When I see pics like these...

[Bobobird]

the first thing I want to do is retire from photography.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...6432310&type=1

Particularly impressed that the first pic of the gentoo penguin taken in the South Pole and then the 5th of the polar bear taken in the North Pole ----- by the same photographer.

[AB26]

Bobo,
Is it not perhaps those images that inspire us to do better? All of us might not have the opportunities to go to locations like that but at least we can learn something from it.

[Bobobird]

I agree. 99.9% of the time there is something to learn and leads to "some" improvement. But deep down I know that the "vision" needed is just not there to get even 10% close to what these images have.

Depressing...

[FootLoose]

#6 is depressing... it looks like a wave formation that I have tried to capture many times but my results are nowhere near as good as that ... and that guy is about 10k up the road from me

[Marie Hass]

Dear Bobo,

Could we just say that pictures such as those we just have not had the opportunity to take?

When I am ready to cross off items on my bucket list, I will have a lot more experience than I have now. So, just maybe life will present me with that one shot...

The picture of the bear - I guarantee he was not expecting a bear to show up out of that hole. That picture has an "Oh fxdzk" quality like I have never seen. The same with the penguin. He did not command the penguin to jump for him. He was just in the right place at the right time.

Fantastic shots, all. Thank you for sharing.

Marie

[marlunn]

yep - being in the right place at the right time to capture the unexpected is often the key to a lot of these - what you dont see is the 10,000 other frames that were not good enough, just the 1 that was, you have to have the skill to capture that 1 shot at the moment but a lot of that is time and practice leading up to that moment. All of us are willing to put in as much time and practice as we can while doing our day job so it may take a bit longer to get to, or get close to, this level but if the will is there you are only limited by your vision and - 'I can' always gets more reward than 'I cant'

Bobo, dont be disheartened - be inspired to push yourself and see the good in what you do now and build on it.

edit - sorry that may have come over as a bit condecending - not intended in any way
having seen your work as linked by Mike - you are certainly fully capable of taking those shots - its just opportunity

[Mike Buckley]

I know that the "vision" needed is just not there to get even 10% close to what these images have.

The best photographers so often seem to be the hardest on themselves and don't appreciate the quality of their own work. You're a great example of that and this is a great example indicating why you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. Apparently Outdoor Photographer agrees.

[Glenn NK]

the first thing I want to do is retire from photography.

The first thing that comes to my mind is the investment in travel cost and time it took to even get to where these images were taken. And one doesn't just "pop down to Antarctica and snap a seal chasing a penguin". It takes days and days and a lot of luck. Just to get from the Arctic to the Antarctic requires a huge outlay of time and money.

Then I look at the owl in the snowstorm that you took and realize that you achieved much more bang for the buck than did the other photographer did. That's a great image. Don't be envious.

Glenn

[Bobobird]

I agree with Mike - we tend to be our worst enemies or critics. So everyone - keep plugging away...

Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

[jcuknz]

I attended a great show by a guy who had taken a trip down south from Bluff and he had captured a lot of great shots ... asked how many he had taken he said "about 25,000 '

[NorthernFocus]

Some interesting images there for sure. As others have said, Bobo, making the best of what is available to you is what we all have to do. And you've demonstrated the ability to do that in the past. I also would love to spring for the $25k to take a trip to Antarctica. But I don't see it happening.

[Brownbear]

Yes, beautiful images.. I've seen the polar bear shot before...

And just to say that when I see pics like yours, especially your owl shots I feel totally inept.. However, next winter I intend to try again, and the following winter... etc

[drjuice]

Hi, Bobo -

Several things about your comments and others' back to you....

First, somebody (I think Malcolm Gladwell in one of his early books) said that to become a "expert" in a particular discipline requires at least 10,000 hours of practice. At 40 hours per week, that amounts to doing those 40 hours pretty religiously, will take something on the order of 4 years. Many people on this site probably spend 1 or 2 days a week with their cameras and actively taking pictures.

Second, several years ago, to fill in the holes in my photographic knowledge, I did two things: I signed up for a distance-learning photography course and I started taking more time on photography, and not just aggregate time. The course I signed up for seemed to expect that their students would take about 2-3 weeks to finish each group of assignments. Because I was already working (more than full time), it took me about 5-6 weeks to complete each group of assignments. As for the time spent on photography, I went back to when I was an undergraduate and spent maybe 20-25 minutes composing most pictures and then waiting until I saw the image I wanted (I call it previsualizing the picture) to see forming in front of me. For example, for water falls, rivers, beaches/oceans, etc., it takes longer for me to see what I've previsuzalized. And, were I still back in the days of film, I'd expect to click the shutter maybe 4 times, whereas with my digital camera I've become more careless with the memory sticks' recording technology. Compared to when I saw a roll of film that cost me $6US for the film and slightly more for the development, so say with tax, 36 exposures cost me about $15US or about $0.41 per slide. Now, with digital technology, I find that I print maybe 3-6 pictures out of a whole day's shooting. Probably 1/2 of what I've previsualized winds up being printed. But, why I print those particular pictures is to put them on my thinking wall so that the next time I have the opportunity, I've thought about what I want to do differently to improve how that particular image comes out. Changes could be using different lighting (or not), either inside/outside or time of day, sunny/nasty weather, changing the style of clothes people are wearing (perhaps from beachwear to hiking attire), etc.

Third, one of the things I regularly do is to vote in the CiC monthly competition (the one Donald runs -- thanks to Donald)! This gives me a bunch of different subjects to look at and to figure out what I like about each particular image. For example, what I liked about the picture (unidentified until the voting ends) was the way the photographer worked with some aspects of his image that I hope I can learn to do well. As well, that image will go up on my thinking wall (in the section labeled "Other folks' pix").

Finally, besides regularly logging into CiC, I also regularly look at the "assignments" for Shutterbug, Outdoor Photographer, Popular Photography, National Geographic, and others and choose at least one a month to actually do with 3-4 subjects that fit the topic. The biggest driver is that I once saw an assignment in Shutterbug that focused on architectural patterning, a topic I've long been interested in. My hit rate on all the magazines at this point is 0 (for the ones I've sent in), but I have the feeling I'm getting closer.

I hope this helps.

v