Stop chasing the perfect photo

Dec 30

We all know the feeling. You are out with your camera hunting for that one incredible frame. You want the light to be epic. You want the focus to be tack sharp. You want every element to align exactly with the rule of thirds.

You are chasing the perfect photo.

Here is the hard truth. It does not exist. And the harder you run after it the further you get from why you picked up a camera in the first place.

The Paralysis of Perfection

The pursuit of perfection is paralyzing. How many shots have you deleted off the back of your camera because they were slightly soft? How many times have you stayed home because the weather was not ideal or the light looked flat?

When we treat photography as a technical exam we become afraid to fail. We stop taking risks. We hold back waiting for a moment that is guaranteed to work. We trade our unique vision for a generic standard of correctness.

We end up with hard drives full of technically competent boring images.

The Flaw is a Feature

This is especially true in monochrome. Black and white photography is already an abstraction of reality. It does not need to be clinical. In fact it often suffers when it is too clean.

Think about the masters of gritty street photography or classic photojournalism. Their work is rarely technically perfect. It is full of motion blur grain heavy shadows and chaotic framing. Those are not mistakes. They are the textures of life. They add energy and urgency that a tripod mounted clinically sharp image just cannot replicate.

A technically flawed photo with soul will always beat a technically perfect photo with none.

Chasing a New Metric

So if we are not chasing perfection what should we chase?

Emotional impact.

Does the image make you stop scrolling? Does it make you feel a sense of nostalgia or isolation or joy? Does it ask a question?

When someone looks at your work ten years from now they will not care what ISO you used. They will not pull out a magnifying glass to check corner sharpness. They will only care about how the image makes them feel. That connection is the only metric that truly matters.

It is time to let go of the impossible standard of flawless imagery. Embrace the grain. Welcome the blur if it adds energy to the scene. Stop worrying about making a perfect photograph and start focusing on making an honest one.