Hi all and Happy 2025. I hope all of you had a great Christmas, holiday season and New year. I took some time off to spend with my family, play some golf and just enjoy some great weather that we’ve had here in sunny Tampa, Florida.
As we get back in to the swing of things, I wanted to talk a few minutes about building some positive habits and staying motivated with your photography. For some reason, the new year always seems like a good time to share this. It’s not about resolutions, but this is always a good time where we are thinking about the year ahead so it can never be thought of enough. My hope is that you’ll bookmark this page and come back to it throughout the year whenever you need a little motivation in your photography.
The First Step
For me, the first step in staying motivated is to understand how we improve at things. I think many of us (me included) have this feeling that there is a direct relationship to practice and improvement. If we decide we want to get good at some aspect of photography or photo editing, we watch a video / read a book, go do it and we’re better. And while I think in the VERY beginning that can sometimes be the case, it’s going to quickly fade and you’ll find there isn’t a direct relationship.
There’s a popular graph that circulates around that shows how things really work – and I think realizing that we can all relate to the “valley of disappointment”. This is a big mindset shift that we need to come to grips with if we want to improve at something and stick with it.
As you can see above, there’s a flat area in the beginning where we find that we’re putting in the time but we’re not getting the results that we want. Unfortunately, many times, a lot of us don’t get past this flat area.
A Personal Story
If you want a personal story on this, I’m a perfect example. I played guitar an insane amount when I was younger up until my mid 20’s. Then marriage, kids, and life hit and I stopped. Then about 20 years later I picked it up again and immediately hit the valley of disappointment. If I’m being honest, I never made it past it and eventually stopped. Now, the story isn’t all bad. I know what happened and I know I could push through it. But, I also picked up golf recently and it has consumed me, much like photography and photo editing has consumed many of you. For me, I only have time in my life for one addiction so golf is it right now. I know it – I’m comfortable with it and I’m self aware that I gave up on the guitar for one reason only… I didn’t give improvement enough time. And if I ever get back to it, which I’m sure I will, I know how I’ll approach it. But as I said earlier, I’m a perfect example of the above graph and I’m sure many of you can relate to this in your own life.
How To Get Past This
The next step, once we understand that we sometimes need to push through that valley of disappointment, is realizing that small improvements add up. We all know this and I won’t spend a lot of time on it, but the chart below shows what this looks like over time. Again, it’s flat in the beginning, but over time really starts to ramp up. What this means for you, is you have to commit to this 1% improvement in practicing whatever area of your photography and editing you want to get good at. Watch a video a day and then set time aside to practice what you learned. Sit down and read 10 pages of your camera manual every day. Take one bird photo a day practicing your Auto Focus system and moving around it. Whatever that 1% is, you have to do it.
The Last Step
The last step is just understanding a little more about what makes you give up, and picking your goals on what you think will help you improve in the future.
I’ve always been intrigued and respected the military to a very high degree. If I could go back to my 17 year old punk kid-self, and put my 52 year old mind in him, I would join immediately. I’m intrigued by some of the units and areas in the military where they’re pushed to the highest level. It’s fascinating to see how people can do seemingly impossible things when pushed during their training and in the real world. And I often read about real world battles and understanding some of these impossible circumstances that our soldiers have been through and what their mindset is. I’m reading a really good book, “Alone at Dawn”, right now of just such an experience.
Anyway, my YouTube feed popped up a video recently with a title about “Why men quit during Navy Seal training”. I watched an instructor talk about the exit interview where they asked the men why they quit the program and he said one overall theme was that they didn’t quit because of what they were currently going through, at that very moment. They quit because of the thought of what laid ahead of them – and how they didn’t think they could do it. They were so intimidated by the big picture, that they just bailed out. But when the ones who succeed were asked what got them through, they all said something to the effect of “I just pushed myself to make it to the next meal”, or some small milestone along those lines
The eternal educator in me immediately started thinking about Photoshop – who wouldn’t right? 😉
But it really hit home to me because I hear people all the time talk about how they’re too intimidated by Photoshop. Or too intimidated that they’re new camera has too many features, or whatever other intimidations lie in the photography world.
