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04/27/2011 10:00:16 AM · #1 |
I saw this recently, and I thought I should remember this at times when my shots just aren't turning out like I imagine them in my head.
It is a quote from Ira Glass, the host and producer of "This American Life" on NPR:
âWhat nobody tells people who are beginners â and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and itâs just not that good. Itâs trying to be good, it has potential, but itâs not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesnât have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know itâs normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone Iâve ever met. Itâs gonna take awhile. Itâs normal to take awhile. Youâve just gotta fight your way through.â |
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04/27/2011 10:10:48 AM · #2 |
| that is amazingly insightful, right on the money. |
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04/27/2011 10:17:24 AM · #3 |
| I've been fighting thru my 'crap phase' for over 40 years now. It's gotta end soon...doesn't it?? |
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04/27/2011 10:32:21 AM · #4 |
| Great quote! Thanks for sharing... :) |
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04/27/2011 10:45:41 AM · #5 |
| wow, that is very inspiring, i love it :) |
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04/27/2011 10:53:00 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by markwiley:
And your taste is why your work disappoints you. |
I love this... thanks for sharing! |
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04/27/2011 11:21:59 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by Qiki:
I've been fighting thru my 'crap phase' for over 40 years now. It's gotta end soon...doesn't it?? |
I'm going on 5... 35 more years of this? Meh... I can handle it! :) |
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04/27/2011 11:24:03 AM · #8 |
| Ira Glass is great, but 'taste' doesn't quite seems like the correct word here. 'Ambition' and/or 'vision' would make more sense to me in this context. |
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04/27/2011 11:45:59 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by skewsme:
Ira Glass is great, but 'taste' doesn't quite seems like the correct word here. 'Ambition' and/or 'vision' would make more sense to me in this context. |
Taste is one of those exclusive words of the elite classes. Everyone has ambition, many people can have vision, only the elite can have real taste... (in their own minds) The elitist snobbery really like to separate themselves from the masses!!!
Viva la gente!!!
Message edited by author 2011-04-27 11:47:00. |
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04/27/2011 11:56:39 AM · #10 |
| i thought "taste" an interesting choice of words. I think it just means a feel for whatever the thing/media might be, an acumen, a radar, a fatal attraction.... |
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04/27/2011 11:57:57 AM · #11 |
Originally posted by EL-ROI:
Originally posted by skewsme:
Ira Glass is great, but 'taste' doesn't quite seems like the correct word here. 'Ambition' and/or 'vision' would make more sense to me in this context. |
Taste is one of those exclusive words of the elite classes. Everyone has ambition, many people can have vision, only the elite can have real taste... (in their own minds) The elitist snobbery really like to separate themselves from the masses!!!
Viva la gente!!! |
Ah, but everybody has their own taste. Whether it is Taste or just taste is what I think you are driving at. As a former employer was fond of saying: De gustibus non est disputandum. Translation: "In matters of taste there is no dispute." |
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04/27/2011 12:00:48 PM · #12 |
| thank you so much for posting this... very comforting to know that i'm not the only one out there who has this feeling and that it's normal!.. again thank you for the post. |
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04/27/2011 12:22:01 PM · #13 |
What a great post and very well said! With regard to the choice of using the word "taste", I think this is a great argument and only confirms what Mr. Glass is getting at. : }
Originally posted by eqsite:
"In matters of taste there is no dispute." |
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04/27/2011 12:32:34 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by tnun:
i thought "taste" an interesting choice of words. I think it just means a feel for whatever the thing/media might be, an acumen, a radar, a fatal attraction.... |
I echo this thought...I interpreted "taste" as being undeniably drawn to... |
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04/27/2011 12:38:58 PM · #15 |
"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst."
â Henri Cartier-Bresson
Given how easy it is to shoot in digital, and inflation we might make that 40,000. |
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04/27/2011 12:44:04 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by BrennanOB:
"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst."
â Henri Cartier-Bresson
Given how easy it is to shoot in digital, and inflation we might make that 40,000. |
Make that 400,000. |
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04/27/2011 12:45:56 PM · #17 |
Originally posted by tnun:
Originally posted by BrennanOB:
"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst."
