I’m new to the hobby and I thought this would be an interesting discussion question. Greatness is subjective, of course, so I’m not talking greatness in terms of being ranked against all photos taken in the world (unless that’s personally the benchmark you choose to rate yourself on). What I’m really asking is how often do you personally feel fulfilled with your photography? Whether you go out daily on photography walks, take your camera everywhere all the time, or just do a ton of professional gigs, what I want to know is how often do you think “Wow, I got a great shot there. I’m really proud of this one.”? Do you have several every time do take photographs, maybe one a day, or is it few and far between for you? How do you feel about coming home from a photo session and feeling that you didn’t really get anything good? For those that do professional client work, how do you feel if you finish a pro gig and don’t feel like you got anything all that special (even though it may be good enough to warrant your professional standards)? On a second note, if you do professional gigs like weddings and such, do you ever aim to get something unique and original or are you more focused on making sure you get everything on your standard checklist of photos your clients expect to have?
100% hobbyist here.
A shot I think was great ten years ago might look pretty average now. But a shot I took ten years ago that I still think is great? Then it’s great.
I couldn’t put an exact number on it, but it’s certainly less than ten percent of the shots I’ve ever taken, and that’s quite a lot of photos. That doesn’t mean that 90-plus percent of my shots are garbage (those get deleted). They’re OK, they may even be good, but just not “great”.
Joe McNally has a great phrase. If I remember right, he called it the “pucker factor” (try saying that fast). It’s the feeling you get when you absolutely know beyond all doubt that you’ve taken a real cracker of a shot, and by that definition it is rare.
And if you evaluate too many of your shots as “great”, then you have to raise your game to make “great” harder to get…