My friends ask me all the time, "Hey have you seen his new photos? You should do something like that," or "Why don't you go and take pictures of them like her?". And I know they mean well, I do, but it really gets a gal down. Basically saying that what I do just isn't up to snuff. Which is fine, I never said it was and I'm pretty open about the fact that I don't think I'm that good at all. I just like taking pictures. They think they're being helpful but I don't think they see that I don't take the kinds of photos that they're pointing out to me. I like a photography that is very different than what their friends are doing and I just don't feel the need to imitate what they like to do if it's not what I like to do. And I'm very much aware that I'm not competitive enough for "this kind of work" and I've stopped taking my camera everywhere if I'll be with friends that tend to compare my work to others. I'm okay with that, I have no problem failing at this and I think everyone should just take a deep breath and be cool with that. Support your friends' work, just don't try and compare one kid with a camera with another kid. You'll never make any sense out of it.