One of the goal posts, for myself personally, that I use to help keep me motivated when out shooting is, am I moving forward in my photography. When I come back with images, did I capture the story I wanted to tell? Are my images better compositionally than they were a month ago, a year ago? Did I work the scene when applicable to have more than one opportunity to showcase the subject? Am I better at post processing to aid in helping bring the story to life?

It is a standard that I use for photography personally. I need to see growth in my images to validate that all the work that I am putting in to get the shots has moved the needle. Are there times when I completely miss the mark, sure. I realize that’s part of the growing process and the key is learning why you missed the mark or a certain shot didn’t work and learn from it.

In order to grow professionally, whether it be as a photographer or an artist, you have to realize that you can do better each and every time you go click or put a brush to paper. The key is that you have to be willing to fail in order to move forward. Try new things and take stock of what works for you to help your creative vision.

Realizing that staying status quo is not an option has to be part of your motivation to continue to grow. If you feel that you have learned all there is to know with your craft, then your work will reflect that and the creative process ceases to look for new ways to create.

One way to keep the photography or creativity moving forward is to have others that are well respected in your field do a critique or your body of work. They can provide constructive criticism and feedback that you can immediately take away to improve your craft.

How are you moving forward? What are you using as a measure to see if you are moving forward? I would love to hear your comments.