Nobody can master Photoshop in a month or even 6 months. And you don’t have to by the way. But everyone can acquainted and even good at, layers in a few weeks. And selections. And color tools, and masking, etc… The idea is to set smaller goals ALONG WITH the larger goal. Don’t get intimidated by the entirety of Photoshop. Be proud that you opened up Photoshop and learned how to work with several layers today, or learned how to make a mask or selection to work with the sky.
Do that a few times a week and before you know, you’ll have a solid set of skills under your belt.
Your Marching Orders Soldier!
I’ll wrap up by giving you a simple roadmap.
- Understand that you will never improve as fast as you want. It’s not just you. Nobody improves as fast as they want… NOBODY! (whether they admit it or not)
- Commit to getting a little bit better each day or week.
- Come up with a plan. Instructors in the courses you’ve already purchased (whether it’s from me or some one else) have already laid this plan out for you in their course. Whoever and whatever it is, start doing it.
I hope that gives you a little something to think about. It’s not a new year thing… this is an all year thing and I hope you bookmark this and come back and read it whenever you feel like you’re in that “Valley” we talked about earlier.
Enjoy!
I love teaching and photography... In that order. I feel that enjoying photography, and photo editing can get WAY too complicated. So my personal mission (and favorite thing to do), is to create education that simplifies the process of taking great photos, and how to edit them to get the results you’ve always wanted.
I appreciate these comments. “Smaller goals along with a larger goal”. Just like special educators write for their students. A goal that has a few objectives that are measurable and achievable as steps to work toward that goal.
Thanks Matt. I am learning PS painting right now from a woman that makes wonderful brushes and has a 30 day drip of courses. It can get frustrating, but she wants her students to get a skill down before adding a new one. It has proven to be the best way for me to learn it. I appreciate you reenforcing it. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!!
I have dyslexia which has been a player in my life since childhood! This learning disability has hampered and frustrated me all my life and made learning photoshop very difficult! Matt, can you charter a course plan for me so that I can overcome these stumbling blocks to learning? I am a skilled photographer, but I have fallen way behind my fellow photographers because I
haven’t overcome the complexities of this program!
Hi Rick. Sorry to hear that. I don’t know the specifics of how to teach to dyslexia and am not skilled in that area. So the only thing I could do is put together a plan to learn Photoshop the only way I personally know how. That plan is in my Photoshop System course. https://mattk.com/photoshopsystem
Always happy to help answer questions. Thanks.
Very interesting article. I learned of the Valley of Death when accompanying people in change. We had another name. The origine of this Valley is from Kubler-Ross on Death and dying, I believe. I had never thought to use it with my photography learning. Now you have caught my attention. Let’s see the incremental change in my photography this year.
Thank you.
Monique
I really needed this. Thank you!
Excellent Matt. This whole concept applies to life as well as photography. I’m currently in the valley with my work life. Your msg has made me think differently about my situation and I’m going to apply this process against every aspect of my life.
What a revelation- thank you
Great reminder of what we should all do! Smaller goals are definitely the way to stay motivated. Most of the time I have patience of a nat and think that I should should be able to retain everything I read and remember it–even though I may not use it for a period of time!
Thank you
I like your idea of watching one video and giving your self time to practice what you leant. I have several courses here that I binge watched but did not remember everything because I watched too much in one go. I will try again on some of them with your method.
I remember when working as a corporate photographer, we were switching to digital. Photoshop was a daunting process that was overwhelming. It was easier to keep up with changes in 1999/2000 because magazines and forums were all educating us as to what the upcoming iteration would be like. I was struggling for about 6 months because the more I learned, the more I realized how huge Photoshop was, and the less I knew. This all changed when there was an announcement for an upcoming new version and I was working on an assignment. I had an epiphany that I didn’t have to learn the whole software package because there were parts of it that I’d never need or use. This was an incredible weight lifted off my shoulders and from then on I just paid attention to what I needed to learn. My useful analogy when talking to people new to Photoshop is that they think of it like a bullseye. The black center is where you spend most of your time, the area that becomes so well used that it’s wrote, you won’t even have to think about it. The next successive rings become where you spend less and less time as you go away from the center. So you may do it once a week with the next ring, once a month on the next, once every couple months on the next etc. On the outer area you can refresh if you forget with a tutorial. This advice has been vey helpful many.
