To ask what you think of these photos?

[WannabePhotographer]

My username says it all, I love photography and would love to be one one day. Please give them a second to
load!

You are being really self-pitying OP. I liked them. But regardless, taking on something you enjoy, and actively improving, is part of life’s successes. It’s a great thing to do in itself.
Only choosing activities that you are naturally good at is very limiting.

Even people with natural talent, eg sports people, have to learn and practice to improve. It’s not like they start at a certain point of excellence.

Your probably average because you give up at everything on the first hurdle 😂 honestly such a dramatic reaction op! Obviously these random photos are not the quality of a professional photographer

This is absolute rubbish. You don’t know if you are shit unless you have lessons.

i witnessed a very famous actor at the start of their career. They were diabolical. Now, many years later they are acknowledged as being among the best of their peers.

Op, you’re the only one who has called the photos shit!

Do you think you’ve improved over the years since A-Level having kept it up as a hobby? We obviously can’t see the photos you took at 17 to compare. If you don’t think you have, and you’re not interested in just enjoying it as a hobby without external validation, then giving up will probably be best for you.

If you think you have improved, which is more likely, then why don’t you want to take some classes and get to the standard you want to be at? People aren’t just born being good at things, it takes time, practice, education, and perseverance. What sort of standard are you aiming for?

Top sportspeople, singers etc still have coaches and trainers. They never stop trying to get better.
Be more Mo Farah and less Moaning Myrtle!
The house one is the most eye-catching.

My favourite is the one with the houses. There are bright colours and the angle with them in different directions draws your eyes into the picture.

Some of the others have a bit too much sky for me, and seem a bit distant ( having said that I like close up shots with lots of detail do a different style of image).

At first I thought they weren't very sharp, then read that you had put an effect on them. The effect gave them a vintage feel which is what people have liked- gives some nostalgia.

You have said it is a fugifilm camera, but that doesn't give any info on the specifics of the camera. ( i am not very technical other than to know that more optical zoom is better than more digital - the other bits go over my head).

I know though that when taking pictures at the wetlands at the weekend, my camera didn't have a powerful enough lens to get a photo as detailed as I wanted. Wouldn't have bern fair to compare my pictures from the hide , with those of someone that had a much stronger lens.

If you don't want to join a club (most welcome new people), what about joining a photography workshop instead.

I did one a week ago, so I could take pictures using some of the manual settings, instead of leaving it in auto. I understood what was said, but it is harder to put into practice when you don't have the instructor there for guidance. I also know that there is a lot more to learn that we covered in the 5 hour workshop. I did a workshop quite a number of years ago too, but the more recent one seemed to click better straight away and I can see the difference in the pictures I am taking. Still take about 200 to get about 10 I am happy with though.

You wouldn't you could not drive because you failed hour test after 1 lesson. It amounts to the same thing. If you enjoy it give yourself a chance - maybe look at dome blogs/read some books for a workshop or two.

You haven't been told you were shit, you asked for feedback and people didn't think they were professional standard.

It's a bit extreme to sell your camera and to give up photography completely based on this.

If you do some classes, join a photography club, and are open to critiques of your photos, you will get better. If you never take another photo again you've lost a hobby you enjoyed till this post.

Without even commenting on the photos, your attitude is terrible. I see you did photography at A Level. That’s not advanced, is it? It’s school pupil level.

So, with that in mind, you haven’t actually stretched your learning potential. Your A Levels were probably years ago, so why not look at a class or college course in photography?

Before you do, though, change that attitude. You’ll get nowhere with it.

A valiant effort but they look terribly amateurish.

This is absurd.
OP did you actually think that without lessons in technique (for instance) you’d still be amazing? Seriously anyone who is good at something has worked at it. Even Mozart worked at what he did. Everything takes work.
If you give up on things because you aren’t good then you will never ever get good at anything. That’s a promise. Spend 20 hours practising and working on it you’ll gain great skills.

watch this! Be more positive and mature!

Come on dude, that's not the spirit.

It takes time to sharpen skills. The starting point is the love of it, then comes the training, the learning what equipment works best for you and so on. You've got the eye, learn about the equipment and the patience. My pals been hammering at it for years and as the years go on the better her skills get. Her partner groans at the next bit of kit and the lugging shit about looking for kingfishers. Having a giggle at the shots that didn't quite work out, like animals shagging in a background of something.

Join some photography groups on Facebook or something and just learn. Don't be a defeatest.

“If you’re shit, you’ll stay shit” is a completely ridiculous thing to say. It’s called practice.

Perhaps change the subject of your photos to something different.

If you want to be in an artistic field, you need to toughen up a bit to criticism as it’s all subjective.

There’s no helping some people.

Thanks

Totally agree. Your photos are nicely composed, OP, and I can't imagine you'll embarrass yourself by joining a club or doing a course, but if the standard you're setting yourself as a beginner is "exceptional" and you won't bother if you're not then realistically there are very few hobbies open to you...

You are incredibly naive if you did not anticipate your photos could get a right kicking arout these parts. You should ask someone properly qualified and not a bunch of strangers on mumsnet.
Give your head a wobble, lovely.

I mean, Ansel fucking Adams could post pictures on Mumsnet and he'd snidely be told not to give up his day job.

Really OP don't underestimate the value of hard work. My parents were obsessed with natural talent and flair and were always saying I wasn't good at this and was amazing at that. As an adult I have revisited some of those things and it turns out that if I am given the space to work at them and good people or materials to learn from, I can achieve a decent standard despite initially finding it hard. You don't have to just know how to do it instinctively, you can learn and improve and enjoy your improvement.

Don't sell the camera yet. Watch a couple of videos on how to compose landscapes and photos with people etc Your confidence will grow. It won't take years to learn take beautiful photographs that you love. Compare these photos with some taken in three or six months. Trust me, you will be pleased that you didn't give up.

Of course it would be embarrassing to walk into a group of people I don’t know and present a load of photos that are awful. I’ve always thought I was at least decent

They're not awful, OP! They're just not, like, Times Photo of the Year. That doesn't mean they're awful!

been told I’m shit

Nope. No one said that.

Dear me, what a to-do.

I hate learning stuff too OP. The learning process is shit. But I put myself through it because I like to be able to do cool stuff and feel a sense of achievement and have something to show for myself. I am a literal teacher and I really hate learning stuff. But promise it’s worth it!

Noone has said they are awful. Your attitude is awful!

2 points:
Don't ask for feedback if you can't handle anything less than "wow this changed my life it's so good"

Actually listen to what people are saying. Most comments are that you have potential and ideas to help you improve. You're choosing to reply to the odd one that still isn't saying you're shite, just saying hmm not that good.