I'm in a rut

dnme

I havn't taken a photo in months. I have no motivation to do so. I am weary of all the photos that I see now on the web. Nothing makes me go "wow" anymore. It's all clichés and PP to death as far as I can see. I have a yearning to get back to simpler more meaningful photos where most of the skill was applied at the camera rather than the computer.

Does anyone else feel like this?

elysium321

Art is not about 'going with the flow'. Just do your own thing. You don't need to please the masses with what you do as long as you enjoy what you do.

thebaz

I feal like that quite a lot - sometimes it is good to take a break from photography altogether , try painting or some other medium - and as above poster says , stay true to your like , don't go with the flow of what everyone likes or does - in this era of visual over-exposure - it is so important to keep your individuality , if you want to stand out.

dnme

I've no problem going against the flow and remaining true to myself. I don't really think that's the point I'm trying to make. I'm sick to death of photography. I need a kick start. I need to get myself motivated.

Myksyk

It seems to me that ruts are a normal, to-be-expected part of any interest or passion. They really are just part of the journey. I never worry too much about them ... usually just an indication that you need to divert attention to something else for a while to let your motivation reboot. I certainly wouldn't push it (unless you rely on it to make a living I suppose). I am passionate about a number of things but occasionally feel I absolutely must let them go for a period of time. I've always come back to them with vigour after varying levels of time. I'm happy to see the time that I might have spent on them as time I can focus on something else.

flyingsnail

2 suggestions that I have found the help me from time to time, take 5 or 10 of you favourite images and get them printed 10x8 it is a whole different experience looking and touching the physical photograph in front of you than looking at the screen.
The second which kind of ties in with the first would be to buy a photo book by photographers that you like, preferably big ones (I don't like squinting at small pictures).

3 books I got recently that I found great,
Gregory Heisler: 50 Portraits: if you want to see great portraits where the work is done on location and in camera then I can't recommend this book enough.
Steve McCurry; The Iconic Photographs: An amazing collection of great photographs
Sebastião Salgado. GENESIS: Some simply stunning photography

thefizz

Challenge yourself, shoot some B&W film and learn how to print it traditionally. Totally different experience.

AnimalRights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQZ-FbCMIrU
This guy never got out of it, he od'd not long after.

All photographers go thru lack of interest/motivation....

I only do gigs now really.

AnCatDubh

a)

dnme wrote: »

I havn't taken a photo in months. I have no motivation to do so.

b)

dnme wrote: »

I have a yearning to get back to simpler more meaningful photos where most of the skill was applied at the camera rather than the computer.

So, to be devils advocate here - why don't you do (b) as quoted above - that is if you actually do have that yearning? If its the case that you would love to have a yearning rather than actually currently having a yearning then you've a slightly different problem.

Some of the best photographers works are/will never seen (at least while they are alive) - think Vivian Meyer. She didn't share anything on the internet, or camera clubs, or galleries, or even sometimes with herself (as is evidenced by the undeveloped rolls of film which she shot). Photography was hers and not for anyone else.

Second point - where is your camera now? (as in this minute). Is it in the wardrope, under the stairs, in its case, on adverts or eBay :eek: ? My point in asking, is I didn't shoot anything for a long time over the last year or two. People asking me to shoot things was a bit of a chore which I did but meh, there was no buzz in it. Fast forward and as I suggested above, I thought that I would like to have that yearning again for taking a photo or two - like, just for me. So, I took the camera out of the storage place it lived in, took it out of its case, put what may be my favourite lens of all time on it - a €15 50mm prime/manual/f1.7, and I put it down on the kitchen table.

Initially not much happened but my purpose in doing this was simply that I would see it - as you can often be way to busy to take photographs when its just for you. I started to pick it up and maybe turn it on, maybe not, look through the viewfinder, play with the menus but left it in my favourite settings - for me black and white with high contrast (yup, I like to shoot black and white on a dSLR ffs, and ignore RAW too, and an occasional crop is about as much processing i'm now wedded to ). Anyhow, yeah then when some of the family were about i'd sneak in a shot or two of them. And they too picked it up and maybe caught me off guard or enquired why is the shot blurry, and i'd run through manual focusing with them.