best
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I understand the valley of disappointment, but my own view of the graph is that there is a little blip up before the curve goes under the baseline. One of my solutions is to learn to do one or two things well and not think I have to become an expert in everything. I have followed you for years, back to when you were withKelby. Your instructions and knowledge base are terrific. I do forget most of what I learn but I have developed a core knowledge that I can use. I don’t do enough to get really good at PS but the new features in LR classic make things much easier. I am a decent wildlife photographer but lousy at landscapes, so I concentrate on my birds. To give some meaning to my efforts I strive to take enough good photos every year to make a shutterfly calendar to send to my friends, which they love. There is so much free info on the internet that I very selectively buy courses. I bought your course on Topaz/LR/PS workflow. I took an old marginal bird pic yesterday and followed your workflow and turned it into a quite fine (my wife’s my critic) picture.
Thank you for that integration. It’s terrific. There are still many things I can’t do and actually hate in LR. I have never been able to deal with their catalog system, and how to duplicate a catalog without screwing something up. Catalogs get different names and then you are screwed trying to figure out which one will open. Another course? Hurry, I’m 81.
Matt, between you and Steve Perry, I have really improved in the area of birds in flight. I am an Instagram junkie and subscribe to many wildlife photographer participants. I try to analyze the “why when I love an image” and keep it in my mind when choosing to push the shutter. Recently my local photography club had a competition in many categories, and I submitted images. I was not even chosen for honorable mention in any category, but the flaw in this process is that no one gets feedback as to why. That put me in a really down state. So I took a deep dive into why I do photography, and at the end of the day, it is for my enjoyment. I still intend to learn but the likes are less important than my personal development and wildlife conservation awareness is now my priority.
I am in the valley of disappointment with my photography a7r5 with all the lenses etc. I just seem to be losing interest in some of my bird photography landscape etc. I don’t do enough of it and then I get rusty and then I have a hard time taking good images
kind of an aside sort of. I too play the guitar and have had several valleys of disappointment. I’m in my mid-70s now and I’m playing the guitar better than I ever have. I pushed through all those disappointments disappointments with bar chords disappointments with hammer on pull-offs disappointments with hammer on pull-off slides and I just kept going disappointments with being unable to visualize cords and context with songs. also you got to have the right guitar. mine is mostly acoustic some electric. so I made the unusual conclusion here that I should make my own and my guitars are the finest playing guitars that I’ve ever owned so I like them.
Hi
Thanks for all the information. I shall pay heed to it, particularly about practicing one particular skill until it becomes automatic. I for one, watch your videos especially when updates of photoshop come along. Later an image would be improved by one or more of the instructions except I then have to go back through the tutorials to find the item I require.
Thank your for all the work you do in keeping us up to date.
Kind regards from freezing Scotland
Early on in my quest to learn photography I took David Ziser’s Master Class and came away wanting to quit photography. I don’t know why but I stayed with it and 20 years has elapsed and I am still capturing images. I do get a feeling of being inadequate at times, but it gives me so much pleasure that I will do it until I die. Trying to master very small aspects of my camera or Photoshop/Lightroom is a lengthy evolution. I still learn new things, practice and work toward improvement. Your article is spot on. It is the way my photography career has gone. I try to work with people who are better than me and learn from them, read and practice. With new technology I will never stop learning. Thank you for your encouragement. You are a vital tool in my learning arsenal.
That was quite the read!!! Thank you. It really hit with me. Photoshop really does scare me. Layers is something I have wanted to learn in a long time and didn’t really know how to start or where to turn. This read gave me the encouragement to at least try. Thanks again!!
Happy new year Matt
For some time I am exactly in the valley you are talking about. Despite the fact I love learning even at my age of 66 and I love PS (started photography late 50s) I open less and less the computer. I am still working with PS6 stand alone. Most people moved towards CC, the tutorials are going along to advanced stages explaining the latest in the subject. Photoshop suddenly seemed very complicated to me.
