This concept of showing a bad image, explaining why it's bad, and then showing a similar image that doesn't have those flaws is *fantastic*. Learnt a lot - thank you!

I would be interested in a Negative Space vs Empty space video as your mentioned you could do an entire video talking about it. That is something that I know I struggle with personally.

Do more videos of this type. I learned a lot.

My notes from this video: - Get an eagle - Buy a chainsaw - Buy a sailing ship

At last!! Some of my photographs are just like Thomas Heaton's!!

Tip for viewers: pause video just before Thomas explains what's wrong with the image, and guess what he's going to say

That chair is the most British thing I’ve seen on this channel haha

When I’m stuck in the “suck” trying to get a good shot your voice pops into my head and I press on...thank you for your inspiration and great art!

"If I'd had a chain saw" -- love it! I've made the same comment to my wife who gives me a hard time if I move some pine needles off a mushroom. Accuses me if "editing nature".

As pro photographer of 30+ years I'll share with your viewers a couple of tips... : ) When you shoot an image one of the most important considerations is that the final image resides within a frame, unlike what you see when you look at the scene with your eyes - ie when you are really there. And the relationship of the frame to the contents of the image is a crucial and often overlooked factor that makes or breaks a good shot! Composition is not just about how the elements of the photo relate to each other but also how they relate to the frame of the image and that frame might not always be the one you see through your camera. Most of the issues you have with those shots is composition and you could improve many of those existing images dramatically with a judicious crop to remove "dead" parts of the image that distract from and weaken the shot. Cropping the photograph allows you to recompose the key elements in the image after even you've shot it. That first shot of the yellow tree in the forest... A vertical crop instead of the landscape crop would eliminate the junk left and right of the image, and the bonus is the accentuation of the upright trunks with the vertical crop - a big improvement I think. The mountains with the sloping dark foreground. Assuming you shot raw, do two outputs, one with lighter foreground and sandwich the two images together. Then again do a vertical crop and use the rock outcrop in the foreground to counterbalance the adjoining part of the slope left in the crop. Also the closer crop would increase the "stress" between the key elements and the frame The mountains with the pool - ironically the closeups you showed of the key elements I thought were way better than the whole image. I would just "zoom in" and crop out a sizeable part of the extraneous surroundings - sea, beach etc. Bring the pool into the immediate foreground. Tighten the composition and lose the "dead wood"... speaking of trees... : ) And the drooping branches and reeds...that looked like a really nice shot, but compositionally as you pointed out you've gone all lets create a frame, but left it empty. I'd bet if you even cropped that image and removed one side of the frame it would be greatly improved. You probably know what I'm talking about here but some of your viewers may not. Often a just ok shot can be really improved afterwards just by recomposing what you have already by kinda retroactively reframing the shot. Of course it's better if you compose and shoot it right first time. Wide vistas can be awesome but great care has to be taken when you have a big central hero like a mountain as the surrounding landscape can just become so much uninteresting padding and dilute the impact of the overall shot if that surrounding landscape lacks any features or is just plain messy. Cheers

Spot on Thomas, as photographers we can all "pat ourselves on the back" when we take good images, but everyone else isn't looking at the images throught your eyes. I always learn more when things don't go to plan, and that's what motivates me. Keep up the great work. Enjoy your trip.

Only 2 minutes in and I’m liking this. I recently reviewed “the art of landscape photography” book (which is great) but felt that the key to improving is to show more images that don’t work due to compositional issues. And perhaps to show how the photographer went back later and improved upon it.

Explaining why something is bad is always an effective way to teach. After all, beginners spend most of their time with their disastrous works, not knowing what to do. Thanks for the excellent video, you have a new subscriber.

Just from the chair, this so much looks like Granpa Heaton's Fireside Photography Stories. Loved the premise. Can't wait for the Nepal videos!

Good content, lousy images: a winning recipe for intelligent discussion. Cheers, Thomas, much appreciated!

Yes, TH, make an entire video about empty vs. negative space!

One of the things that made me subscribe to your channel was that you weren't afraid to make a video of a failed shoot. Even if you didn't take a single image. Its the reality and that's what I liked. Don't feel you need to produce a great image every time. It makes you human.

I got my first camera 5 months ago and even though this video is 2 months old, I just wanted to stay THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I learned more from this 1 video than I have watching youtube for the last 5 months. You are now my favorite to watch. It took one awesome honest video. Great Job!!!!!

This reminds me a lot of the Magnum Contact Sheets book. We're so used to seeing the famous "hero shots" of great moments in history that we lose sight of all of the failed images that surrounded it. I don't do landscape photography, but as a portrait/wedding photographer I can definitely attest to how strong tunnel vision can be. I've spent a lot of time with the clone stamp tool as a result of my own mistakes.

