The Photography Conundrum...

Every time we take our annual Summer vacation I just so happen to take along my camera. I figure, "why not document our travels and get some really cool images of the places we see?" This year we vacationed in Puerto Rico. This was our second time visiting the Caribbean island, and we had something planned every day. I really can't figure out the puzzle of photography. I mean every time we go to scenic places I don't feel I come home with very good images. We spent 8 days in paradise and I feel like the vacation isn't complete unless I come home with smashing images. Dealing with the emotional sense of photographic failure, I purposely leave the images alone for a couple of weeks. I don't look at them. For some reason doing this seems to always have this profound effect on the feeling of photographic failure I come home with. Maybe I'm just being hard on myself (tends to go right along with a perfectionistic personality), but after a short time period away from the images I look with less critical eyes. I see new reasons to like them and I appreciate the vacation more. I say, "wow, these aren't that bad", the more time that goes by I say, "these are pretty good". After a year or so gone by I say, "these are really good". So the lesson to be learned is this: always wait a few days (maybe even weeks) after a photo session (when shooting for yourself). The time away seems to work miracles with this emotional tug-of-war of photographic satisfaction vs. failure. When you view them at a later point in time, you tend to see them in a different light. Give it a try... it just may help you get through a bout of "photographic failure". Below is my favorite image from our trip. It was a fleeting moment that I was blessed to capture. More images here. Leave a comment if you like the images. Enjoy.