Your advice came at the right moment. I realized that I feel good with CS6 and I have so much to learn!!! Thank you.
Very timely, thanks! What with the severe COVID-19 lockdowns here in Australia (2020-2022) and a close family member getting cancer, I’ve been in a photography “funk.” I will try your ideas and see what happens.
BTW, If you want to get back into a guitar “some,” check out Rick Beato on YouTube (music teacher/professor/player with 4M+ subs. You might want to pick it back up again. :0)
Matt,
Thank you for the most valuable course yet. I have chosen you for the best route to improving my photography and editing.
I’m looking forward to focussing on on your courses and reaching my 77.78% improvement.
Darrell Benedict
you’ve hit the nail on the head. it’s the same for learning a language, speaking it, conversing etc. I’m willing to get back into photography and pushing passed the junk in my head. thanks
Some very interesting material. It is like you are knowing me better than me. I do all the wrong things like you mention and had no direction how to change myself. A great message.
I am very familiar with these valleys of disappointment. So much so, that I can fool myself that I cannot find the time or have other commitments that prevent me from practising or training, but really it’s a motivational problem.
Blake and your comments really resonated with me and validated my own journey. When I was learning the exposure triangle, it was most helpful when one of my instructors focused solely on aperture at first. Breaking it down step by step, starting with aperture, then moving to shutter speed, and finally ISO, before bringing everything together into the full triangle, was the approach that clicked for me. Transitioning from JPEG to RAW and from Auto to Manual were also significant challenges. Another hurdle was mastering layers in Photoshop. By pushing through those challenges, I’ve finally gotten the hang of it, but it definitely took time and persistence. That’s just how the journey goes. Thank you for putting all of this into words and for your understanding.
Good thoughts, and even if it is only 1% improvement per week, that’s till a 67.8% improvement in a year. It’s the persistence that counts.
Thanks Matt, you encouraged me to view my ‘faulty’ habits and set new, better goals, perhaps more attainable goals is the best way to put it.
Thank you
Happy New Year Matt. Your article was great especially with the visual graphs. It came at a good time for as I am back in the slump. haha. I purchased your PS program which was wonderful but last year I got stuck and could not get past one issue and just got busy and did not finish the course. Recently, I decided to start up again and the idea of just setting simple goal such as layers was a good one. I will just start with that and master that before I finish the course. Also, thank you for your tidbits about the new LR tools. So very helpful.
This is precisely what I needed to hear. I too often get overwhelmed by all the nuances of Photoshop and Light room, I get nervous about processing my beautiful photos. I fully realize that practice is key, and that I don’t have to learn every single feature, but I have to slice in the time. I’m thankful for all your information and courses. Without them, I would have given up long ago!
Thank you for this reminder. I needed it. A little improvement at a time is satisfying in the long run.
Well done, Matt! You’ve addressed a subject that I suspect is lurking in the minds of so many of us, and your ideas for incremental, but consistent improvement are valuable. Thanks for all you do!
So much to do and limited time. Watching your videos is my main learning experience; keeping up with improvements in LR, PS, and many plug-ins is a challenge; behind on that. Having a main goal of adding my favorite images to an online portfolio, is my primary motivation; FineArtAmerica.com is a splendid host for that; cheap and easy. Entering online contests is also fun. Thanks for your great instruction.
My photo club died because of COVID-19 and never came back, so I’m in limbo without the interaction of other photographers. your article inspired me to get back in gear and stop mourning. thank you 🙏.
Id like to start photoshop or lr from scratch again, but i don’t know where to start. everyday, i look at photos, take a photo and try to read something about photog. disciplined but not organized.
Good motivational talk, Matt! Time to get outside. 🙂
I started taking photography classes at the local community college 3 years ago and take one every semester. As a retiree, courses are half price. Several other seniors do the same here and it forces us to get out on a regular basis to take pictures and because of the class structure, get feedback on our work.
Great Matt! Thanks for taking the time to think this through and send it out…it is bookmarked!
