Why a Landscape Photographer Should Welcome Failure

This week I want to talk a little about failure because I think it's essential to have the right mindset about failing when working towards and conquering goals. So often, we're inundated by messages of success and accomplishment in the world of social media. Of course, we all work hard in developing and fine-tuning our craft, so don't get me wrong here as I fully support shouting your successes from the mountain tops. However, so often, failures aren't celebrated, and I think they should be too. But to celebrate our failure, we need to change our mindset. 

Early in my photography journey, when I was devouring everything I could consume, I found myself being ashamed of my images because they all felt like failures. My images never seemed to measure up to the talent I was surrounded by.

Side Note: Mistake #1, never compare yourself to another photographer. But that's another topic for another day. 

Then one day, I discovered a quote from Ansel Adams. He stated, 

“Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.”

Reading this quote changed so many things for me in my approach to photography. If the great Ansel Adams thought that 12 significant images in a year are a good crop, then why was I putting so much pressure on myself to click out portfolio-worthy images every time I picked up my camera? 

The answer to that question all came back to my mindset about failure. I didn't want to create images that sucked. I didn't like what I thought was a failure.  

I've come to learn that the truth is most images you take will not be all that spectacular. For every image I create, you can guarantee that I've captured hundreds that are not all that amazing. Some may consider that failure but listen up, my friend, because images that do not make the mark are not failing. Instead, they are the reality of photography, especially landscape photography. 

^{ISO 64, 14mm, f10, 15 sec}

Furthermore, and maybe I'm going out on a limb here, but I don't think so. I'm going to suggest that failure is actually a success. Failure, or rather images that aren't all that great, allows us to grow emotionally and physically in our photography. 

Perhaps nature didn't give you incredible light when you captured an image? Change your mindset and find something beautiful about your scene with less than spectacular light. I guarantee there's something. Develop your eye for beauty and your ability to be flexible in such situations. I'd call that kind of development success, not a failure.  

Perhaps you return home and notice the composition you chose didn't quite work out as you had first thought. That's not a failure. Instead, that's self-critique that will lead to growth and is a massive win towards becoming a better photographer! 

This year I want you to change your mindset about failure and welcome it into your journey because if you change your mindset about failure, I think you'll see that there's no such thing in your journey as you become the photographer you want to be.