Anyway, my point is that for me there is a direct correlation between having the camera in front of me and the number of times I take photos. Um, Earth shattering revelation isn't it

But, sometimes we can forget how simple a pleasure in life that photography is/can be. We can be too busy or we can convince ourselves that we are too busy.

For me, photography doesn't have to be about catching the moon rising over a volcano in Iceland though it may be nice if that happened. Or about getting some model so say cheese though again, that might be nice too at some stage. It can be about taking a photograph of whats most precious to you.

When I look back on the last few months in particular, I have some really nice and stunningly beautiful images (at least to me). I wasn't stressed that I was or wasn't taking photos. My basic gear (camera + lens) was just there for me (although it always had been previously - at least not too far away) - now it was just a little more accessible and brought into my mind each time I sat down to have a bite to eat - i'd have to pick it up and do something with it, even if that was only about putting it out of harms way of food arriving on the table.

That initial enthusiasm may have waned but that enthusiasm was similar to that of a child on Christmas morning. Ooh look - a new toy! Let's play with it for weeks solid and then bang! interest is gone. But what I have found is a better relationship to photography not being something that I must do to rekindle that enthusiasm, but something I can do when I feel like it and get great enjoyment from the results. It's not about what I can do in post processing but that was rarely my interest anyway. It's not the buzz of the trip to the giants causeway or new york. Its for the simple things as well as the special trips occasionally. Often, once you photograph such places once or twice they no longer have that buzz though some places may also be special to you and you may keep that buzz going a little longer - like your favourite place in the whole world (and there's only one of them).

Just my story (at the moment). Maybe there's something in there for you to think about.

fret_wimp2

AnCatDubh hit the nail on the head.

You're feeling uninspired, and everything is just looking contrived and "samey". Thats a valid feeling.
Your next actions decide how you deal with it. Do you:

1. Stay uninspired, stay bummed out, so give up, accept defeat and just accept that you have tried nothing and are all out of ideas?

2. Get thinking what does inspire you? You mention you want to get back to basics, taking good pictures in camera without the requirement for photoshop and a lot of manipulating. How about........(Drumroll) you do that then?

Get your camera, stick a prime lens on it (if its a dslr, or whatever lens you like, it doesnt matter), pick a topic you like and go out and take some photos!

If whats already being taken looks contrived, then pick your subject and work it, figure out an original view and interpretation of that subject. You will take a lot of rubbish, but with each rubbish shot you will learn, get better and get the creative cogs moving in your head. You will get some shots you are happy with. If you dont pick up your camera and take pictures, nothing else is going to happen.

Good way to live life also. Something is not working. Why? What can i do to fix it? (hint, answer is rarely to sit there and wallow).

Personally I wanted to take great landscapes. I bought the gear I thought i needed, read lots of blogs & tutorials, looked at thousands of great photos online for inspiration, practiced a lot and ended up getting some landscapes i am super happy. Some of them are printed, big, 4 foot wide and hanging on my wall. Then I lost interest as i had attained what i wanted so motivation left me.

I spent some time on flickr and found I really wanted to take some nice macros. Same pattern, except i had the gear so I got to learning to make it work for me ( including making a nifty homemade flash bracket!). And i took some macro i was proud with and lost the drive again.

Now Im into people and street photography, so have a guess what i did. Thats right, I took my camera, read a lot of blogs, joined the online street photography groups on flickr & Facebook, looked at thousands of images for inspiration and am getting out almost daily taking pictures. I aim for a few lunch times during the week & 4-5 hours on a sat or sunday just walking around the streets taking photos of life.

Ive taken a LOT of photos and most are instantly deletable, but using techniques i read about, and techniques i have found work for me through practice i have taken some images i am proud of. And as people & street are so variable, where a scene is rarely the same from one second to the next, I have infinite possibilities to capture that decisive moment. Im driven, excited to take pictures and enjoy every second of it.

