Is My Work Good or Bad?

The first picture I ever took was from my grandpa’s camera circa 1987.  We were sitting on the lawn at Evergreen College in San Jose, CA and gramps asked me to take a picture of him and my sister, and then he asked my sister to do the same for he and I.  It was both of our first times using a camera.

He explained to look through the viewfinder and put the subjects in the center. I was nervous that I wouldn’t do it right but pushed the shutter anyway. We got the pictures back and the one my sister took of us was perfectly centered. I, on the other hand, cropped half their bodies off. Not sure where the photos are but I’ll re-create the results using this engagement photo.

My sister’s version:

My version:

My grandpa told my sis that she did a great job, that she used the viewfinder exactly like he said. I didn’t say anything but looking at the two photos side by side, I thought to myself that I did a horrible job. Mine was supposed to look like my sister’s with the subjects in the middle. Grandpa then said to me, “This is a great photo too!. These are both great photos.  This one is great because it’s about the people. And this one is great because it has the people AND the scenery in the back.”

Where am I going with this?

Your work is SUBJECTIVE.  What you might think looks bad might be the most amazing thing to someone else and vice versa. There are no rules. In fact, if there are, I say break them. Put your heart and soul into it and you can’t go wrong. People are drawn to that.

I took a photo class for fun not too long ago at Santa Monica Community College and the teacher told me that I need to work on my composition.

*Snaking chin and neck back and forth * Sorry, I didn’t know there were rules for photography.

This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. Lydia

    Thanks Christine! This is exactly what I needed to hear! Love the crop on the last one!

  2. Caroline

    CC! You are great! Thank you for your words! Great way to start my day =)

  3. Stacy

    Oh no she deah-en’t! {insert snaking head}

    Keep up the great work, you visionary, you!

  4. T

    …Your grandpa sounds really sweet, and wise..what a great way to be complimentary and encouraging. Isn’t it funny how your pictures are like how you shot them way back then? I like them..outta the box type photography 🙂

  5. frame37

    haha I read your blog regularly … and this is my favourite blog post 🙂

  6. franklin

    pretty bad

  7. Teri

    I guess all opinions are productive, gives you different perspectives. BUT….your pictures always say a story…I LOOK at the photo, but I HEAR and understand /feel what is going on in that moment. It’s pretty awesome.

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