I’ll be honest, I’ve not properly picked up my camera since October and my last blog about my personal photographic project was “When the World Feels Too Loud: Finding Quiet in Still-Life Photography”
Not because photography has stopped meaning something to me. Not because I’ve run out of ideas. But because the last couple of shoots didn’t quite go as I’d hoped they would. And that quietly knocked my confidence more than I’d expected it to.
One shoot was with a father and his young daughter. She was curious, energetic, and completely herself, which is a beautiful thing, but patience wasn’t on the menu that day. She didn’t want to sit still, quickly lost interest, and before long, the shoot came to a natural end. I walked away knowing I hadn’t captured what I’d imagined beforehand. This was the first time I had done a shoot like this for a VERY long time and looking back now, I realise I was probably being a tad too hard on myself.
The second shoot took me up into the hills of Snowdonia. I’d planned something calm, thoughtful, and atmospheric. You know the type of shoot, distinguished gentleman, with his dog (called Harri) looking, with pride over the rugged Welsh landscape. I had the perfect series of black & white images in my mind’s eye that I wanted to capture, think photos straight out of “County Life”. Instead, we were met with cold winds, uncomfortable conditions, and flat, unhelpful light. We didn’t stay out long, and once again I came home without many images I felt truly happy and satisfied with.
Individually, these shoots were fine, everyone enjoyed themselves and my lovely subjects were more than happy with the results. But together, they did something subtle. They made me hesitate.
Photo Project(s) #4 & 5/60 – Father & Daughter Studio Shoot / Country Gentleman Outdoor Portrait Shoot

Not every shoot is meant to be a success
We don’t talk enough about the shoots that don’t deliver. The ones where the light doesn’t behave. The ones where people are tired, cold, distracted, or just not in the mood. The ones where the ideas in your head don’t translate into the images on your memory card.
Photography has taught me many things over the years, but one of the most important is this:
Not every shoot is about getting great photos.
Some photo-shoots teach you patience. Some photo-shoots teach you how to adapt. Some photo-shoots teach you about people, especially when working with children, families, and real human behaviour.
And some photo-shoots simply remind you that you can’t control everything, no matter how experienced or prepared you are.
Those lessons still count, even if the images don’t end up on your website or Instagram feed. I actually think maybe they should be shared, it would show the world, those looking in, that not EVERYTHING is perfect!


Confidence is more fragile than we admit
What surprised me most was how quickly a couple of “not-great” experiences made me question myself. At Welshot we help others learn photography every week. We encourage people to experiment, to fail, to try again. Yet when it came to my own personal work, I found myself hesitating to press the shutter at all.
That’s an important reminder.
Confidence isn’t something you build once and keep forever. It needs maintaining. It needs kindness. And sometimes, it needs you to start again, gently.

Picking the camera back up IS the win
This blog series began as a personal project, a way of keeping myself accountable and learning through doing. But it’s becoming something more meaningful. It’s about showing that creativity doesn’t always move in straight lines. That pauses happen. That frustration happens. And that continuing anyway is often the bravest part of the process.
Photography isn’t just about producing images. It’s about how it makes you feel when you slow down, observe, and engage with the world around you. And sometimes, just deciding to pick the camera back up again is enough.

Why this matters going forward
These reflections are shaping the direction Eifion and I want to take Welshot going forward. Photography, and more broadly, creativity, has the potential to support mental health and wellbeing in powerful ways. Not by adding pressure, but by removing it. By creating space. By encouraging curiosity, and self-expression.
This blog isn’t about perfection. It’s about permission:
- Permission to try
- Permission to struggle
- Permission to learn
- And permission to keep going
A quiet shift in direction
Over time, Eifion and I have realised that photography has given us far more than images. It’s given us space when our heads felt busy. A reason to slow down when life felt rushed. A way to focus on something small and tangible when everything else felt overwhelming. We’ve seen this same thing happen again and again with others. People arriving at Welshot feeling unsure, lacking confidence, or carrying more than they let on, and leaving not just with photos, but with a sense of achievement and calm. Sometimes it’s subtle. Sometimes it’s emotional. But it’s always real.
These recent experiences, (including my personal photographic project shoots that didn’t go to plan), have reinforced something important for us: Creativity isn’t just about skill. It’s about health and wellbeing.
Photography, art, and creative exploration can offer a safe, pressure-free way for people to express themselves, reconnect with curiosity, and rebuild confidence, especially during challenging or transitional moments in life.
That understanding is shaping a new direction for Welshot.
A direction focused less on output and more on experience. Less on “getting it right” and more on how it feels to take part. A space where creativity supports mental health, community, and personal wellbeing, without expectation or judgement.
This isn’t about stepping away from photography. It’s about widening the lens and thinking differently. Using photography, alongside other creative mediums, as a way to support people, gently, accessibly, and human-first.
More on that will come in time. For now, this blog is part of the groundwork.
Listening. Learning. And continuing anyway.
Sometimes the most important developments don’t arrive with a big announcement, they arrive quietly, through experience, reflection, and the decision to just keep going.
An Invitation…
- Think about the last time you felt disappointed with your photography (or creativity in general).
- Ask yourself: What did that experience teach me, even if the results weren’t what I wanted?
- This week, pick up your camera without expectations. No pressure to create anything “good”.
- Take just a few photos, of the light, texture, and details, or moments that catch your eye.
- Notice how it feels to engage again, rather than what you produce.
You don’t need perfect conditions. You don’t need a plan. You just need to begin.
Again.
Lee (and Eifion) x
Want some inspo with your photography or photographic project?
Every week at Welshot we spend quite a bit of time putting together our weekly Welshot e-Newsletter titled ‘Your Weekly Dose of Motivation from Welshot’ and, each week, it covers a different genre of photography. You get seven hints and tips to motivate and inspire you in your photography, you get a weekly challenge to help you if you’re stuck in a bit of a creative rut and you get four ideas in our gear checklist (non-branded and we try to keep it affordable) – all focusing on that week’s chosen photographic genre.
It’s sent out on a Sunday evening (it will hit your inbox at 7.30pm) and you can sign up here:
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