I am making myself send this reply so that I’ll have my thoughts on paper/screen…for myself! Your article made me mentally evaluate the challenge of my learning curves. My personal challenges include coming to America on the Mayflower ship and having Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims; and I am afflicted with a syndrome commonly referred to “dumb as a rock”. And I expect this dummy (me) to teach me anything?…let alone Photoshop, ha!
After years of struggle and little progress, I finally “let myself” pay for some teaching/learning help, from you and others and wow, what a difference! Thank you!
But to be fair to myself, I also reflect on the larger picture of the overwhelming quantity of information to learn, and re-learn, every day…just to keep things going! These include learning how to use my computer, printer, camera, phone, tablet, headphones, television, new-fangled car, my wife’s fancy new sewing machine and even how to get a box open these days…the list is endless! And then, when these devices go “haywire”, I get to learn how to “troubleshoot” something I didn’t know how to use to begin with…ha! And all this before I ever even start with programs like Photoshop and Lightroom. And, to make matters better, once I finally get something through my thick bonehead and learned…..they change how it’s done…ha!
But also, in fairness to myself, I haven’t quit on it and still enjoy trying! I guess it’s like golf, just not a game we will ever totally master.
Thanks for your help!
Dan
This Dan has helped me sort through my learning process. Individual’s habit vary and your response made me realize my own. Thank you!
Thanks. Right on point. Consistency is very, very valuable
Well said, Matt, well said. It’s important to understand the Human psyche when reaching for anything new – with the action of reaching for what you DO want as your focus, even if it’s just getting to the next meal, rather than on what’s intimidating…
Thank you for all that you share with us,
Connie
This was a great article. It tells me to set reasonable expectations on improvement, yet take daily steps to work on it. I am going to start by reviewing some notes I took at a recent presentation.
Thanks for the great advice.
Enjoy what you do.
Good advice, we all want to do it in a day, it is just another form of self gratification, but it is so rewarding to persevere and finally feel, “Wow! I have achieved something, I’m getting good at this thing”. Thanks Matt, your videos and tutorials have been one of the major tools for me and my improvement in PS and LR.
Wonderful approach to practice evolution, I can completely agree with that. The most important thing to achieve something is to be fascinated, committed and persevering. Being somewhat satisfied with what has been achieved is also soothing👍📸.
Many thanks as I have been feeling a little disconnected lately from photography as I can’t always do what I use to for health reasons. I bought my self a lensbaby
It is not as easy as I thought it would be to get the effect I want
Thanks for this great article, and for sharing your own related personal story. Very inspiring and motivating. Thanks for giving me hope!
Makes perfect sense to me Matt.
My problem is that I purchased everything you and other teachers offered but I don’t remember where I put them. That is quite discouraging.
I still take pictures but don’t do much or any editing.
Also I probably used two emails: yahoo and iCloud.
A couple of months ago you talked about teaching photo editing courses you personally do not use. A survey was sent out asking your followers what photo editing courses they use that are not Photoshop. Are you going to teach these programs again such as ON1? Thank you for your time.
Hi Paul. No I won’t be right now. There was a resounding “No…. we don’t want you to teach it if you don’t use it” response. So I won’t be doing any ON1 training as I don’t use it. Thanks.
Matt–this was the perfect topic for me. I’ve been involved in wildlife photography for about 10 years now and starting with the end of 2022 I’ve found myself in the valley. Since then I’ve been learning and improving my images. I graduated from PSE to PS and enjoy the additional features and that they’ve improved my final output. I’m proud that Tamron found my IG account; thought I was good enough to lend me one of their new lenses and published my work in their company newsletter. I was thrilled that one of my photos was a semi finalist in Audubon’s annual contest. I didn’t have a specific plan–more ad hoc. But the willingness to test myself and subsequent recognition was a big moment to realize that I was on the right track.
Enjoyed reading your article. Some things you recommended can be applied to one’s life and health as well of course to photography.
