Stop Comparing yourself to Other Photographers

Photographer Tips Elk Grove, CA.

One of the biggest struggles I have had as a photographer is mistakenly comparing myself to other photographers.  Nothing destroys your self-confidence more than believing you don’t measure up to another photographer’s work or ability.  This is a constant struggle for me even 15 years into the business.  In the age of digital photography and social media, it is easier than ever to compare your work to that of others, and that can often leave you feeling inadequate or like you'll never measure up. When you compare yourself to other photographers, it devalues your own worth and your work.  The comparison cycle has robbed me of the joy of appreciating my own work on many occasions. It has knocked down my self-confidence by a notch or two many times.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve began to realize that no matter who they are or how great someone is at a specific task or job, everybody goes through self-doubt and will at some point compare themselves to others.  Even photographers who are big in the industry have had moments of inadequacy and doubt. One of my mentors in the Newborn Photography industry, Ana Brandt, is a big-time photographer who does celebrity newborn photos and travels all over the world teaching other photographers how to be a newborn photographer.  Recently on a Mastermind zoom group, she confided in us that even now 21 plus years into her business, she has moments of feeling inadequate and like she doesn’t measure up. She said she will look at one of her sessions and feel deflated, especially after looking at another photographer’s work. This realization gave me some serious pause. If someone as accomplished as Ana can compare herself to others and have doubts, then maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on myself when I do it.

When we get into a phase of doubting our abilities as a photographer, I believe it stems from a feeling of not being able to see our own work objectively.  I go through times when I feel like my work isn’t good enough and I look at other photographers and think wow they are so much better than I am.  Then I will have a client reach out and express how amazing their photos are and how much they love them.  When I am in a negative head space, I don’t always clearly see my work or my worth and it takes an outside person to knock some sense into me. 

One of the most important things that I must remind myself when I begin to get sucked into the comparison vortex, is that we only see the best of everyone's work on social media. When we look at other photographers’ posts, all we’re seeing is their “highlight reel” – the very best stuff they’ve put out there after sorting and deleting all the rest.  There are countless deleted shots by top end photographers that never see the light of day. No photographer is going to post their very worst photo sessions or post images that are out of focus, compositionally not great, etc. Why then do I find myself comparing their best work to my worst work?  How do I know what their worst images look like? 

Now I do want to stipulate that not all comparison is in fact bad or out of place.  I do believe that when you look at other photographers work through the lens of wanting to learn and improve yourself, then it is appropriate to do so.  We all can learn from someone else in our industry. We just need to keep in mind that there is a difference between studying someone else's photos to improve your own versus letting your self-esteem be run down by obsessing over how your work compares to that of others.

So, as I move forward, I hope that I can transition away from comparison in the negative sense and learn to grow, improve, and educate.  I want to achieve an understanding that I can define my own success in my photography business, and it shouldn’t stem from me comparing my business, work, or journey to another photographer.