We live in an age of perfection. Every feed is curated, every portfolio polished. But last month, I shot 4,000 photos. Do you know how many I published? Three.
The image above? It was supposed to be a sharp skyline of LA. I bumped the tripod. It's blurry, noisy, and objectively "bad." But I kept it.
The Trap of Consistency
When you start getting paid for photography, you stop taking risks. You find a formula that works (Golden Hour + Aperture Priority + Preset A) and you stick to it. That's great for business, but it's death for art.
"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." — Winston Churchill
My Recent Failures
- The Editorial Shoot: I tried to use colored gels for a magazine portrait. I didn't understand color theory enough. The subject looked like a Smurf. We had to reshoot everything in B&W.
- The Street Session: I walked 15 miles in London and didn't take my camera out of the bag once. I felt "uninspired." The failure wasn't the photos; it was the mindset.
Why You Should Shoot "Bad" Photos
Now, I have a folder on my drive called "Sandbox." I go out once a week with a lens I hate (usually a fisheye or a super-telephoto) and force myself to shoot. 99% of it is garbage. But that 1%? It's weird. It's new. It's growth.
Don't be afraid to post the blurry one. The one with the weird crop. Perfection is boring. Vulnerability is magnetic.