The Secret to Doing Better Next Time

by | Feb 16, 2024 | Impressive Places, Perspective | 0 comments

In a lot of ways, learning photography is like learning how to ride a bicycle. Once you’ve figured out the controls and menus on the camera and learned how to shoot in manual, it’s not that hard to pick it back up again after a while.

However, photography is also like learning how to play the piano. Even if I know the notes, or even know how to read music, I’m really not going to be a great pianist unless I really spend time at it. It takes time to learn new things, course-correct, and put into practice what I learn.

I was thinking about this balancing concept the other day and how it relates to photography as I was editing pictures. Needing to provide some Easter-themed photos for someone, I pulled up a photoshoot from last summer that I had not fully edited yet. The location was an amazing place called “Cross on the Prairie” in the northeastern corner of Oklahoma.

230418_James Staddon_9703 Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 16 mm, 1-60 sec at f - 11, ISO 200

It was super neat to see some shots that I really liked! In the image below, I love the incredible light, the low perspective, and the perfectly balanced composition. This particular arrangement of pixels proclaims beyond the photo’s frame the exultant message that “He is risen!”

230418_James Staddon_9720 Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 16 mm, 1-100 sec at f - 11, ISO 100

He Is Risen!
Cross On The Prairie, near Pryor, Oklahoma
Download as a free desktop background in the next Latest from Lenspiration update (subscribe)

And then there were some shots that I took that made me think, “Uh, James? Did you take that?” It might still be the same low angle, but the flat angle of light, the odd arrangement of elements, the fuzzy focus, the non-existent eye flow? It totally doesn’t carry with it the same emotional impact.

230418_James Staddon_9736 Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 29 mm, 1-40 sec at f - 11, ISO 100

As much as I enjoy photography, there is still so much for me to learn. I have a long way to go to consistently taking good photos, and I’m painfully reminded of that most every time I sit down to sort through my photos.

But hey, it’s a good thing to feel bad about my photos! To be my toughest critic. To take punishment for being lazy. I should feel like I’m being corrected when I see my mistakes and my bad photos. That’s the reason they look bad. Because I need corrected! Yes, I’ve learned to ride a bicycle, but I’ve got a long way to go to becoming a concert pianist!

230418_James Staddon_9692 Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 16 mm, 1-40 sec at f - 2.8, ISO 200

I was chatting over email with a friend about this very topic not too long ago. The conversation when something like this:

Me: “I was just thinking about this the other day: as God’s representative, we should expect Him to come and coursecorrect us. Like, if there was someone manning my booth at a homeschool convention and they were telling customers incorrect things (whether intentional or just out of ignorance), it is in everyone’s best interest for me to go in and correct them, right?”

Samuel: “I agree, though it is hard sometimes to be grateful for correction when God is disciplining us. But even though it may be unpleasant, it is ultimately for our good.”

Me: “You know, I wonder if there is some sort of analogy for that truth from the world of photography . . .”

Samuel: “Well . . . if you start to get sloppy in the way you take pictures, you will get ‘disciplined’ by the fact that you won’t have as much success with your photos. If you get lax in taking care of your equipment, your equipment and also your photography will suffer for it. So the fact that our photos won’t be pleasing if we don’t try our best or get sloppy in the way we do things can keep us in check. The consequences of our actions in photography can guide how we take pictures.”

Well said, Samuel!

It’s ok to feel bad about our photos after a photoshoot. It means we’re recognizing the problems we have! When we take correction, and admit our photos are blurry, we won’t publish the blurry ones. And what’s the result? A portfolio without blurry photos! One step toward being a better photographer (or at least, those who look at our portfolios will think we are better photographers Smile).

230418_James Staddon_9678 Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 18 mm, 1-250 sec at f - 11, ISO 200

There was one photo I took on that photoshoot in Oklahoma that I really didn’t want to admit had any problem. I loved the perspective and composition and message and . . . everything! about the following photo!

230418_James Staddon_9685 Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 25 mm, 1-1250 sec at f - 2.8, ISO 100

But if you take a closer look at it . . . the text isn’t sharp! The bottom half of the photo is sharp, but the text is not! I wish so bad that I had taken the time in the moment to ensure proper focus. But it’s too late. Now, I have a choice to make. Will I publish it anyway? Or will I take correction, learn from my mistake, and do things differently next time? It’s a hard choice, but to not add it to my portfolio is the right choice if I want to be a better photographer.

Here’s a 1:1 crop so you can see what I mean.

1 to 1 crop

230418_James Staddon_9724 Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 16 mm, 1-100 sec at f - 11, ISO 100

Beneath the Cross of Jesus
Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane (1868)

Upon the cross of Jesus
mine eye at times can see
the very dying form of One
who suffered there for me:
and from my stricken heart with tears
two wonders I confess,
the wonders of redeeming love
and my unworthiness.

This is kinda the way it is in our spiritual lives too. At the time God moves in our hearts to be saved, we have to admit we are lost before we can be found. Kneel at the foot of the cross and admit your unworthiness, your inability to ever get anything right according to His perfect standard! God extended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died (took the penalty for our imperfection) for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him! But once saved, it’s time to take His correction! As His representative, He corrects and disciplines us so we can be better. No chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby. Thank you, Lord, for the long yet wonderful process of sanctification you take each one of your children through!

230418_James Staddon_9725 Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 16 mm, 1-100 sec at f - 11, ISO 100

230418_James Staddon_9698 Canon EOS 5D Mark III, 16 mm, 1-60 sec at f - 16, ISO 200

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