Many of us photography enthusiasts post our photos on social media. If you have been doing this long enough, you likely have a large collection of photos spanning many years. That means you have an incredible resource at your disposal to measure your progress as a photographer. So go ahead and make that trip down memory lane: browse that collection of pictures on social media and see what you can learn!
In my previous blog post I reflected on the progress I have made with my bird photography. After reading through that post again I realised I needed to dig deeper to better understand the true advancement of my photography skills. Not just my bird photography, but all genres and all skills. After all, I only started to become interested in bird photography in recent years. If I were to measure my progress in this area alone, I would be denying myself the assessment of so many other photography skills I have practiced over the years.
Apart from this website, I use Flickr to share my photos. Rather than browsing through the 70,000 photos in my Lightroom catalog, I thought reviewing about 1% of that on my Flickr photostream would be more manageable. Reviewing my Lightroom catalog would certainly be interesting though: I would have more "raw material" to sample from, I could check which lenses I gravitate to, what focal lengths and apertures I favour, compare before and after views of my edits, see what ratings I have given my photos, and so much more. There is a lot to be said for using my Lightroom catalog as the basis for my assessment. However, this will have to wait for another time. Flickr it is for now.
The Early Years
I joined Flickr in 2011. The very first picture I posted was of a Komodo dragon taken in Taronga Zoo in Sydney. It was uploaded on March 27, 2011. At the time I was shooting with a Canon EOS 7D using a 70-200 f4 lens. The photo was not terribly bad in my opinion, but it's not stellar either, the colours are a little bland, and it would have been nice to get this shot from a slightly lower angle. This photo is actually an out-of-camera jpg file. I didn't shoot in raw those days and was not yet processing my photos in Adobe Lightroom as I currently do.
Here is another example from the same photo shoot in Taronga Zoo. This time it's an image of a bear converted to black-and-white. This is an example of a picture I would never upload to Flickr these days: the bear is looking away from the camera, so you don't see its eyes, the composition is not great, and I'm not convinced converting it to black-and-white was the best artistic choice. It doesn't add anything to the image, and it ended up being a messy greyish picture with no focal point.
Was it all bad in those early years. No! I There were some lovely shots as well. The below picture of my late chocolate Lab Jamie, for example, ended up enlarged and framed on a wall in our home. I like the blurred background, the eyes and head are tack sharp, and there is a beautiful catch light in her eyes. I would have post processed this picture in Lightroom if taken again today, but overall, I'm still very pleased with this shot.
As I reflect on these early years, I see a mixed bag. A consistent and coherent photographic style was missing - even today this remains an elusive goal: see my earlier blog post In Pursuit of Photographic Style - and my subject matter was diverse to say the least. Also, I wasn't very discriminate when curating my work for posting to Flickr. Anything and everything could end up there.
Flickr was just a convenient tool to share some pictures with friends and family, and truth be told there's nothing wrong with that if that's what you want to use Flickr for!
What has remained fairly consistent since the early years is my love for animal and landscape photography. Sure, there are other genres I tried but I keep coming back to animal and landscape photography. Looking back on your social media photostream - or your Lightroom catalog for that matter - is a good exercise to discover what you're passionate about. When you notice that you're drawn to certain types of photography more than others, you have found your true voice. It's a sign those genres resonate with you on a deeper level, and that you should continue to explore them.
The Later Years
As the years went by, I started to get more into photography and was putting more thought into the photographic process. Some of my pictures got "explored" on Flickr. While it's questionable if that's worth pursuing, I certainly remember being very excited when this happened. It somehow seemed to validate that I was "on the right track" and that there was external approval of my photography. I don't want to judge other people, but I know better now.
The below picture of a sunrise in Riverwood Downs, NSW, was one of my first explored photos. I remember making a deliberate effort going out for a photo shoot that morning: paying attention to the time of day (very early!), the direction and quality of the light, and the mist that was sitting between the hills. I also had the clarity of mind to crop this to a panorama format in post processing. And yes, I admit that I still like this picture. Coincidentally I will be relocating to this beautiful part of Australia in a few months from now!
