Part NINETEEN: Working For Yourself

Are You Any Good?

I know you have been diligently following my every post (you HAVE haven’t you?), but juuuust in case, here’s a recap of what we have done recently:

We’ve looked at some business questions, and we delved in to some basics of shooting. we’ve touched on some Photoshop, and some Lightroom: using filters, using post processing, we even hit on some basics of Photography Rules and who NOT to use the, too!

Now, I’d like you to take a long, critical look at what you have done, and see how you can find out if you are any good.

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You’ve been around your family and friends, with your camera, forever. You’ve even posted quite a bit on Facebook, and all your friends and family have said,

Wow, you should really be a photographer! You’re so good! You could make money at this!

I’m sorry to say, everyone’s mom and best friends always tells everyone with a camera, “Wow! You re so good!” So, let’s look at some steps to see whether or not you really are any good.

First off, most images shot look good online. Facebook tends to compress images, so most images are good enough online.

Go through your images, select your favorite top 20. NOW, pick 20 more that are great, technically, but maybe not your favorite subject. As long as the image quality is there, include it. Post the group online somewhere (Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, 500px, GooglePlus, ello, etc), and ask your friends to pick their favorite top 3 images. Have dozens of people do it. Gather a bunch of votes. Then, go back and see whether your favorite images match what others say about the group you chose.

NEXT, print out a dozen or so of your favorites, and others that are technically good, but might not be your favorite subject.
In order to do this next test, you need to actually print out some images. You need to get them out of the camera, out of the computer, or phone, and get them printed on some decent paper. Try the same Pick your favorite three with family, only hand them the actual prints. Print the images in a decent size. At least 8x10inches.

People react differently to a printed image rather than some electronic choices.

Family is nice, but they truly are always going to say, “Nice job”
What you really need is some non biased feedback. Try bringing your images to a local meeting of Photographers, Birders, etc. Ask them what is good, what is bad, etc.

Take your printed Portfolio or images, and head to your least favorite watering hole. (Don’t pick somewhere that you really like: Chances are, they like you too, and you need an unbiased opinion.) Ask the bartender, WHEN IT’S NOT BUSY if he can give you his opinion. Ask the waitresses too. TIP them, well. Ask them to pick their favorite 5 and least favorite 5. Ask them WHY for each.

Or, try printing a batch of 20 images as note card size, 4inch x 6 inch, and bring them to the bar. have them place the stack in order of best, to worst. Again, ask why, if they have time. TIP well. You are taking up their time.

Try joining the World Of Photography, The Photography Club (they are brutally honest) and the Colorchallenge Discords, and see who likes what image of yours. Finally, post a bunch on Steemit, and get some sense of who likes what online there, too.

After a while, you can start to get a sense of what is working for you, and what isn’t.
Getting honest feedback isn’t easy. BUT, it is worth the shot.

It will make you a better photographer in the the end.