“You’ve got to go out and suck.”

In this week’s episode of The MOOD Podcast, I sat down with Joe Edelman, a powerhouse of photography wisdom who’s been in the game for over five decades. One of the most powerful moments came when he reminded us that the path to mastery doesn’t come from nailing every shot—it comes from the willingness to mess it up first. Gloriously. Repeatedly. Intentionally.

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“If you don’t pick up a camera and take pictures, you are not really going to learn this stuff. It’s very experiential.”

I remember early in my own journey, I used to obsess over whether every image I took was good enough to post - always looking for those ‘bangers’, right? Most of them weren’t. And I’d torture myself over that. But something definitely changed when I gave myself permission to fail. I stopped creating for validation and started creating to discover. To explore. And that’s when I finally started improving.

Too many photographers get stuck trying to make perfect work from the beginning.

They compare, they scroll, they hesitate. They ask “What’s the best way?” instead of “What will I learn if I just try this?” The fear of ‘sucking’ (as Americans put it) keeps them from evolving.

Joe reframes this entirely. “Don’t be afraid to suck,” he says. “Because if you don’t suck, you’re not pushing far enough.” Growth in photography doesn’t come from avoiding mistakes—it comes from accumulating them with purpose. From experimenting. From trying 10 bad shots to unlock one new insight.

Here’s what you can do today:

Give yourself permission to suck this week. Try something new and shoot without expectations.
Review your recent work not for what’s wrong, but for what it taught you.
Remember: a ‘failed’ photo isn’t a failure—it’s your teacher.

Want to know where your work stands right now?

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