I love your style. Most photographers like to show off their best work or photos, but few shows their bad images. The lesson of this is to see what you did wrong and how to improve it. it is not only a learning experience for you but for all of us that we watch your video. I have been in the same situation. There is a place or object that attracts me but at the end, i don't get the best results because no balance or interested object. Thanks for sharing this.

Brilliant Tomas, it's rare the greats are prepared to show their less successful images and your explanations on why they didn't work will help all of us who watched. Thank you for your candor.

I've taken the odd image like the first one and told myself it might be good for uploading to a stock site. That never happens, then I tell myself it could be good to try to learn how to create composites. That hasn't happened yet either😂 Great topic!!

The best analogy I use for beginners is if you were a painter, would you have painted that? Would you have added those gnarly twigs on the side, or would you have painted that tree to cut across your subject? Aside from the bombardment of technical info on camera and lens specs on the web, a video like this showing how to create an interesting and captivating image is more important. If you don't know how to design a house, there's no point in buying and showing off your new hammer. Well done Tom, I love your perspective on teaching others.

This is such a great video, and the most important think that impresses me most, is how humble you are to show and explain why some of your own images are flawed. As Gavin Hardcastle said...you sir have a LOT of integrity and that makes you head and shoulders one of the best photographers today!!!

This is one of the most helpful videos you've ever made. Please do more like this!!!

That feel when you're such a bad photographer that even his rejected images are ones you would be very, very happy with.

I appreciate the honesty. Who amongst us hasn’t done similar things. Countless times in the moment when time is against me, rushed a shot without doing some edge patrol, get caught up focusing on a grand vista with an image in mind thinking that it would be enough to overcome uninteresting light. Thanks for showing us that we aren’t alone in our pursuit to get better.

I help out in a Facebook Photography Group that is aimed at the beginner and was delighted to hear you talking about how much can be learned from images that have not worked, it is something I continually attempt to encourage members to do. Study the image rather than dismiss it but importantly attempt to find out WHY it has not worked. In doing this it encourages the member to look not just at the technical aspects but vitally the compositional aspects. This is most beneficial on subjects local to where they live so they can then revisit the same location in an attempt to reshoot and try the aspects they have considered.

Now that was one of the most interesting videos I’ve seen here. Your other videos are very entertaining and fun to watch but with this one I was taking notes in my photography journal. Thanks!

One important reason why this kind of video works: it helps those aspiring photographers see that those they look up to still make mistakes. Im often at awe of my favorite photographer's work and tend to forget they're just like me, just much more skilled, but still prone to messing up a shot, or the focal point, etc. Great work man, love the video

This is how people learn how to take great photos the technical stuff can be easily learnt, not many doing this kind of stuff. Well done

One of my favorite of your videos. Shows things that I think most of go through, but often this gets tucked away by the youtubers.

Very helpful video. Photography is so often a process of taking bad images, figuring out what makes them bad, taking images that aren't bad in those specific ways but may be bad in others, and so on, until you arrive at a good image. Figuring out what would have made your images better, and which ones just sucked and should never have been taken, is a crucial part of learning.

What better way to learn than from mistakes. To be open and critical about one’s work is a gift and shows humbleness. There are positives in a negative situation if one wants to look for them. Great vlog!

Thank you for the video! The format was not overly edited or fast paced, which made learning about the photography errors much more easy.

You and your videos are the pick-up and creative inspiration I need when I start feeling burnt out, or burnt out on a specific genre of photography (I typically take sports/action shots, and sometimes I need to hit the creative reset button). I will binge your videos for hours!!

I've been following you for a while, Thomas. And I wanted to just say I really appreciate your style and honesty. You're a fantastic photographer, but an even better storyteller and instructor. Thanks for continuing to post these fantastic videos. Hopefully, someday I'll be able to pay you back with purchase from your site :D

Now that was really educational Thomas, you are becoming a very relaxing and peaceful story teller, thank you.

Great! Thanks for showing this NOW whilst I have already thrown all of my camera gear into the lake! Did the same thing with my golf clubs a number of years ago after watching Tiger Woods!

Tip. Before summarily dismissing a "bad" photograph, the crop tool can be your friend. You can often crop a shot bringing leading lines to one your corners or you may crop out distracting objects. It can move points of interest to a 1/3 point for impact....you can crop out negative space.... or make the landscape aspect a portrait to emphasize a vertical element..

I’m a wildlife photographer (as a hobby) and I never shoot landscapes but I love your videos....your photo excursions, etc.

That's actually one of the most useful video! Easier to correct mistakes than trying to reach the perfection in one shot

Thomas: I've watch this one several times. It's one of your many best! The review and summary at the end are excellent. Thanks for remembering that you are a teacher. You are approachable, engaging and informative.

I like honesty in this video :) It can be hard to publicly criticize your own work, but by showing us "bad" examples i can learn to improve. Thanks a lot Thomas and keep it up!