Another shot from this period that I still like is the below shot from the SS Ayrfield shipwreck in Homebush Bay, Sydney. I was experimenting with my first Olympus camera (the OM-D E-M10) and long exposures. This shot was taken with a 15 second exposure to smooth out the water. Earlier this year I got invited to submit this photo, along with a few others from the same photo shoot, for an art exhibition in Germany. Now that is something I care about more than having a photo explored on Flickr!
Apart from a number of successful shots, I also see lots of experimenting in those days. Long exposures, night photography, abstract photography, over-the-top post processing, different crop ratios, HDR trials, and more black-and-white attempts to name a few. These were very productive years, and I learned many skills, both in the field and when processing my images. Also, I had started shooting raw and became a Lightroom convert.
What still hadn't changed though was my inability to find a consistent and coherent photographic style, and my subject matter continued to bounce around. In addition to landscapes and animals, more urban photography had started to enter my photostream. One could argue all this experimenting is necessary when attempting to find the style and photography genres you're comfortable with. I don't regret it from that perspective. It's a journey, and I haven't reached the end of it.
The Recent Years
The more recent years are marked by animal photography (mostly birds), landscapes, and event photography (air shows, water ski racing, a rodeo). Remarkably there are no pictures of food. That is interesting because I turned to food photography during the COVID years and even wrote a blog post about it (see Lockdown Food Photography and my Food portfolio). For some reason I didn't get to post any of my food pictures on Flickr. Perhaps because there are too many food pictures on social media already.
As I wrote in my Bird Photography: Measuring Progress blog post, I continued to explore this genre and it's the area I most evolved in. And with much joy I must add! I'm starting to get to the point where I'm more confident about my ability to come home with a few decent shots of birds these days. It's perhaps nice to contrast the first bird picture I posted on Flickr with one of the more recent ones. The first one was taken in Taronga Zoo (!) and I remember liking the way the light illuminated the scene. Twelve years later I'm not so impressed. It is a totally unremarkable photo.
The more recent photo of an Australian Pied Cormorant, taken in the Munmorah State Conservation Area, is a much better effort in my opinion. I remember getting up very early on a cold morning and heading down to a local conservation area to take bird shots. Getting this photo of a Cormorant was significantly harder work than pressing the shutter button in a zoo. I put more thought into the composition, the direction of the light, the background, the camera settings, and the post processing.
So, was there any progress?
Yes and no. There is no single or simple answer to this question. There are two sides to the ledger. There has been progress and there has been frustrating stagnation.
What has improved?
Here are the things that I believe have improved over the years:
I no longer post the "bad stuff". This is obviously highly subjective, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I truly believe that the photos I post on Flickr these days are often more pleasing to look at than what I posted 12 years ago. The framing, composition, the light, and post processing are often executed better than in the early years.
I stopped over-the-top processing of my photos. While experimenting with Lightroom (and Photoshop) is often fun, I try to limit my editing so my photos still look natural.
My love and passion for animal and landscape photography is unwavering. I could add urban and event photography to the mix. And, while not evident from my Flickr photostream, even food photography. However, I think I have found the genres I am most passionate about.
What needs more work?
Of course, there's always room for improvement. Frustratingly so I might add. So, what have I learned from my trip down Flickr's memory lane?
I need to more carefully curate the photos I'm posting on social media. While I no longer post the bad ones, I still post too many mediocre or "odd" ones. My Flickr photostream doesn't look like the portfolio I want to present to the world. It's an eclectic mix. There's no binding theme or style, no consistency, nothing that defines me as a photographer. My portfolio on this blog is actually more carefully curated. I grouped my photos in four distinct genres and more deliberately considered which photos I was going to upload. I need to apply similar principles to Flickr.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I need to more carefully consider how to develop a more coherent and uniquely defining style of photography. Selecting my subject matter, or the genres I photograph, plays a role in this. Maybe it's time to focus more on landscape and animal photography. It doesn't mean I'm no longer going to shoot other genres, but I need to focus more on what I'm truly passionate about. I currently feel like a jack of all trades but a master of none. It's time to make some decisions.
If you're going through a similar exercise as I have done here, I wish you all the best. I hope you gain a deeper understanding of how you can improve your photography. Even if you don't see room for improvement, or reasons to change your approach, it's a fun exercise to go back in time and see what you have photographed over the years.
Comments