Chapter 13. Never Make a Mediocre Image

Airshow pilot Sean D. Tucker of Team Oracle flies south of New York City.

ISO 320 f/6.3 1/1250 16mm

Image

The reality for any photographer is you are only as good as your last photograph.

It doesn’t matter how good the image was that you shot last year or last week; you’re always in pursuit of the next image. And that pursuit of the next great image is about finding something new and different that you didn’t know, or haven’t seen yet, or haven’t thought of yet. It’s just a way of life.

It’s very easy to go through your career making predictable photographs. You take few risks and face few discomforts, and that ...

Get Visual Stories: Behind the Lens with Vincent Laforet now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.