Do you ever regret photographs you didnt take?

batwister · Nov 19, 2012

blansky said:
Actually though, some of our best work is still on the negs or computer, that we haven't spent enough time with to make a great print of. Or somehow passed it by completely when we were editing.

This could be true, another question of judgement. Maybe I've been making and printing the wrong photographs all this time? But if the ones I have printed aren't that great, it seems unlikely the discarded ones will be masterpieces. I see making photographs as growth, in conjunction with constantly heightened awareness and openness. My older images were made with a narrow frame of mind - as well as technical and aesthetic naivety. I'm still going with the idea that, if I keep at it, I'll hit my peak in my mid to late 40s - so I have a good twenty years! Apologies to anyone already there... everyone. With Ansel Adams for instance, an unprinted negative he made in 1945 is more likely a better picture than one from 1925. It might be a different story for photojournalists/street photographers, who can easily overlook the millions of negs they make every day.

blansky · Nov 19, 2012

batwister said:
This could be true, another question of judgement. Maybe I've been making and printing the wrong photographs all this time? But if the ones I have printed aren't that great, it seems unlikely the discarded ones will be masterpieces. I see making photographs as growth, in conjunction with constantly heightened awareness and openness. My older images were made with a narrow frame of mind - as well as technical and aesthetic naivety. I'm still going with the idea that, if I keep at it, I'll hit my peak in my mid to late 40s - so I have a good twenty years! Apologies to anyone already there... everyone. With Ansel Adams for instance, an unprinted negative he made in 1945 is more likely a better picture than one from 1925. It might be a different story for photojournalists/street photographers, who can easily overlook the millions of negs they make every day.

I've looked over old contact sheets and proofs taken years ago that I wondered why I didn't print certain images on it.

When we are editing, sometimes we are in a certain mode or mindset and completely overlook something that we took that has a lot of potential.

It's like looking at an old yearbook and wondering why I didn't hit on that chick when I had the chance.

Shawn Dougherty · Nov 19, 2012

I agree with Blansky. It's amazing how our ideas about an image can change when stripped of initial expectations and imbued with the filter of time...

batwister · Nov 19, 2012

blansky said:
It's like looking at an old yearbook and wondering why I didn't hit on that chick when I had the chance.

Or shave...

F4user · Oct 13, 2014

Saturday I did a dirtbike race over mountains and saw a very very special sunset I had never seen, a mist over the mountains lit by an reddish-orange sun very dense, tree foliage was spectacular. Trying to describe the sensation experienced is like trying to describe orange to a blind man.
Even i had not a damn ifone with me.

mono · Oct 13, 2014

pdeeh · Oct 13, 2014

Regret is one of the least utile emotions, so i don't bother with it

Jeff Kubach · Oct 13, 2014

benjiboy said:
Many times, anglers aren't the only ones who regret "the one that got away".

+1

Jeff

MartinCrabtree · Oct 13, 2014

I was driving my Jeep in the snow a couple years ago. It was deep. Some kids had been shoveling the snow off the roof and packing it down and sledding off the roof into the street. Nope. Not even a cell phone.

aRolleiBrujo · Oct 13, 2014

Katie said:
All the time.

But then I have shots, while at the time seemed to be worthless, that I look back on a see a baby where I now have a 10 year old. I love just about all my shots. I should shoot MORE.

Hi Mrs. Kate how have you been! I miss your great photography over at Fred's! This is the evil banned Americo aka a.rodriguezpix by the way! I do miss posts and trying to contribute however folks with drama and hi feed cred were able to get my goat and have me accused and banned! It was even my own dang post too boot! ah well I've gotta let go but cool thing is I'm doing film much more these days plus my daughters bout and win with cancer kinda has us tapped out so I ended up liquidating my Nikon gear and a lot more though the good Lord has been kind to us and let us keep our daughter and with God's grace she's been cancer free nearly two years now! Life is hard life is short life is good and God is great to bless us with our finest humans fighting to save our ills!

aRolleiBrujo · Oct 13, 2014

I surely do regret many I envisioned but hadn't the courage to shoot with the medium known as film based on my fears of errors and as one other forum member put it, analysis paralysis! I'm doing well now but I still sometimes lost the shot! Some days I have an idea but decide to bypass it due to fear of ruin plus fear of lack of creativity, sadly.

