, sports, animals, kids… I am not talking about the less technical, more intuitive skills of photography like composition, colour, background…

Which OP dóes seem to have talent for, or she wouldn’t have paid work nor repeat customers.

Those are indeed learning curves, even for professionals.

If you say her shoot went wrong because of stress. Yes, of course it did. Of course you stress if you’re taking on a job that you’re not ready for. That’s my whole point.

I stand by my bakery analogy. If you don’t have the basic skill, knowing how to set up & time your oven so that the bread comes out right, don’t go opening a bakery. Of course, mistakes happen, but I don’t know any professional baker who regularly has to throw out half or more than half of his work because it came out inedible, do you?

Might be the perfectionist in me, but I honestly don’t understand how you can go professional, take on clients who pay for your work, when your product shots are blurry & out of focus. In my eyes, that’s a lack of skill, not a lack of time.

I’m guessing you’re not being paid much. (And undercutting the work of skilled, trained professionals.) In that case, I would say the client got what he paid for.

I’m sorry if this sounds harsh, it’s nothing personal. Please do correct me if I’m wrong.

The tricky part about photography is that is looks so easy. It’s not. Even if you’ve learned all the technical skills, there is an infinite amount of things to photograph and even more ways to do it.

Developing your vision, the way you see the things around you, isn’t something you learn in a month, or even a year. It takes practice, experience.

But there are things you can do. Look at the work of other photographers. Collect images. Make moodboards. What do you like? Why? Try out different styles. There are also plenty of books/YouTube videos on composition, colour, poses, etc… Take inspiration from other art forms, paintings, movies…

Remember that the work you see from successful photographers is only the tip of a mountain. You don’t see the beginners work, the failures, the mediocre images, that came before.

They too, take 500 shots in a day, to select only 1 really good image. Sometimes none.

Remember, also, that even though some people are born with a natural talent, to become really good at something, in the end it’s really a matter of putting the work and time in.

Don’t give up! Good luck!

I totally understand what you are saying. When I photograph, I do it very intuitively. It’s often, not always, only after looking at the images at home, that I can explain what drew me in.

When posting on Instagram, I mostly just write the year and place, but sometimes a caption just springs to mind when I’m looking at the photo. A little story of how I took the picture, why, or what I like so much about it. Sometimes just a general thought about photography itself.

I enjoy reading this from other photographers as well. It provides a little bit of context for the work, which is not always necessary, but sometimes does make you look twice at a photo and puts it in perspective.

In general, putting emotions, feelings into words, in writing, helps me understand and deal with them.

I once took one of those elaborate personality tests at a job center and my profile was “artistic-intellectual”. I also studied languages. This might explain my inclinations…

I took evening classes to learn how to work with Lightroom & did a very extensive online course (3 years in total) to learn how to work with Photoshop. It takes time, effort & it’s relatively expensive in comparison to free YouTube tutorials, but it was definitely worth it.

It’s true that you can find good, free tutorials on YouTube, but you have to sift through a lot of garbage. And they won’t teach you everything. With an evening class or online course, they “serve” you everything you need to know in one package. Plus you get feedback & inspiration both from tutors & other students.

I have tried apps like Skillshare too, but basically anyone can be a “teacher” on those (they even asked me a couple of times, that said enough for me :p) & a lot of “classes” are just bad quality.

I would definitely recommend a good online course. The one I did was with a well known centre of adult education in my city that also did language courses etc. Very good quality. Everything was clearly explained & shown through videos & you had to hand in a task each week, which the tutor would give feedback on. On one hand you can just do it at home at your own pace, but on the other you get a little push to do the work each week, which I definitely needed. :p It also pushes you out of your comfort zone a bit, because you learn things that maybe you wouldn’t have thought of on your own.

Anyway, I hope this helped a bit, good luck!

If it makes you feel any better, I recently read a quote from the Belgian photographer Harry Gruyaert (check him out!) about being a perfectionist when it comes to editing & always wanting to improve. He mentioned a famous French painter (Pierre Bonnard, I think) who would go to museums, have his friends distract the guards & retouch his own paintings…

I suppose it’s quite common in artists. You have to be a bit of a perfectionist to see what other people might miss. I have it too!

I do think it gets better over time, with experience. You learn from mistakes & will get a better feel of what you want. Hang in there!

Yes! Being very lucky. I probably should’ve clarified that when talking about butts & butter, hahaha…

Ansel Adams! NASA! Multi-station darkroom! Not sure if this expression is being used in English, but in my mother language we would say that you “fell with your butt into the butter”… :D

So you basically created your own job as the company’s photographer, good for you! I guess a lot of people wouldn’t even care, if it wasn’t already in their job description. I hope they value your worth! :)

Ha! A little huray for second hand gear and equipment! :D (And people like my dad who buy expensive cameras for a holiday, never to use them again…)

Photography definitely helps me to see the beauty in the ordinary, the everyday. I hope it can do that for you too. I know getting out of a depression is not as simple as simply going for a walk, as some might think, but I hope it brings you a little light in the darkness, at least. Wishing you the best of luck & I hope you will feel better & better, however slow recovery might seem.