I’m new to the hobby and I thought this would be an interesting discussion question. Greatness is subjective, of course, so I’m not talking greatness in terms of being ranked against all photos taken in the world (unless that’s personally the benchmark you choose to rate yourself on). What I’m really asking is how often do you personally feel fulfilled with your photography? Whether you go out daily on photography walks, take your camera everywhere all the time, or just do a ton of professional gigs, what I want to know is how often do you think “Wow, I got a great shot there. I’m really proud of this one.”? Do you have several every time do take photographs, maybe one a day, or is it few and far between for you? How do you feel about coming home from a photo session and feeling that you didn’t really get anything good? For those that do professional client work, how do you feel if you finish a pro gig and don’t feel like you got anything all that special (even though it may be good enough to warrant your professional standards)? On a second note, if you do professional gigs like weddings and such, do you ever aim to get something unique and original or are you more focused on making sure you get everything on your standard checklist of photos your clients expect to have?
Some of my best shots only came to be in post-production, having thought that I’d not necessarily got what I’d wanted while shooting. For me, i learnt to get as close as possible to the ideal final image while out with the camera to help speed up the editing process and to reassure myself that the photography skills were there instead of the editing skills. So when i took some of my best shots i was probably being hard on myself. That being said, I would take great shots very regularly whilst i was very new to photography because skills develop much more quickly at that point. Now, i can almost guarantee the photos i take will be good, and it’s often a matter of balancing various external factors to then get those great shots.