[shuttertalk]

I would encourage everyone to take a step back and assess themselves photographically every so often; only because sometimes we can get so caught up with what we are doing that we don't realise how far we've come (and have got to go), or sometimes we just plateau in our abilities without realising it. Sometimes we need to take a long hard look at ourselves to see what needs improvement, lest we turn a blind eye to our weaknesses and continue doing the same things over and over again.

I found this article by George Barr, about "Taking your photography to the next level" very inspiring. It's a three part series published on Luminous Landscape. The first part describes the different levels of technical ability & aesthetics, while the 2nd part talks about how to assess yourself and where to get feedback from. It's a very interesting read indeed.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays...evel.shtml
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays...el-2.shtml
(The third part isn't out yet, but I'll be waiting.)

So, where do you think you are at, on the technical and aesthetic scale?

For myself, I would see myself somewhere between 3&4 on the technical scale, and around a D for aesthetics. Pretty sad to say, for a photography enthusiast, but if I were to be honest, that's where I'd peg myself...

What about you? How often do you assess yourself? Are you comfortable with where you are at? What can you do to improve?

[EnglishBob]

After 3 Years of twice monthly photo competitions locally plus a dozen or so mail in competitions and a county fair or two I would have to say having others rate you is a definite help, I learn more from the critique than I have from books. That's why i mostly post my pictures in the photo critique section.

As for putting a value on it, I would say my prints are a consistent 5 now, 14*10 prints matted to 16*20 and have had little problem with sharpness etc. Have just got my first real large prints done commercially and they hold up nicely.

Aesthetics I would peg myself as a definite D, with he odd stroke of luck meeting opportunity and grabbing myself an occasional E SPOT. The pictures I took last year and have worked on recently I have found myself using more and more full frames uncropped, so I must be getting the composition correct more often!

[shuttertalk]

Thanks for the honest response, Craig...

[NT73]

I was reading that a week ago and it puts me at -1
But seriously I have improved by looking and learning .
My theory side of photography is OK , but putting into practise is the hard part unless you push yourself a little, or a lot depending on your goal.
I have two kinds of photo. A serious sort and a general sort. I think aesthetically, with the serious ones, I am at D. The general sort, then it's what I like rather than a goal.
Technically I haven't a clue as I don't print anything as yet.