When you are starting out, it’s not always clear what you should be practicing. You know your photo isn’t great, but you aren’t sure why. This is one reason why many people repeat the same photo over and over and over again, never really making any progress. Once you learn how to identify what is going wrong in your photos, you can then focus on practicing those things. And you will get better. So how do you know what to practice? Start by asking yourself one question at a time when you are looking at your photos. Is my subject sharp? Is the light good? Is the photo too busy? Is the focus point in the right spot? I find that if I look at a photo and try to evaluate the whole thing at once, I usually end up with a vague “this photo sucks,” which isn’t terribly helpful when you are trying to figure out how to improve.
But when I ask myself one thing at a time, I can usually find at least one thing that I could improve in the photo. “Yes, my subject is sharp.” “No, the light is terrible.” “Yes, the photo is way too busy.” “No, the focus point is not in the right spot.” Once you identify what went wrong, you know what you can work on the next time. One of the big things I’ve learned in my photography journey is that when I don’t like a photo, my first instinct is that it’s because of my equipment. I need a better lens, I need a flash, I need a different camera. But in most cases, the problem is not the camera; it’s the photographer. You can improve a photo more by moving a few feet to the left than you can by switching lenses.
You can improve a photo more by getting down low than by using a flash. You can improve a photo more by walking closer than by using a different camera. Don’t assume that your equipment is the problem. Try to solve the problem first by changing your physical position. Comparing two photos can also be helpful. Take two photos that are very similar, except that you like one of them and the other is terrible. Compare the two photos side by side to see what is different about them. What initially draws your eye to each photo? Are there distractions in one that aren’t in the other?
Is the subject placement different? I find that comparing two photos like this is much more helpful than scrolling quickly through all of the photos I took in a session. If you are really struggling to identify what you should practice, try going back to the same spot and taking three photos, but change only one thing. Keep the lighting the same, keep the subject the same, but change the composition in each photo. This will allow you to see the direct impact of what you are changing.
Finally, if you are really struggling to identify what you should practice, you can do an entire practice session on trying to correct whatever is going wrong. Start your session by going through your photos from the previous day and identifying what went wrong. Pick one thing, and then do your practice session with that thing in mind. If your backgrounds are too cluttered, practice using a plain background. If your subjects aren’t in focus, practice putting your focus point on a single spot.
At the end of your practice session, go back through the photos you took and see if you were able to correct the problem that you identified. This will tell you whether you are getting better at identifying what went wrong much better than looking for a “perfect” photo. The more you practice, the easier it will be to identify what went wrong with your photos. And in time you will start to correct the problems before you even take the photo.