Quantity Over Quality
I’m walking in the woods today, camera in hand, thinking about quantity versus quality in photography.
And my belief is simple:
In order to find quality, you must embrace quantity.
This isn’t theory. This isn’t motivational fluff. This is something I’ve learned through repetition, failure, and showing up every single day for over a decade.
The Trap of Chasing Quality
A lot of photographers hesitate.
They wait.
They only press the shutter when everything feels right—the decisive moment, the perfect alignment, the perfect subject, the perfect light.
That instinct is understandable. But I think it’s limiting.
When you’re constantly chasing quality, you end up:
- Overthinking
- Hesitating
- Being precious with the shutter
- Shooting less
- Improving slower
Attachment to outcome breeds stagnation.
Quantity Is the Path to Quality
Photography is difficult.
Finding something truly worthwhile in a frame takes time. A lot of time.
That’s why I shoot constantly.
Thousands of frames. Every day. Same streets. Same walks. Same corners. Same light patterns.
Not because I expect every photo to be good—but because I know most of them won’t be.
And that’s the point.
99% of your photos should be bad.
That’s not a failure. That’s the process working correctly.
The Minecraft Metaphor 🪨💎
Here’s how I think about it.
Photography is like mining for diamonds in Minecraft.
You don’t just walk into a cave and immediately find diamonds.
You dig.
You hit dead ends.
You fight off zombies.
You fall into lava.
You die.
You try again.
But if you consistently mine at the right depth—Y11—and you keep strip mining in a straight, disciplined way, you will eventually find diamonds.
Photography works the same way.
By repeating the same walk.
By returning to the same corner.
By learning where the light falls.
By understanding human and natural patterns.
Quantity increases your odds of hitting the diamonds.
Process Over Results
My goal when I’m out photographing is not quality.
My goal is production.
To move.
To walk.
To respond.
To press the shutter.
To stay in flow.
I’m not thinking about composition.
I’m not thinking about whether the photo will be “good.”
I’m not hunting for a masterpiece.
I trust time.
I trust repetition.
I trust that if I keep moving, something real will eventually appear.
Modern Cameras Changed the Game
We’re not shooting in 1970 anymore.
Today we have:
- Small digital cameras
- Massive storage
- Built-in memory
- Unlimited mistakes
- Immediate feedback
With cameras like the Ricoh GR, there’s no excuse to be precious.
You can shoot freely.
You can fail freely.
You can experiment freely.
And through that freedom, you grow faster.
If you insist on shooting like it’s still 1970, you’ll get results that look like 1970.
Embrace the tools of the present.
Discipline, Consistency, Repetition
Quality doesn’t come from inspiration.
It comes from:
- Discipline
- Consistency
- Repetition
- Time
Showing up every day.
Doing the same walk.
Making the same mistakes.
Pressing the shutter again and again.
That’s how vision forms.
That’s how intuition sharpens.
That’s how quality emerges naturally.
Final Thought
Don’t get discouraged when you come home unimpressed.
That’s normal.
Photography takes years—not months.
If there’s one external goal worth chasing, it’s this:
Make more pictures.
Quantity is not the enemy of quality.
Quantity is the only way to find it.
The gospel of the day.
Praise be to Ricoh.
Rico jihadist in the woods, plotting my next move.