Matt, I just tuned 76 this week. I’ve enjoyed photography since the early 1970s, but like you, along came family, a job, and responsibilities. So my photo quest wasn’t renewed until I retired at the age of 66. At that time I made a commitment that it was a hobby and I was going to have fun or I wasn’t going to do it at all. My only recommendation is that people should enjoy the journey. You should stop to smell the roses. If it is not fun then don’t do it.
Enjoy golf and use it as a getaway from your day-to-day routine.
Thanks very much for these encouraging thoughts. You’ve expressed a lot of wisdom and inspired me to go back through the many classes and videos of yours that I’ve accumulated over recent years!
Some very good advice there Matt. I tutor photography to retired people. I am self taught and do not know everything there is to know so this is good advice for me as well. Thank You.
Apropos getting a little better each day, photographer Scott Bourne recommend picking one page from your camera manual each day at random and following along with your camera in hand. Very few stick with it, but those who do become master photographers.
Thanks Matt – I NEEDED this!
Excellent read Matt. Explained with precision and simplicity. As a ‘working’ musician and guitarist I can relate to your giving up guitar. I was fortunate not to have given up on it. I started playing when I was around 12, I’m 68 now. My guitar has been my best friend all those years, it even did time on a nuclear submarine with me during my stint in the Navy as a Sonar Technician. Now, I try to split my time between my love of making music here in my small home recording studio, and my love for photography. Oh, I must mention that being a garden writer for seven years is what created my passion for photography. I’ll be following along with you and your instructionals as usual this year as I did last year. And will continue to label you, Blake, and Brian as my three mentors. Thanks for all you do for all photographers! I hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas, holiday season, and happy New Year!
Absolutely, well received Matt.
Have not slacked off just a little slow in returning back into my studio.
Thanks for sharing the psychology and process behind improving and also quitting/giving up. Understanding those dynamics is super helpful
Thanks, Matt I did need a kickstart step one was to get off my backside its harder at 88. Regards Roy
At 81, I’m not as motivated as a few years ago. Despite watching a lot of videos (think Matt K’s), I’ve found myself in your Valley if Disappointment. I like your suggestions for overcoming this. Small milestones are by new goal.
Thanks.
Brilliant!
Thanks for advice and plan that that has obviously worked for you!
My plan will be to master the section on layers and selections a best as possible.I follow along each lesson and save my work
I have migrated to LR Cloud and learned to use Air Drop for my pictures.What pleasure.
Two great tips from you. Best is I have resisted watching any other Utubes every time one pops up I collected so many folders of them that took me down the rabbit hole of confusion.
Many thanks for the millions of hours you put in to teach. I look forward to daily lessons.
My new mantra at 82 this year is :The only currency that counts is consistency .I will follow your marching orders.
Happy New Year .
Tomorrow is revision on the blend and gradient!
Wise words Matt! I’m going to work on the 1% improvement! I’ve started by watching the sessions from the recent Photoshop Summit in my lunch hours. Now I need to find an mage and practice the technique when I get home.
Love your work!!!
I appreciate this article. I recently spent several weeks processing photos from 3 different 2 week trips. I got Photoshop burn out, even though I sometimes edit photos as a way of relaxing. Sometimes we all need to just take a brief break.
So wise. And so true! I spent a few hours yesterday practicing with my camera based on some videos I watched. Maybe I can stay on the 1% track.
Very good advice! Thank you.
You can’t eat the whole cow in one day. It takes many, many bites and a lot of chewing. So many people think they are going to get proficient by buying the best gear, taking the best class, etc. You have to put in the time. They say it takes 10,ooo hours of practice to become proficient on a musical instrument; that’s an hour a day for 30 years. I think this holds true for most things in life. You have to keep going to get good.
Matt, all good advice, and well stated. As for me, my new addiction is pickleball! OK, not as challenging as golf perhaps (I’m no better at 70 years old than I was at 12 — so be it). But, yes, I’m trying to get through my “valley of disappointment” as I improve — slowly but surely — at pickleball. Stay well!
Great life lessons, not just for photography. Also, thanks for making me aware of “Alone at Dawn” I watched the short video and was really taken aback. We need more people like that in our society. Thanks, Matt.