Was skeptical when I started watching this video, but it was one of the most helpful photography videos I've every watched. Just great. It's definitely helpful to see examples of great photographs, but this really crystallized my thoughts about my shots aren't working out. Will be tremendously helpful in the field.

This is probably the most useful video I have seen for decades. Thanks! Most of my pictures look like this or worse, and to understand why things don't work, that is gold.

This is an excellent way to take someone who's just past beginner, to the next level. I used to teach creative and business writing. I used to contrast examples of bad writing, writing that didn't work, or that flat out made you cringe, with examples of similar pieces that worked well. They saw the differences right away. I got such a kick out of watching their faces as the light dawned.

This was an extremely useful analytical video. I thoroughly enjoyed it and gave me loads to think about when taking my photos. Please share more of these.

Great critique of your own mistakes, which makes me feel a little more human! The analysis of why the images don't work, and examples of what's better is extremely helpful as a learning tool. Cheers!

I remember watching the "cat sick" vid and wondering what I was missing when you showed that pic as I was underwhelmed at the time. I'm glad you included the yellow tree one too for the same reason. Interesting to analyse the mountain and seascape pics though; definitely learned from those. Hope you do another of these at some point!

Thank you for this! So much to learn from bad images. And it really helped to see why something works vs why something doesn't. Fantastic video! Thank you!!

I wish to say “ Thank you “ Thomas for sharing this video ! I actually learned a lot from you : the reason why those images were bad and how to avoid it by comparing to & learning from the others which were better. It truly added value for my understanding of what a good image looks like . Please share more of this type of real life lessons ! Cheers 🌈

Thanks for this. I thought I was the only one to take crappy photos and think they were good. When I see the great stuff you put out, it makes me feel like a little more attention to detail will make many of my photos better.

This video as old as it may be, convinced me to subscribe. Learning from mistakes is beautiful. I learned so much it has given me new confidence and drive. Thank you.

Great for learning ,evaluate and choose keepers , this kind of videos are rare yet very important -how to "read" photograph(details) is something which is always interesting to share and learn !Great work!

As a former teacher, I completely agree that it is necessary to show the wrong way to do things as well as the right way to do things!

Really enjoyed the video! Would love to see more like it. I also liked the first image. The empty space in the middle forms a heart. Crop it to a 4x5 taking off the sides and it’s even more obvious.

Thanks a ton Tom for sharing these... So much to learn in just 18 mins from a champion like you.. have always appreciated your honesty - cheers for the great work you do always!

I like the fact that even as a professional bad days and bad images are a thing. It’s gives me hope that I can really grow and use my bad shots as a learning experience.

Thank you! Your honesty is admirable! This series of vids will be super informative. Will help some of us put a finger on some issues that aren't so obvious. I struggle with composition and this helped a ton.

Thomas, You are one of the only photographers that talks about self critique. That's why I love your channel, humble and inspiring, highly appreciated :-)

You’re right! It is super helpful to look at what you can improve!

Hooray! At last a photographer that understands negative space. I've sat through so many talks and competitions, listening to people talk about the lack of content as negative space. Coming to photography from a (low level) art background, I was taught about using negative space in week one. A simple definition would be Negative space is where the space is used to define the subject rather than the subject itself.

Wonderful video Thomas! I hope you will do other video like this, it has been really helpful and different from the usual. Great idea to underline the error in the images and propose possible solutions! My compliments for your great job!

The problem with "messy" is something we deal with all the time. Rarely are there image opportunities that are nice, neat, and clean. I think Pennsylvania is like Mother Nature's daughter's bedroom. Almost every image is scrutinized in post with inner negative comments. In fact, the first tool I learned to use was to retouch out unwanted branches, wires, fences, etc. Please continue to address this challenge in your videos!

I like the way you are showing us what not to do. I learn much better from wrong, than from right. Thanks!

Great video. Learned a lot with your comments, combined with your thoughts at the time taking the image. This is something you cannot do when commenting on other people's work. Thanks for making this video!!

I appreciate your honesty and candor. Hope you have a great day Thomas.

yes.. your first "rubbish" example reminds me of the advice of an old news photographer cohort's... ah.. suggestion. "Nah... it needs a clock. No one's gonna hang it on his wall unless there's a clock." Love your channel, Thomas.

Got to love it...we all have be willing to be self critical of ourselves; not in a negative way, but constructively. I tried, on second glance it did not work and admitting to ourselves why. Experience is a great thing if we can only learn from it...

This is so great, please please do more like this! - I learned so much and its a genuine joy

Best video you've done since I began following you. Totally agree that pros sharing bad images and commenting on their weaknesses is a very valuable exercise, both because it helps amateurs appreciate that everyone makes mistakes and because having pros commenting upon their mistakes helps others avoid them. All told a great idea and I hope you follow up with more like it.

