Yummier noodle

Hi there,

Have you ever felt that when you try to do something better, the result is worse than when not try?

I have just got this feeling when I had photography class last weekend. I love photographing. My first camera was Yashika, a manual single len camera I bought 19 years ago. The second one was FujiFilm digital camera. The recent one I am using now is Canon 500D, a DSLR camera that I got last year as my birthday present. Since this 500D is not compact camera so it allows me to make better quality than my FujiFilm which is not functional anymore, I decided to take photography courses.

With the better camera and lots of tips learnt from 2 courses, I expect that picture I take must be significantly better than before. But it is not. After I saw pictures taken by me last weeked, I was very disappointed because I think I could do better when I used automatic shooting mode. One of my colleauge said "Do you expect more?" One of my friend said "You are too hard on yourself"

Not just me. One of photo club member who is a staff in the course is very upset with pictures he took recently which when his pictures are compared with mine, it's like A+ vs. C-. But he feels his skill is worse or he did better in the past.

His story makes me feel better with myself and my skill because it shows to me that no one ever be satisfied with himself or what he has. It's all about expectation. We always expect more and more. There is a song I like which says "You love me less or I expect more fom you". I also have my own motto that I usually say "Other people's noodle is always looked yummier than yours". We are not happy with what we have. We always see two rabbits in the bush are better than one in our hands. Anything not belong to you or not done by you else usually look more valued.

Apart from expectation, another obstacle is "rules". In the class our instructor taught us 16 things we hade to think before pressing shutter. Althought he said "Sometimes you have to decide to take picture that you like or to make it right (by rules)", I was framed by those rules and as the result my creativity was frozen. What in my head yesterday was "What about rule of third?", "What's about white balance?", "What's about foreground and background?", "How to compensate the light?", "Should speed shutter be faster?"etc. Eventually I am not happy with my pictures because I think they don't meet some rules. Those pictures are not good enough for me just becuase my expectation has been changed bu all those rules.

Wow, photo class does not just only teaches me how to take good picture, but also gives me lesson of life. "How to manage your expectation to keep you motivated but not too much pressure on you?" "When to follow or to break the rule?" or "How to maintain your happiness while being motivated and rules met?"

I think finally we have to ask ourselves whether we will be happier with what we are trying to do or to be .

About photographing, I am happy with what I am trying to do so I am not giving up. About myself, I should not try to be someone I am not. Hopefully I am yummier noodle to someone.

What's about you? Do you enjoy your noodle?

Goodnight xx