per-fect
- having no mistakes or flaws
- completely correct or accurate
Here's the conversation with myself that took place when I looked at the photo above.
Side #1 - I like this!
Side #2 - The bird feeder is too dark and slightly crooked. Once again, you'll have to crop it to make sure it's composed better! Can you not remember the Rule of Thirds before you click the shutter button?
Side #1 - I love the fluttering wings
Side #2 - Well, it looks like everything is fluttering! Do you see that it's not perfectly focused. A faster shutter speed would have worked better.
Side #1 - I'm so glad I caught the finches at my new feeder
Sides #2 - You may be glad, BUT you know you've seen much better photos of birds; so crisp and clear that you can see each little feather!
Side #1 - I think this will be my photo of the day, the one I'll post on my 365 groups.
Side #2 - IT IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!
So many times I follow the critical part of me; the one that expects perfection. So many times I do not post a picture because it's something less than perfect.
This time I didn't let that critical part of me win. I posted it in flickr and here I am posting it on my blog. I expect perfection in most things I do, and seriously that's just not possible. I need to worry less about the skills of other photographers and concentrate on improving my own skills. I read recently that "success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only."
This is true not only in photography, but my life. I can't continue to expect myself to be the perfect wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, or sister. I am who I am and that's it. Oh, there's room for improvement; yes there is, but I'm tired of beating myself up because of the "should haves." I have to embrace the fact that I am less than perfect. Live each day the best I can, leave yesterday behind me, and look to be better tomorrow.
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Photo-Heart Connection
hosted by Kat at Kat Eye Studio
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how others have connected with their photography.
sometimes things are loved because of the small "flaws" not because they are perfect.
ReplyDeleteVery well thought, Cathy! I love the feeling of movement and the fluttering of wings in your image!
ReplyDeleteCathy, I enjoyed your musings on perfection. My own feeling is that often imperfect tells a more interesting story. I think "perfection" is nearly impossible at any rate - I rarely even think about it!
ReplyDeleteYour wonderful image looks perfect to me -- it really captures the energy and lovely colors of the birds. Good for you for posting it! I'm constantly fighting that gremlin that whispers in my ear "not good enough". As I age, I think I'm getting better at ignoring her -- it makes life so much better!
ReplyDeleteYou caught those birds in all sorts of action! Great picture. To heck with perfection, so the feeder isn't straight. So what. Life is what it is and it is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHere, Here! I so agree. Guess what? I like your photo too. So it's not (perfect) but the motion is just wonderful and made me feel as if I could really see the birds happily fluttering away at your feeder.
ReplyDeleteWe are all so critical of ourselves and our work at times...as I've gotten older, I've learned to let go of some of that. We all capture life in our photos and life certainly isn't perfect...it's perfectly imperfect!
ReplyDeleteOh, and it love this image, Cathy!
ReplyDeleteAre you inside my head? Oh, how many times have I had the perfection conversation with myself! Good for you for ignoring voice #2. I like the fluttering movement that you have captured - it seems to me to be the essence of bird feeder activity.
ReplyDeleteGood for you to not listen to Side #2. We will always find somebody better than ourselves. Don't compare to them, compare to yourself and push yourself for you.
ReplyDeleteI love it! If you used a faster shutter speed, you might not have had the wonderful motion in the wings. I know what you mean about striving for perfection - but perfection may not always be best - this is a great lesson for me to remember!
ReplyDeleteGood for you, I think there is room for lots of different styles & interpretations of perfection. Love the fluttering wings.
ReplyDeleteListen closely to side one. She is on your side and will sustain and nuture your heart.
ReplyDeleteI think the joy you experienced from capturing of at least six birds in a haven you created especially for them should definitely trump any of the slight imperfections you identify. Perfection has its place, but I suspect it isn't usually well aligned with one's artistic vision.
ReplyDeleteI concur with listening to side one...NOW, let me just say, that I wish I had taken that image...seriously in love here. But right now I'm really into motion, blur, abstract, all things that are so very freeing, and this so encompasses a day in the life of a bird. It tells a story in a way that freezing the action just wouldn't have. Oh, you should add this to the FOL group for everyone to see! xo (because then I can favorite it, lol) And you know, it has a painterly feel to it.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful post, as always Cathy! I can relate to your topic, espacially when it comes to photgraphy. But life (read: YOU) doesn't have to be perfect, to be wonderful :)
ReplyDeleteI just love those fluttering wings!
I love this post. I have exactly the same dialogue with myself - even though I set up my blog nearly 3 years ago with the specific aim of overcoming perfection and posting what I want! I love your photo here. You get such a sense of busyness from the movement against that lovely soft background.
ReplyDeletethat is one of the reasons I don't like to blog, for this very reason this goes through my mind. have to keep saying to myself my blog is for me and only me and I am the only one that matters with my photography. we all are our worst enemies most days. I love your birds and yes it is perfect.
ReplyDeleteThere is no perfect, is there? I love the conversation in your head, and I love that overcame that perfectionist voice to post this. Art is not about perfection, it's about expression. There is so much motion and energy in this, I can feel your joy in hosting these birds at their feeder. That's what you wanted to express anyway, isn't it? Thank you for sharing in the Photo-Heart Connection!
ReplyDeleteI think it has a fabulous sense of motion which I love - wonderful conversation too - I think I may have had it myself!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I love all the movement in your photo and well all know those feeders swing around when the birds are having lunch. I am a perfectionist (plus Virgo, anal-retentive with a touch of OCD). I am in this club with the self-talk that makes me crazy. I get it. I think our PHC this month are very similar. Great (perfectly great) minds must think alike.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad we're posting together in 365. I think your images are getting better and better and better. You're turning out some great stuff. I remember long ago when you'd mostly just post little things you found in your back yard. Jus' sayin'-you're a rock star.
One of my favorite quotes says 'Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good'. As photographers ... and as people ... we need to remember that. {By the way ... plenty of my 365's are far, far from perfect, some aren't even good!}
ReplyDeleteI love your photo ... so artistic ... I think it is perfect, just the way it is!
ReplyDeletebravo!
ReplyDeleteHallelujah and amen! Don't we all have these conversations in our head? I think this photo is perfect. It reminds me of all the time I spent in California trying to capture the perfect, fluttering wings images! Cathy, I agree with Susan D - In fact, we've talked about the difference in your images from when we first "met" you in Kat's class. I'm loving watching you grow as a photographer every day in our 365 group.
ReplyDeleteI have just the same conversations so I put a quote on my blog header to remind me to stop comparing myself to others and do more of what I love. It is very freeing. I love your picture too. 26 comments say it is beautiful! and what's perfect? Your blog post and your PHC. x
ReplyDeleteThe photo is simply wonderful... but I can understand you.
ReplyDeleteI am a perfectionist too and this makes me expect too much when I do something and don´t appreciate very much the good things I do if they are not according to what I expect. However, I have started to change this since I understood that it was making me not to enjoy a big part of my life. Now I try to appreciate more and expect less and also to dare to try new things, because experienced is better than perfect.
Fantastic photo-heart connection