â Henri Cartier-Bresson
Given how easy it is to shoot in digital, and inflation we might make that 40,000. |
Make that 400,000. |
Great I should be out of that rut in about a month! I can't wait! |
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04/27/2011 10:48:13 PM · #18 |
There was some discussion earlier about Glassâ use of the word âtasteâ. I donât think he is referring to ambition or vision. I think by having taste he means the innate ability to appreciate good work. Some people, with less photographic taste, can look at an Ansel Adams landscape and think, âIâd like it better in color.â They can look at a novice photographerâs picture of a landscape and think, âthat looks pretty good.â The novice with âkiller tasteâ can look at the same picture and see all that it lacks.
I can get low scores on a couple of challenges and get frustrated â especially when I see others that seem to effortlessly turn out one amazing picture after another. I just need to remember this is normal and I just need to keep at it.
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04/28/2011 02:18:49 PM · #19 |
This is what everyone should tell people who are beginners.
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04/28/2011 02:25:57 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by markwiley:
I can get low scores on a couple of challenges and get frustrated â especially when I see others that seem to effortlessly turn out one amazing picture after another. |
This I think is a widely held misconception. That the more successful shooters get good results effortlessly.
Take a look at what Oliver  h2 did for "Empty room" and see the level of effort that guys who constantly do good work do for these challenges. It ain't effortless.
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04/28/2011 02:50:56 PM · #21 |
Originally posted by markwiley:
I can get low scores on a couple of challenges and get frustrated â especially when I see others that seem to effortlessly turn out one amazing picture after another. I just need to remember this is normal and I just need to keep at it. |
It's never effortless, especially when you are talking about "turning one amazing picture after another" which means consistency. It takes tremendous amount of thinking and hard work to generate good images. Unimaginable number of hours of hard work go into bringing oneself up to a level where people would even consider looking at your photos and think "well maybe this is worth a 5 or a 6 on the scale of 1 to 10". Years of photoshop and photography skills have been acquired by remaining consistent and working relentlessly. These things don't happen overnight. Of course the harder you work, the quicker you will see the results. Bottom line is ... it is all about the effort! |
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04/28/2011 03:06:46 PM · #22 |
Originally posted by markwiley:
I can get low scores on a couple of challenges and get frustrated â especially when I see others that seem to effortlessly turn out one amazing picture after another. I just need to remember this is normal and I just need to keep at it. |
As others have said, it's far from effortless. They just make it look that way. |
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04/28/2011 03:11:23 PM · #23 |
Originally posted by markwiley:
It is a quote from Ira Glass, the host and producer of "This American Life" on NPR:
â...Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. " |
As a beginner, I enjoy the sense of adventure to learn, explore and begin something new. I am wondering if the "deadline" approach converts the sense of adventure into the tiresome effort of homework. I suppose the homework phase raises one to the level of seeming effortlessness after having gone through enough experience. If the work becomes an effort of love is that where the gap may be closed further and the pressure of work becomes more effortless?
Message edited by author 2011-04-28 15:12:12. |
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04/28/2011 03:59:23 PM · #24 |
| wow i love that quote! thanks for sharing! |
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04/28/2011 04:50:14 PM · #25 |
Originally posted by nightpixels:
It's never effortless, especially when you are talking about "turning one amazing picture after another" which means consistency. It takes tremendous amount of thinking and hard work to generate good images. Unimaginable number of hours of hard work go into bringing oneself up to a level where people would even consider looking at your photos and think "well maybe this is worth a 5 or a 6 on the scale of 1 to 10". Years of photoshop and photography skills have been acquired by remaining consistent and working relentlessly. These things don't happen overnight. Of course the harder you work, the quicker you will see the results. Bottom line is ... it is all about the effort! |
It can appear effortless to me in that these beautiful images simply appear on this site challenge after challenge. Of course I realize that it is not effortless and, later when reading the photographers comments, I often marvel at the amount of effort that they have expended (e.g., gyaban's work and many others).
It is amazing to see a novice can post a troubled image to a forum and, in the blink of an eye, a seasoned veteran can repost the image in a vastly improved form. Again, given the short time interval, it appears effortless, but, as you and Ira Glass point out, years of practice and experience have come into play.
I gotta keep at it. |
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