We have all experienced it: loading our photos into Lightroom just to realize they are very disappointing. Instead of trashing them, go through the photos, analyze them, and see why they do not work.

Coming from the beautiful Peak District in England, Nigel Danson’s latest video shows how amazing light just does not cut it if you lack a strong and meaningful composition. Despite England being one of my personal favorite locations to photograph on the planet, you cannot just go and nail every photo. On the contrary, even for experienced photographers like Danson (and myself), the majority of our clicks do not turn into something fruitful.

Even though you fail in the field, you do not come back emptyhanded. You have all the photographs you just took, and that collection is actually a treasure trove of information. Just pick out one of the photos. You might initially think it “just does not work,” but why does it not work? Is there an obvious focal point? Is it well balanced? Where are the lines in the photo leading the eye? Are there too many distractions along the edges? By going through and reflecting upon your photos, you repeat and develop the thoughts you had in the field. These thoughts evolve into experience, and experience is what you need to avoid mistakes. The best part is you can learn a lot from other people’s mistakes. Have a look in the video above.