So just get out there, take photos of what you want to, in the way you want to. Dont use photoshop, get it right in camera as much as you can. Its either that or just complain and give up.

dnme

Thanks to all and especially to the long posters. I dunno what to do. I need to take some photos with photo buddies.

fret_wimp2

dnme wrote: »

I dunno what to do.

What type of photos do you enjoy taking and/or what subjects do you like photographing?

dnme

I usually photograph the landscape.

I think one of my problems is that I am seeing so much stuff now, photos are ubiquitous, stunning landscapes are ten a penny. Everything is over processed. It's a bit like music I guess. I think the web has that effect somehow.

Stuff becomes easier to do, cheaper to do etc. Stuff is easy to copy, easy to share. So I see a trillion photos, a trillion songs, a trillion movies etc etc. Everything is available instantly all the time but nothing is special anymore.

Into that myriad of crap, I wonder whats the point. No matter what photo I take, its been dome already a million times.

Its an eroding effect, I just wonder does anyone else feel that way.

fret_wimp2

Every photo has certainly not been taken! If landscape is your thing, pick a landscape, go out, walk around it, take a few hours to scout it out, find a unique angle then come back at sunrise/sunset.

There is any amount of landscape, from rolling hills and mountains(wicklow), fields adn farmland ( midlands) and urban ( dublin city) on your doorstep. One example, and there are millions is phoenix park. i have NEVER viewed a good landscape of the phoenix park. make that your mission.

Or, for more dynamicism, do street photography. easy to start, difficult to become good. and you can be sure that the image your taking has never been or never will be taken again. and by its nature it almost excludes over processing, only allowing b&W conversion and some rudamentary exposure correction that people do/did with film anyway.

amdgilmore

dnme wrote: »

I usually photograph the landscape.

I think one of my problems is that I am seeing so much stuff now, photos are ubiquitous, stunning landscapes are ten a penny. Everything is over processed. It's a bit like music I guess. I think the web has that effect somehow.

Yeah... I think it's especially true with landscapes. Every one of them now is beautifully unreal. Sunsets with colours the likes of which no man has ever seen in person... somehow taken in Offaly or Roscommon.

I understand people's desire to make their photos stand out, but it means that the really incredible scenes - the ones that don't need enhancing - seem less remarkable and less worthy of photographing. It must be discouraging.

Was it Stanley Kubrick who said 'When everything is beautiful nothing is beautiful.'?

Silva360

dnme wrote: »

I usually photograph the landscape.

Into that myriad of crap, I wonder whats the point. No matter what photo I take, its been dome already a million times.

Perhaps photography is just not for you? But if it is, I think you need to stop looking at photographs of the type you describe and just photograph what you have a passion for regardless of how it might look to other people.

I would certainly echo the point other's have made and suggest you look at the work of photographers that you particularly enjoy. Not to emulate, but to be inspired.

As for the idea that it's all been done, I would disagree. There are multitudes of possibilities out there. Don't think Glendalough at dawn (for example), think about what's within the landscape that you like or angles no-one else has thought of.

Ted Leeming & Morag Paterson have just produced an entire book of photographs called 'Zero Footprint'. Every landscape was taken from the exact same spot. Joe Cornish made a book solely based on photographing Roseberry Topping from different angles. Vincent Munier makes amazing photographs. Some don't stand out on their own but as a body of work they are masterpieces (no lovely over-processed dawns in sight).

Be inspired!

As for me, I have my favourite subjects and I will photograph them over and over again until I have what i want. Some take a day or two to get right, some take years. Who cares, it's the journey that I love..... Good luck.

LUZ

i get where youre coming from OP, ive been feeling a rut myself, or uninspired, im not sure. I put it down to trying to work alot more , last year i opened up an office and studio but spent a whole year trying to get organised and market myself, get work etc it was a waste of time...now it seems all i do is editing and various jobs i dont want to really do (but need to) . I've been using my phone camera alot so i think im going to get a smaller camera ( ive got my eye on the new lumix lx100) and have it with me all the time and see if that helps. I need more fun and spontaneity.