The valley of disappointment is a fascinating concept and makes total sense to me. Glad you brought it up. On another subject, when are we going to see some golf photos from you?
This is really quite relevant to me right now. And it also involves golf.I have tried golf a few times and gave up on it every time. I had trouble with my depth perception so I kept missing the balls on my swing. So I said forget it. One day recently my husband dragged me off the computer where I was editing photos, to go to the driving range. I said ok not realizing I was still wearing the glasses I use for the computer. I started hitting balls and I was actually hitting them good.’I was so surprised. Took a series of lessons with the Pro and did my first round of golf yesterday and I had fun!! I’m glad I tried again. Editing photos is fun for me. When there are new things in LR or PS I know Matt will follow up with a video.
I’m too busy playing and trying not to lose a ball 😉
I’m in the process of going through ALL of my images of the last 50 years (I’m 72) and getting rid of clutter. Then will begin to focus on your suggestions. Got to get de-cluttered first!
Thanks Matt. Good thoughts. One thing I’ve learned, using your courses as an example, is that I often can’t watch your video courses just once through and I’m an instant expert. I have to watch, take notes, do the examples, put it aside and then come back and rewatch and even redo the examples.
My photography now revolves around my grandchildren. And with a new one due any day now, I will be taking the next step in my photography!
Hi Matt: i wasn’t able to play golf until I retired. It was a struggle in the beginning but I had a great teacher in Stuart, Fl.
I am presently 86 years old and still play twice a week 18 holes. It gets me out of the house and active with other people.
Yes, there are days it seems why did I make that shot or WOW, that was a great round. Glad you are enjoying the game.
Great article Matt. As you point out it applies to just about everything that you set out to do in your life. I have known people who were so smart that they could almost get there on first attempt but most are like me, set a plan and stick with it. It has worked at work, in photography, family, travel and most things I have done in my 83 years.
Great information, i associate with 90% of that. Thanks for the motivation.
Like you i played piano years ago, picked it up again a couple of years ago with a keyboard, its now collecting dust! Gotta hit it again!
Several years ago my son challenged me to do a drawing every day for one year, whether I spent five minutes or five hours. I did it and at the end of 365 days my drawing skills were beyond what I could have imagined on day one. I am now a confirmed believer in small but consistent steps. Despite ourselves being ourselves, its the easiest and most foolproof way up.
Awesome advice and definitely something I’ll come back to on a regular basis. Reading this made me think you knew me, even though we’ve never met. Thanks for sharing and for the book and video recommendations.
Absolutely what I needed RIGHT NOW! I have been having that post festivity blues about my photography and its direction as well as being in the ‘Valley of Disappointment’. You hit the spot! I have lost my focus and motivation-maybe this is as far as I will get creatively etc etc.
But I am not a quitter so thanks Matt for the restart. Both my camera and me now have a charged battery,
A great article Matt, thank you very much! One other thing that I have observed is that stepping away for a short time and then coming back to something, it almost seems like an improvement in a skill and/or understanding has taken place. I suspect that that improvement really was already achieved, but we were unable to recognize it because we were so focused on the learning process, or perhaps inhibited by doubt about our ability to master the skill. Stepping away for a short time allows those negative thoughts to dissipate, and when we come back we’re pleased and reinvigorated by finding that we really have made progress. I hope this makes sense, I know what I’m trying to say here, but it’s difficult to express clearly.
i Come back from africa reserve Masai Mara and since i lost my motivation for small bird or anything in North america. so now i am at Lithia near of tampa and i will take my caméra and go outside one day at a time to explore and find pleasure again thank you
Very good piece Matt. Thx for the thought you put into your work. It really helps those who follow you.
Matt – Thanks for the words of inspiration. I have a couple thousand images from a bird shoot in December to cull through. Then there’s the editing. I’ll set some small goals and push forward like a Seal trainee!
Happy New Year
thank you for the good advice. Indeed, never give yourself up. Movement before perfection. Micro movements will eventually grow at an exponential rate.
Thank you for taking the time to write this, Matt! It was very helpful!
God Bless!
