“I Cannot Believe I Caught This”: 50 Times People Couldn’t Believe The Beauty They Managed To Capture In A Photo

"Just get out and shoot. Simple as that," pro photographer Dominic urged amateurs to go out and be active. It's the perfect antidote to feeling shy or anxious about sharing your work with others. Your confidence will grow over time.

"You gotta get your feet wet somehow. If you're able to find someone who is experienced to mentor you, that could help too, but isn't as important as expressing yourself through your art," he said.

The photographer feels like it's "absolutely" possible to create original works of art in this day and age. "If it's your work, it is original," he said.

Nonetheless, some photographers might feel that their shots aren't original 'enough.' It's perfectly valid to have these feelings. However, you shouldn't discount what you have to share with the world.

"Now, one may draw inspiration from many places, so long as you're not straight up plagiarizing something, you're all good," photographer Dominic told Bored Panda.

"Being one's unapologetic self, is about the most original thing can do in a world where everything is canned and packaged."

As for dealing with someone criticizing your work, the pro photographer suggests that you take all comments with a grain of salt.

"Even if you don't like what is being said, remember every critic has their own thoughts and opinions. They might tear your work down for reasons entirely unrelated to your work and it's more a personal matter that they don't like," he explained.

"I've seen that happen before. So, if it's constructive, use that information to improve. If it's not constructive, don't worry about it."

The ‘I Took a Picture’ subreddit is as massive as it is ancient. Created in the mid-summer of 2009, it has grown to house several million members from across the world in the 13+ years since.

It’s an online group that is focused on photography techniques and styles. Redditors can post their work on the sub and ask for critique. They can also browse the community to learn a bit about how specific techniques are achieved. In short, it’s a great way to up your photography game and give you deeper insights into all of the technical stuff behind each gorgeous snapshot of reality.

The group is very community content-oriented. Originality and engagement are rewarded. Meanwhile, dishonesty is punished. You can check the subreddit’s FAQ for a detailed account of how their rules work.

But one of the essential things to keep in mind is that if you pretend that you’ve taken a specific photo when in fact you’ve stolen it from someone else, then you’re going to have a very bad time. You can get permanently banned from r/itookapicture if you do stuff like that.

Look, we get it: who doesn’t enjoy getting attention and praise on the internet, right? However, there’s absolutely no excuse for lying about the fact that you took a photo when someone else is the original author. Crediting photographers and content creators is an important part of acting civilized on the internet. If that breaks down, well… it’d be hard to trust absolutely anyone online.

Besides, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of sharing your own work (your heart, racing) and asking for some insights from strangers. If you’re open to their criticism, it might be an opportunity for you to greatly improve your skills. You might realize that a certain aspect of your art really resonates with the audience—something that you may not even have thought about.

On the flip side, you might suddenly come to the conclusion that what you thought totally worked in your photos is actually a weakness that you may need to overcome. Putting yourself out there and absorbing constructive criticism (the keyword here being ‘constructive’) is useful for anyone who is involved in creative processes. Whether as a hobby or professionally.

The moderator team points out that the subreddit isn’t the place to post any paintings, illustrations, or heavily altered images. In other words: photos only. There is a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism, and if you have any concerns regarding this, be sure to reach out to the mods.

Submitters are encouraged to participate in the discussion beneath their posts. “Whether it's a photographer asking the community at large what they could have done better, or users asking how to achieve a look or effect, posters are expected to contribute to the comments section and keep the discussion on-topic.”

Moreover, there’s a general expectation that posters should aim for quality. “Your photo should be well-composed, have an obvious subject, feature good use of color/tone and/or texture, have interesting lighting, and make purposeful use of depth of field,” the team running the subreddit explains.

On Mondays, aka Mona Lisa Mondays or MLMs, members are allowed to post photos “with a primary focus on one person staring, looking or thinking, without any other interesting action.”

Meanwhile, “Photos of people in a state of action, reaction or interaction, or share their focus with an interesting setting or background, employ some unique photography technique or have exceptional/atypical styling (hair, makeup, studio setups) are not subjected to this rule and are allowed throughout the week.”

Anyone criticizing other people’s work has to be diplomatic. In other words, go for constructive criticism. You’ve got to structure your feedback and note how you’d improve it. The essence is on helping everyone improve their work. However, the photographers themselves should try their best not to take offense to negative feedback.

“Understanding your mistakes and shortcomings is the best way to overcome them in future work,” the mods note. And it’s this bit right here that lies at the core of turning otherwise good pics into great, globally renowned photography.