Improving my Photography for cheap

We tend to enjoy things more when we are good at it. Feeling the first taste of an awesome photo, we create a positive feedback loop that gets us obsessed. We want to do it more frequently, we want to get better at it to get awesome photos more often.

I am sure that most of us have seen challenges having a pro with basic equipment against a beginner with pro equipment. The conclusion that we always draw, is that for most cases, it is a skill beyond the equipment that makes a good photograph. Of course the equipment and your familiarity with that equipment plays an important role, but constantly aquiring better equipment will only give us a marginal improvement.

What i have found to have helped me the most is reflecting and grading my past work.

Small prints of past photos

Priniting may not be for everyone, but it is my preference for reviewing my work. Just like reviewing your school’s test papers, critically review your photos and hold yourself to a high standard. As we practice more often, our styles evolve and we sharpen our eyes. Reviewing past work helps us identify what we value or dislike in a photo and what we want to bring into the future and leave in the past. Social media is a good alternative. Just like printing, you would only want to post better works that you are proud of. My preference for prinitng comes in that i can physically share it with people and discuss the images while using the backside to write remarks and notes that i can refer back to.