Why Chasing Perfection Can Kill Your Photography
We live in a time where every new camera release gets picked apart by reviewers. Resolution charts, dynamic range tests, pixel peeping at 400% zoom, the whole deal. And look, I get it. Specs matter. Gear matters. But here’s the thing: when your photography becomes a numbers game, it stops being art.
Photography isn’t about winning a lab test. It’s about feeling something. It’s about looking at an image and being transported, back to a moment, a street corner, a fleeting glance. That’s the magic.
The irony is, “perfect” images can often be the most forgettable. Perfect sharpness, perfect exposure, perfect colours, they might impress for a second, but they rarely linger in your mind. What stays with you are the imperfect frames: the ones where the light flares just right, the focus misses slightly but still feels alive, or the grain gives the photo a mood you couldn’t replicate if you tried.
When I’m shooting, I’m not thinking about whether my file will stand up to a side-by-side comparison on YouTube. I’m thinking about whether the photo tells a story. Whether it feels human. That’s why I lean into Fujifilm’s film simulations, why I shoot straight out of camera, why I don’t chase clinical perfection, because I’d rather have character than flawlessness.
So if you’re starting out (or even if you’ve been doing this for years), don’t let yourself be pressured by reviewers who make you feel like you need the sharpest lens, the latest body, a bajillion Megapixels, or the cleanest ISO performance. You don’t. What you need is your eyes open and your camera in hand.
In the end, the “best” camera is the one that makes you want to go out and shoot. And the “best” photo? It’s the one that means something, even if it isn’t perfect. Especially if it isn’t perfect.