Great comment about earning Photoshop. I have always been reluctant to start, too much to learn. But your approach, tackle one function at a time, and master it before moving on makes a lot of sense. No need to let the myriad of tools in PS to frighten you.One cannot become proficient in all immediately.
Thanks for the thought, will begin to pick out a function, and practice until comfortable with it, then move on to another.
Thanks,
M. Friedrich
Wonderful thoughts, really resonated with me and I am sure many others.
Reminded me of something I once read “anything worth doing well,is worth doing poorly at first”
Matt Thank You
A timely reminder! Thanks Matt.
Matt, you hit the nail on the head! I’m right now in this situation. I mostly take images when traveling, but I haven’t traveled for five years due to Covid and then my wife having a stroke. She passed away and I decided to travel again. Well, I have a new body so haven’t really mastered completely the camera. Then I found out that I have become very rusty with LR Classic.
So now I’m back to my LR class, starting from the very beginning. I’ve gone through the first 3 videos and plan on doing it every day. Also, I’ve never gone through the course updates that cover the latest additions to LR. I hope I can persist, knowing that this is a many hours investment that will eventually pay-off.
Hi Matt, Thanks for sharing your story. This is so true as I have been into Photography sine I was in high school, now 46 years later it is a challenge to stay motivated. I can relate to your guitar story. I started to play piano and even just 10 minutes a day practicing makes a big difference. Best to you and the family for the New Year.
God Bless,
Mike Kirchner.
Interesting.
One of the problems is that we teach others (and ourselves) everyone is a winner. I used to coach pre-teen and teen soccer to both boys and girls. At the end of the season, everyone got a trophy as a winner. That is not real life. There are winners and losers; some people who are better at a task than others. Roll this forward a few years, now these teens as adults expect to be immediate winners. Maybe as teens if they were taught that not everyone can be a winner and it takes work and perserverence, we would have more people not falling into the “valley of disappointment.”
Its a good article, but far broader than just Photoshop.
This is interesting, because I’m 30 years older than you, have probably been doing Photoshop longer, photography before that, and got started late with both (in my forties.) I feel like I plateaued long ago and even though I keep practicing, I don’t see improvement. Oh, I understand layers and color and a lot more, but it doesn’t translate into the stunning images I want to make. Set goals? I don’t even know what goals to set…
Oh, yeah: I was in the Air Force 60 years ago. Not all that exciting. Of course, I wasn’t bombing rice paddies.
Dear Matt, I spent 30 years in the Navy, and another five years with the Department of Defense, so I appreciate your introspective words about accomplishing goals and the skills that the military imbues in young people. I identified with your thoughts because I’ve played golf for 40 years and been a photographer for almost 65. The common element to improving at any skill, whether marksmanship, golf, or photography, is practice. Go out and do it as often as you can. Make mistakes. Learn from those mistakes and try not to make them again. When confronted with problems in photo processing, take the time to resolve them and learn from them. Matt, you provided a tremendous service to photographers through your lessons and articles. I appreciate it and follow you regularly. Keep it up; you’re doing well.
Excellent article Matt! It’s something that I struggle with all the time. I’ll go through periods where I’m very happy with my photos and other times I think everything I photograph is garbage and I have no clue what I’m doing.
I liken it to what a writer goes through experiencing writers block.
I know when things aren’t going the way I want, to stick with it and push through it. Eventually, the tides will turn and I’ll be happy with what I’m producing.
I’ve been photographing for over 25 years and my thirst for improvement has never waned. I’m constantly taking classes, experimenting and trying new things. Improvement is incremental but as long as I feel I’m improving, I’ll continue to push on.
Regards,
Jack Kosowsky
Couldn’t agree more… one “caveat” for me might be too many interest areas and each requiring application of skills. I usually have 5-6+ projects going at once, only some are photo-related. Round-robin has become the motivation glue… as paint or glue dries other stuff gets done (studio build to shooting glass pieces, or bettering my pano skills for example)… Btw, I live in Tampa too 🙂
A very apropos and thoughtful article. Thanks – just what I needed as a reminder not just for photography. and may I add, I teach this simple fact on a daily basis. Great to hear it from someone else so that I could think about it.