What Are The Odds, 10,000 to 1?

When I first started taking pictures, I joined a lot of photography groups. I would become discouraged comparing my images to other’s images. Why didn’t my photos look as good? I was in beginner groups and yet the posts of others seemed so far more advanced than mine. Why?

Something I didn’t know about was “culling photos.” It’s a term used, by photographers, to describe the process of narrowing down one’s images to only the best. One throws out the bad and keeps only the finest.

I was comparing all my images to other’s greatest. I had no idea how many failed pictures it took to get a winning one. I would take my couple shots and expect a winner. Other photographers would take hundreds of shots on any given photoshoot. Then, once culled through, they might end up with a couple photos that they considered worthy of posting.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, a French humanist photographer, said “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” With the number of pictures I was taking per photoshoot, it was going to take me years and years to get past the first 10,000 photographs.

I learned two things from this. If I wanted to improve, I needed to shoot more. To do that, I was going to have to experiment with my photography. Instead of just taking an image and being done, I would need to try different compositions and techniques. Different camera settings and different lenses. By forcing myself to shoot more, what this did for my photography was teach me more skills and improve my images.

As I look back on my first 10,000 photos, I realize what I considered good images back then, really were my worst. I also learned to be picky with my considerations for posting. I don’t always walk away from a photoshoot with an image that I’m satisfied with. But that’s ok. I choose to be discriminating with my work.  

---

Ready to Buy a Print?
Click Here