Sydney Street Files #4: Natural Progression Part 2 - Failure in New Zealand

In my last blog post I spoke about failure and fitting in with your peers in the creative landscape. I am finally at a place where I am comfortable to share some of my creative road bumps and speak on the process to improve my photography 

When I got my first real camera, I expected instant results. Safe to say they didn’t come, and every time I look back on my trip to New Zealand I regret not putting in more effort before I went on this trip. 

I was driven towards photography after excitement and inspiration from a photograph I took while in Bali. I didn’t know how to take photos yet, I had just accidentally taken a cool photo that eventually inspired me to look further into the art form. I wasn’t a particularly artistic teenager, so stepping into photography was strange but exciting. It also wasn’t something I thought would require as much hard work as it did. 

Reacting to moments of inspiration isn’t a bad thing, but it may build a false sense of security. I was convinced that I would get my new camera and I would instantly know how the settings worked, have an understanding of composition, and have pro-edit skills (because how hard can it really be?). I went from taking one simple, slightly artistic photo on my phone to believing I was going to be a Master of Photography. My neivity took me for a ride in New Zealand gave me a kick in the backside I desperately needed to improve.  

The truth is that I was lost when I got my first camera. I hadn’t dedicated time towards learning anything about photography. I was utterly clueless. This resulted in a really poor shooting experience while in New Zealand, and I regret not taking the time to learn how it worked before I set off on my trip. 

I didn’t yet understand the functions of my camera, which ultimately took away from focusing on real compositions. To this day, I have not found a single RAW file from the two-week trip that I want to go back and edit. It was rough. 

My aim is to go back to New Zealand and finish what I started: capturing photos I actually enjoy looking at. While I like sharing my work, most of my photos haven’t ever been shared because my main focus at this point is to create memories for me, not for an audience. The first step is to enjoy my own work and once I feel proud enough to share something I will. Above is the only photo I slightly enjoy from that trip, and even then it’s terrible. Why did 17-year-old me think the slant looks good?