Have you ever felt really excited about your photography while you are in the middle of taking the photos only to feel disappointed when you get home and look at them? Sometimes we have an imagined image in our minds eye. We think we captured something special in the moment, but later it seems boring. It is not unusual to feel this way. I remember having the same feeling when we would shoot with film and send the roll of 36 away to be processed. The pack would come back in the mail and I would shuffle through the deck only to find two or three that were interesting. 

Now  in a day shooting digital I might have 200 photos to look through and find two or three I feel satisfied with. But there is another step you can take if you really want to learn how to take better pictures. After you find 2 or 3 you are happy with, also find 2 or 3 that you are disappointed with. Now try to be specific about what you thought you captured and why this image is not really working. What would you do differently if you could do it over? Would you get closer? Shoot from a different angle? Change your depth of field? Imagining how to make it better will help you next time you are in a similar situation. So look at an image that disappoints you and imagine what it would take to delight you.