This blog post is directly inspired by Renee Robyn. Go check out her work, and prepare to be amazed. I first heard about Renee on The Angry Millennial Podcast (RIP) a few years ago. Immediately I fell in love with her free flowing use of the word “Fuck” and her honesty.

We may have only met once for an awkward high five at Photo Plus Expo a few years ago, but I still like to see the latest work that she produces and keep in touch.

http://www.reneerobynphotography.com/the-first-10-years/

So now is where things are going to get a little embarrassing. I’m about to dig into the archive and pull some of my photos from the beginning.

I already can feel the pit of my stomach getting deeper and deeper, even though I know that learning is a part of the process. Dunning Kruger is one hell of a drug.

Basically in short this chart can be applied to anything. It states that your level of confidence in how good you are at something Peaks at both when you have zero skills, and then again when you really are an expert, but dips lower when you are ave… — Basically in short this chart can be applied to anything. It states that your level of confidence in how good you are at something Peaks at both when you have zero skills, and then again when you really are an expert, but dips lower when you are average.

2007 - This was was taken on one of my first rolls of film for an Intro to Photography class. I'll admit that even still I have another shot from this series in my portfolio. But looking back at this one all I can see is busy background, uncomfortable model, stupid hat (that was mine), and the undeniable fact that I really needed to be MUCH closer to the model.

2015 - Much better. Still a little far away from the subject, but in this case it works. The background is much more solid, and the model is much more comfortable. A little photoshop work to remove distractions and this turned into a much better shot.

2008 - Yes. Before you ask. I actually delivered this photo to the clients. And Yes, I got paid for this. I don’t remember how much, but that doesn’t really matter. I just hope it wasn’t anything too outrageous. “Why yes, I’ve never shot a wedding before, so let me go into it with a 50mm lens and zero concept of how to freeze motion”. I’m sorry Chris and Kay…I’m so sorry.

2018 - From just a few weeks ago (from a wedding that I haven’t even posted any images from yet…so, SURPRISE). I have so much respect for wedding photographers, even though this photo is LEAPS AND BOUNDS better than the last one, it still just doesn’t feel right to me. But in the end the couple is happy, and thats what matters to me the most.

2009 - This isn’t a BAD photo per se, but it’s just not an interesting one. I definitely could do something better with the white balance to remove the red stage lights, and probably would end up cropping more to make the singer the focus of the image.

2018 - But in comparison to the last one this image is just much more visually interesting, better colored (even though its black and white), and has a definite focus.

2009 - This really is the beginning of where my style is starting come through. Admittedly I really don’t have any idea how lighting works outside of “Throw up some lights and let’s see what happens”. The focus is in the wrong place, and the lighting is far from even or all that flattering.

2018 - This is much better, I actually understand what lighting does and why it does what it does. It’s still mostly back-lit, but I understand how to sculpt the wrap around light to evenly cover the whole subject.

It’s really hard to look back over the last 10 years and see some of these attempts at what my style has become. Back then I was just a college student who applied for his first business license and really only picked up a camera to find something to do in his spare time. I don’t know if I ever thought that I would get to where I am at. But I could see what I wanted my images to be.

I talk about “The Gap” from Ira Glass a lot. In fact, every time it comes up I end up re-posting it in some way (Which I will be doing with this as well). Even though I cringe looking back at the old photos, and probably could have picked some MUCH worse examples of bad images, I’m ending up a lot more comfortable with myself because I can see that I am making progress.

I think it was in the time of spring 2012, when I came across David Shiyang Liu's lovely piece of work about Ira Glass. It was the most inspiring and motivating video I had ever seen in my life. I watched it over and over again, listened to Ira Glass' voice, and told myself, that I am not the only person who is constantly disappointed about the gap between one's taste and one's skills. Later in 2012, I decided to do my own filmed version of Ira's interview - using my own language to tell his message. It took me about a year from concept to upload. I made it for myself and for anybody who is in doubt about his/her creative career. I also think that Ira Glass' message isn't only limited to the creative industry. It can be applied to everyone who starts out in a new environment and is willing to improve. THANK YOU Ira Glass, whom I've never met in real life, but who had such a big influence on my development. Thank you for telling beginners what nobody else does. David Shiyang Liu for the video that inspired me to start the project. You all should watch his awesome kineticTypo-version here: http://vimeo.com/24715531 The people from current.tv who originally recorded the interview with Ira Glass. See the relevant part here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI23U7U2aUY The people from Magic Lantern who gave DSLR videography a new dimension (I chose this project to be a test run with the RAW plugin)! Steven Sasseville for painting the "taste" painting for me. Pedro Sousa for his advice and working his ass off at the "creative work" chalkboard. Wolfgang Kraus for letting me borrow his sound equipment. Kai Löhnert for working out on his birthday in the "fight" take. Wolfgang Hendrik Schnabel for giving me the museum-like atmosphere and his silhouette in the painting takes. Hermiyas Ötztürk for his hairy "good enough" hand. Orange Hive Studio for light equipment and location. Mima and Heinz Sax-Schmitz for the location of the "ambitions" take and finding me the "finish 1 story" typewriter. Joyce Chen (https://vimeo.com/clownmori), Soufiane Mabrouki (http://vimeo.com/user21466567), Damien Tsenkoff (https://www.behance.net/damtsnkff), Nikita Samutin (www.baselinedesign.ru) and Andrej Mikula (http://amara.org/en/profiles/profile/65015/) for taking the time and patience to create Chinese, Arabic, French, Russian and Slovak subtitles and dissolving language barriers to make even more people understand Ira's words. A SPECIAL THANK YOU Solveig Gold for being the most patient and supporting person in my life. She appears in a lot of scenes in this video. Jutta and Uwe Sax for several pieces of equipment and their support.

Here is to the last 10 years, and to many more to come. What are some photos that you look back at with fear? How has your work progressed today? Hell, even broader, what changes have you made in your life personally that make you a better person today? Leave some comments below and let me know.