Once I start creating perfect images, I’m quitting photography. This is why

I’ve made too many mistakes as a photographer to count them on one hand. I’ve wasted money on crappy gear, over-edited photos, forgotten to pack an SD card, crashed a drone, shot with my shutter too slow, and – my personal favorite – missed a stair step and fell and scraped up my arm in the middle of a wedding ceremony with everyone watching.

But, here’s the thing: if I become a perfect photographer, I’m quitting photography altogether.

Perfection isn’t a goal for photographers to reach for, for two main reasons. One, once you think you’ve reached perfection, you stop learning and growing. Two, photography is how humans share our view of the world – and if there’s something that all humans have in common, it’s imperfection.

I’m quitting photography once I become a perfect photographer. The good news? There’s no such thing as a perfect photographer, so I have about as high a chance of becoming a perfect photographer as pigs do of flying.

Photographer Jerry Uelsmann once said, “It is the illusion of knowledge, not ignorance, that keeps one from growing.” Ignorance can be fixed, but arrogance is far more deadly as an artist.

I’ve been a photographer for nearly 20 years, and I’m still learning new things. It would have been easy to get my camera off auto mode and think that I’d learned everything there was to learn about photography, but that’s simply not true.

There’s far more to learn about photography than just manual mode. Mastering the right autofocus settings. Creating beautiful light with artificial lighting. Creating special effects. Adopting new photo editing tricks. The list is endless.

I think there are certain things that a photographer should know before adopting the “professional” label, but even pros should still keep learning. Once the technical aspects of photography are mastered, there are still new ways of thinking, new perspectives, new hacks to try, new props to experiment with. Some of my favorite images came from shots that I took not knowing at all if they would turn out.

The other reason that I will never become a perfect photographer is that photography is inherently human, and humans are inherently imperfect. This is also why AI will never replace true human-created photography, because AI tries to be too perfect.

I was getting ready to take some summer photos of my children a few days ago, and I was worried about things like stained dresses, unbrushed hair and scraped knees. But, then I stopped and realized that stained clothes and scraped knees from playing outside are exactly what I remember about childhood summers. How dare I think about airbrushing those memories away!

The camera is simply a tool for humans to share with other humans their view of the world. This world is far from perfect (and lately feels rather like a dumpster fire). Capturing those imperfections on camera is how we discuss them, remember them, and even work to change them.

Look at the photojournalists who are taking images that are uncomfortable to look at, because it’s the uncomfortable images that are going to start conversations and maybe even spark change.

Have I taken photographs that I’m incredibly proud of? Sure, but these images aren't among my favorites because they’re perfect, but because they capture the moment in a memorable way – even when that means capturing and remembering the imperfections.

Growth should always be the goal, but never perfection. There’s no such thing as a perfect photographer – and that’s the point.

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