Arklatexian · Oct 14, 2014

Katie said:
All the time.

But then I have shots, while at the time seemed to be worthless, that I look back on a see a baby where I now have a 10 year old. I love just about all my shots. I should shoot MORE.

Katie, your comment reminded me of something I learned years ago. While I try to shoot "fine art", "nature photography" and such, I have found the only really important pictures that we take are of our families. I do regret not taking more B&W of my family (portraits and the like)........Regards!

Kilgallb · Oct 25, 2014

Back in 1974 I bought my first real 35 mm SLR, I was 15 years old. I went out immediately to shoot. I was at 14st and Northmount drive and an ambulance came screaming down the road. I snapped a shot. The ambulance stopped at the apartment at the corner. The attendants rushed in. I snapped away. The attendants rushed out with one holding a baby in obvious distress in arms and distraught parents looking on. I stopped photographing.

In retrospect, I should have shot more and decided later how to deal with the images. I was a bystander and could offer no help so my picture taking at a distance neither helped or hindered the situation.

JRoosa · Oct 26, 2014

The worst thing you can do when you see something beautiful is worry about not having a camera.

When I start to think that, I force myself to just appreciate what is in front of me. It would be nice to have a photo of it, but it would be terrible to ruin the moment with regret.

J.

Old-N-Feeble · Oct 27, 2014

I regret not taking far more pictures of family, friends and pets. My walls would now be full of photos evoking precious memories.

Ko.Fe. · Oct 28, 2014

Depends. On street level I miss some good shots, but no regrets for long time after.
I regret I didn't have space to learn b/w. It was no space in my parents apartment, nor it was later.
I took it on slide. But I regret I couldn't take on b/w, to develop and print it.

Ces1um · Oct 12, 2017

I don't regret the photos I never took. I still have the memory of the moment which is more important. What I regret sometimes is not indulging in an experience that I could have had.

guangong · Oct 12, 2017

Not infrequently, although a camera is on the ready, I sometimes become so engrossed with the action of the scene that I become distracted from actually taking the picture. I find it especially difficult photographing musicians, even when invited to do so, for this reason. I also lost a lot of fish because I became more interested in such things as a bird gathering material for a nest.
Amateur photographers have the advantage of enjoying life without the need to bring back a trophy.

nsurit · Oct 12, 2017

Yes and they are some of the best I've ever made.

Ian Leake · Oct 12, 2017

No, because you can’t change the past and life is too short to worry about it. But I do try to learn from missed photos.

Wallendo · Oct 12, 2017

I regret not taking more photographs of my grandparents while they were alive, and my parents when they were younger.
I can't count the number of times I was driving and saw a great opportunity but was in hurry to get to my destination and told myself I would try the next time through but never did.

jim10219 · Oct 12, 2017

Gerald C Koch said:
Film is not expensive so no one should ever regret not taking a photograph.

Either you don't shoot large format, or you're a lot richer than most people.

I don't regret the shots that I don't take. The one's I regret are the ones I did take, but screwed up somehow. There's something about knowing you were so close that you thought you had it, yet still missed out that just stings me in my soul.

NJH · Oct 12, 2017

All the time. Its typically when I am driving to work and late with traffic behind me so I spot something off the road but can't stop, or less annoying forget to chuck a camera in the car. Solution is get up earlier and always put a loaded camera in the car with me. I guess my story will be the similar for those living in cities who like to photograph the street. The most annoying missed opportunity though is the type where you can't do anything about it, typical case for me is your on a busy road with no safe places to stop or paths that would have given the same view. Regret is too strong a word though, life is too short to dwell on these things.

Do you ever regret photographs you didnt take?

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Do you ever regret photographs you didnt take?