Mister Vain

dnme wrote: »

I usually photograph the landscape.

I think one of my problems is that I am seeing so much stuff now, photos are ubiquitous, stunning landscapes are ten a penny. Everything is over processed. It's a bit like music I guess. I think the web has that effect somehow.

Stuff becomes easier to do, cheaper to do etc. Stuff is easy to copy, easy to share. So I see a trillion photos, a trillion songs, a trillion movies etc etc. Everything is available instantly all the time but nothing is special anymore.

Into that myriad of crap, I wonder whats the point. No matter what photo I take, its been dome already a million times.

Its an eroding effect, I just wonder does anyone else feel that way.

I see where you're coming from. The world is over loaded with images and its very difficult to stand out from the crowd. You need to ask yourself why you're taking photos though. Don't worry about anyone else. If you enjoy it keep doing it. Or take a break for a while.

dinneenp

dnme wrote: »

I usually photograph the landscape.

I think one of my problems is that I am seeing so much stuff now, photos are ubiquitous, stunning landscapes are ten a penny. Everything is over processed. It's a bit like music I guess. I think the web has that effect somehow.

Stuff becomes easier to do, cheaper to do etc. Stuff is easy to copy, easy to share. So I see a trillion photos, a trillion songs, a trillion movies etc etc. Everything is available instantly all the time but nothing is special anymore.

Into that myriad of crap, I wonder whats the point. No matter what photo I take, its been dome already a million times.

What are you trying to achieve when you take photos? Do you frame and hang your photos on your walls at home? I
Or do you (did you) enjoy the whole outing while taking photos?
Why do you need to compare your photos to 'stunning landscapes' on the web? you'll always see something better than your work.

I have found myself shooting more and more abstract (http://www.photoblog.ie/gallery/abstract/. I find that it's more original than other types of photography, which as you say, can be very similar.

Others have mentioned all this I'm sure but:
- go out of your comfort zone, shoot something new
- join a photowalk
- enter photo competitions. Like the boards competitions, just say whatever the topic is you'll try to get a good shot on that subject.
-approach a local cafe/business and enquire about they exhibiting your work
-if you like landscape take a weekend trip to somewhere new that you haven't been to and make it a break and photo op.

the_monkey

Similar threads ALWAYS pop up on here every few months, it's swings and roundabouts I think.

For me I was never as motivated as I was a few years back when I started, and that's cos it was all so new, now I just force myself to make an effort to go see and shoot new things.

Travel really helps if you can do so.

May I recommend the US SouthWest - it's God's country.

Gehad_JoyRider

Been reading this profile with interest.

Inspiration

Do you look at Cartier Bresson, do you pay attention to light, and how his images have a strong graphic nature?

Do you look at Micheal Kennas style work who shoots land scape do you pay attention to what hes doing?

Do you look at Albert Watson and look at why he shoots the way he does it the way he does?

here's your choice you can look for inspiration from the multiple photographers
Or you can look enjoy it, then go out take pictures and just let your mood luck and instincts come in to play an enjoy the peace and quite you get from photography...

EyeBlinks

My advice for what it's worth is get yourself a project. Put the time and effort into choosing something that interests you even outside of making images.

Research it, write it down, review it, make it better and of course make your images, edit them down, sequence them and finalise it. That way the images are not the focus (no pun intended), the project is. You'd be surprised how interesting a good project is and how the images become "easier" in the context of the whole thing.

JamJamJamJam

I don't have much to add that hasn't been said before (ironically), but maybe you might take something from this cartoon:



Sounds like you've become comfortable (and that can be the most uncomfortable feeling of all!).