A massively helpful video. I have long thought that photographers seeking to instruct viewers or workshop participants could use their “failures” or work in progress to best show the thought processes that evolve in producing a “finished “ masterpiece. Yours is a most refreshing approach, more please!

it's a great thing - to analyze and criticise your own work detailed and thoughtful. usually only a master can do that. i mean - one should have a really good experience to do like that. thank you for sharing your experience, it's really useful

One of the best videos on photograpy, that i have found so far. I learned a lot from these examples. Please more of this type of content.

Great idea to make a video about "bad" composed pictures! Really refreshing! Hope you will make more of those videos!

I appriciate you sharing this. I struggle in woodland environments and appreciate your humility in sharing yours.

I like this sort of good/bad comparison video and your candor. I found your points easy to relate to my own photography (not sure if that is a good or bad thing) and learned a lot. The good/bad comparisons make the concepts more concrete and memorable.

Loved the candidacy in the episode Thomas and I have always been of the opinion there is learning to be had when things don't go plan. Used that approach in my professional career as it ensured we sought to improve for the future and apply the same ethos to my photography.

As a new born Backpacking /Wilderness Photographer and KZfaq creator I really appreciate your videos and all the content there in. Thanks!

Thomas. This video blew my mind. Thank you for showing and explaining the good and the bad photos. This will help me so much. Tom

Thanks Thomas. This video really taught me stuff. Fantastic work. Photographers such as yourself take such jaw dropping images that anybody with a heart beat can see that it is good. As such you don't learn anything. This kind of video is rich in knowledge. Please more of type. It's fantastic sharing. For me this is what photography is all about. How so much effort can be put into a shot and one item is overlooked and the whole photo comes tumbling down.

I say this a lot, it's my Mantra when evaluating a photo, " Where is this image going to be displayed! " The first yellow tree with the mess on the right and left, just use the trees that are just to the left and right of it and crop it as an Extreme Vertical, as a large cropped vertical placed in an area that is similar in size, would even enhance it more. I think it has good potential! I'm very critical of my work, and so I don't look at judging and image if it's not good as a negative thing. Too many people have their emotional feelings attached to images, and that blocks there biased opinion, and then they get upset or frustrated facing the truth. That makes it hard to learn when one can't be open minded. Good Video!

Interesting vid Tom, really good to see that very occasionally you make poor images...🙄 informative talk through the "whys" ...hugely helpful to breakdown an image in that way. Looking forward to Nepal 👍👍

this video came up on suggested ones for me, and I really liked this concept for the video. Love any educational (non gear related) photography videos. Great work!

Great video, this is the type of video that you have to watch once on a while to refresh the ideas, thanks and keep the great work!! By for now!

Thank you for this video. The good thing about bad photographs, is that they give much potential for learning. "What if...", "If only..." and so on. Somebody actually said: "There is no such thing as bad photographs. There are only photographs that could have been better if only..." I find this a very useful way to improve my photography skills. I hope you enjoyed your trip to my part of the world ie the north of Norway., despite the yoga when photographing "The Devil's Teeth". Best wishes and welcome back.

This is such an honest video with so much on offer for budding landscape photographers! Thanks Tom!

I liked this! You're right, this is much more educational than just showing good images. You are not the first KZfaq photography channel to come up with this, but I hope you keep on showing us where things went wrong and what would work better - you're view on things is much appreciated (and every photographer has a slightly different angle on it … pun intended ;-))!

This was incredibly helpful. Thanks for sharing these imagines you don’t like and explaining so clearly way. I’ve learned a lot!

This has been so helpful - thanks for being so honest, it's really appreciated!

I went to one of your seminars a few years ago looking for this type of lecture , I think most landscape photographers just need this sort of fine tuning . I can only go where my mob scooter can go and you did give me solid advice picking a focal point and isolating it in the image ,all the your favourite failed cat burgler

Fantastic video. Thanks for sharing your photos and breaking everything down for us; very useful.

Best job in explaining photographic composition in quite a while. Bravo!

Learn something new every single time I watch your videos. Thanks very much.

Even after decades of shooting I still can be completely baffled after looking at a photograph I took wondering what the heck was I even thinking? Everything from the composition and lighting to the time invested and subject matter, just pure crap. You showing people your mistakes is not only helpful but down right courageous!

Wonderful choices for images to learn from including similar examples that do work. Wish more photographers shared information like this. It is how we best learn

Loved this video!! Learning from mistakes its best way to learn! Thanks for sharing!

I class myself as a 'snapper' as I only shoot with compact cameras but,,,, I've learnt a lot from this vid, so it's a big thank you from me , keep doing what your doing Thomas, their a joy to view.

Great video and one of your best for helping people rationalise the difference between a good and bad video