5 reasons why you might not be improving as a photography

1. lack of practice and patience

The first reason is lack of practice and patience now photography is an art form and if you want to master any art form. you have to practice it doesn’t matter what videos what books what internet articles you read about photography.

If you don’t go outside and shoot with the camera actually you won’t improve as a photographer now in photography there are two things the technical aspect and the creative aspect talking about the technical aspect you can sit and you can learn it but unless and until you go out and actually use those technical settings experiment those technical settings you won’t master them.

Talking about the creative side actually no one can teach you creativity is something that you have to develop by yourself no book no video can teach you how to be creative it is something that you have to develop by yourself and this is going to take a lot of time.

When you see world-class photographers they were not world-class photographers from day one it took years of practice traveling research and experimenting and now they have become world-class photographers so it’s a gradual learning curve if you want to improve as a photographer you will improve but you have to be patient about it.

If you’re impatient you will be discouraged and that will actually hamper your creativity and you will end up with bad photos instead of that be positive to think that you are a good photographer so next time when you’re shooting images that positivity will help you to take better images so always make sure you’re patient and you’re practicing if you want to develop as a photographer.

2. Focusing too much on camera gear

The next reason is focusing too much on camera gear now I have seen people always complaining that I don’t have camera gear and that is why I’m not able to take good photos XYZ photographer has the more expensive gear and that is the reason why that photographer is able to take good photos.

Now this is a myth good camera gear won’t give you good photos if you’re not able to capture good images with the gear you have right now doesn’t matter what camera what lens you have in the future you still won’t be able to take good photos because good photos means good composition good ability to tell stories and that is not something expensive gear can improve so whatever gear you have right now try to make the best use out of it if you are always thinking about camera gear you will spend less time thinking about what actually photography is.

When someone post an image in social media people always ask about what camera what lens what filter did you use but actually those things matter very less no one asks about what was the thought process how did you compose the image what was the story you are trying to tell and these are the things that matter more in photography so instead of focusing on the gear think about things that actually matter and that will actually help you to improve as a photographer so stop thinking always about the gear and think about other things which are possible right now.

3. Not analyzing your own work

The next reason is not analyzing your own work now as a photographer you’re going to make mistakes even world-class professional photographers make mistakes so how to deal with that it’s fine to make mistakes but if you learn from those mistakes then you’re going to improve.

so suppose you go to a location and you take images when you come home you might not like the images so there are two things you can do first is analyze those images why you don’t like the images what extra things could you have done to make the images look better second if other photographers have been there trying to see their images what composition did they use why are their images better than yours.

Now this whole process of self-analyzing is very important when it comes to photography reason is it not only helps you to understand your mistakes but next time when you go out to shoot subconscious mind won’t let you make those mistakes again since you have spent time analyzing those images and working on your mistakes you’re not going to make them next time and this is what is very very useful and I don’t see people doing a lot of it.

Even I am guilty of not analyzing my work but whenever I get time I see my own images and I see my current images I see how I have improved over the years and I try to work on my stronger aspects because as a photographer you’re not going to be good at everything if you just focus on your stronger areas you will still develop as a photographer and I feel self-analysis is very important not only in terms of photography but in terms of any art form.

4. Not sticking to a style

The next reason is not sticking to a style and following the trend now I’ve seen a lot of people they continuously change their style of photography based on what is trending on social media so if a particular style of photography is trending on Instagram they will quickly switch to that style just to get good number of likes and followers and this is a very wrong approach towards photography as a photographer you should have your own style.

If that style is not very unique or very different from others that are still fine but if you have a style and if you master it over the years then you’ll be better at it as I said as a photographer you are not going to master each and everything, for example, Brandon Woelfel now he has this unique style of capturing portrait images.

Now when he went viral on Instagram lot of people started taking similar images just because they wanted more number of likes and followers now Brandon has mastered that style over a lot of years he was not able to click such images from day one right so if you are continuously changing your style and not sticking to one you’re not going to master it and don’t do photography for the sake of likes and followers that’s a very bad approach you’re never going to improve as a photographer if that’s your motive have a purpose behind following a style.

Now I like to click landscape images because I am a nature lover and that is my reason for pursuing photography so I’m not discouraging you to try different styles it’s always good to experiment but always sticking to a particular style will help you you can also build a portfolio based on your style which actually tells what kind of a photographer you are and this will also help you to get clients as well.

5. Not getting out of comfort zone

The last reason which is the most important reason according to me is not getting out of comfort zone now if you want to improve you have to get out of the comfort zone now sometimes we get satisfied with the images we take we are like oh I’m happy with the images I take why do I have to experiment why do I have to try harder now that is where you’re mistaken if you think you are good at something and you don’t want to push harder then you have reached the limit.

If you want to improve you have to get out of that thought process if you don’t get out of the comfort zone you won’t be aware of what you’re missing at photography is a huge art form there’s a lot of things to experiment as I said sticking to a style is important but experimenting at the same time is also equally important.

Now I am a landscape photographer but I have started experimenting in wildlife photography as well I want to get into Street I want to do macro photography as well because if you don’t try different genres if you don’t get out of your comfort zone you won’t know what you’re capable of and this is very important because once you get out of the comfort zone you will see your true potential and this will inspire you more to get out of your comfort zone and this is how you develop as a photographer always if you put more efforts doesn’t mean you will get good images but those efforts won’t be wasted you’re actually improving as a photographer even if you think you’re not just patient keeps trying to keep experimenting and don’t be discouraged.