With regards to the internet and being saturated with good photos... It is hard to stand out. Perhaps that's your problem. Find an exclusive space: join a club and make them say "wow" to your photos, hang your pictures in your home - make your guests say "wow", compete - win!, exhibit (and upload to boards!). :P

However, if it's something you're too comfortable with (something boring), then you're right to wonder whether there's a point. A picture of a boring subject is pretty much always going to be a boring picture. And this isn't very popular, I imagine, but I've never been too interested in many landscapes for that reason. Maybe you'll find that this helps you. Pictures of some rocks or a stick in the foreground with a lake and a sunset in the background are fine, and they can be impressive and difficult and credit is due to the photographers for being able to capture that in a picture. But I personally don't find a lot of that interesting. No, photography, for me, is about a special moment. I find that photojournalism, street photography, wildlife photography, sports photography, etc. can be far more exciting, often. And that's because of their potential for something really special. Those are things that have not been shot before. Obviously, a landscape of a volcano erupting or a storm or whatever can be amazing, but I hope you understand what I mean.

Just a few rambling thoughts!

ps3man

Similar enough experience myself. I was doing nightclub photos on the side for a couple of years. Ended up chasing two separate clubs over the summer of 2013 for money, both of which never paid me. Disheartened I put my camera away and had notions of even selling it altogether. Wasn't until May this year I brought my camera with me to Glasgow, was doing some work over there so brought the camera with me to kill some time. I wasn't taking photographs for anyone else other than me. I had rediscovered that love I originally had for photography all those years ago. Also someone made the point earlier on. Get physical prints. Having something you created that you can hold makes it all worthwhile.

dave66

EyeBlinks wrote: »

My advice for what it's worth is get yourself a project. Put the time and effort into choosing something that interests you even outside of making images.

Research it, write it down, review it, make it better and of course make your images, edit them down, sequence them and finalise it. That way the images are not the focus (no pun intended), the project is. You'd be surprised how interesting a good project is and how the images become "easier" in the context of the whole thing.

I think we all going through ruts & times when we lack motivation. I completely endorse what Eyeblinks has written. I actually spent a couple of months working on just researching and planning a project, while I have yet to start making the images, the actual planning/research phase did lead me to become motivated and led me to make images completely unrelated to the planned project and gave me ideas for a couple of other (smaller) projects.

PopeBuckfastXVI

Try shooting film.

Really, I got into a rut also recently, I'm still in it but I occasionally shoot film. It's very enjoyable and it's so expensive you don't go snap happy with the shutter. If you don't want to bother at all with PP or just minimal PP you've got a pretty valid excuse (not messing with the tones of the film).

I created a 500px account just for film. It's simultaneously the worst photo's I've taken since I was starting out in photography and the most enjoyable.

Your mileage may vary but it's working for me. Still in a rut but at least enjoying some aspect of photography.

Here's the 500px if you want to look at some uninspiring shots as a contrast to all the wonderful images you're sick of seeing on the web

https://500px.com/hughwphamill

amdgilmore

A Galwegian Bronica man?

I thought I was the only one.

PopeBuckfastXVI

Howdy partner!

What are you packing? ETRS?

Salmon Leap

I just downloaded the free HDR software from the November edition of Digital Photo magazine (Photomatix Essentials 4). I have not done HDR before so it has re-kindled my interest.

amdgilmore

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

Howdy partner!

What are you packing? ETRS?

SQ-A! I looked at the ETRS but I have a major soft spot for the square.

PopeBuckfastXVI

amdgilmore wrote: »

SQ-A! I looked at the ETRS but I have a major soft spot for the square.

Nice, square format is very appealing for sure. I'd love to try a 617 though, that's the dream!

run_Forrest_run

this thread is given me some (badly needed) inspiration.
@dinneenp - some great images there.

puddles22

maybe look at it in a different light, most of my photography is me going for a walk in beautiful places and i just bring the camera along with me, i have gone out on walks say on a stormy day and not been able to take a photograph but it didnt matter cause watching the waves the sizes of cliffs off the back of the island where i live was just something else to see. have got the top of plenty of mountains where the clouds rolled in or the weather changed for the worse but it didnt matter cause i was at the top of a mountain. hope this make sense.