Photographers Block

[shutterbug182]

Hello,

I completed a photography diploma at the end of 2004. And since then have had a photographers block. I don’t have any idea what to photograph!, this has been a problem that has come up afew times. What do you do when you come across this problem?. My main subject matter is architecture, food and nature.

The camera I use is a Canon EOS 3000N, 38 – 80mm lens, which has its limitations, but is still usefull. Buying new equipment isn’t an option at the moment. But further on in the year I plan to purchase a 100mm 2.8 macro for photographing food, still life, product shots for my folio, and possibly a telephoto.

If you would like to see examples of some of my work , I have a basic site:

http://sarahfarthing.tripod.com/


Thankyou!.



Sarah Farthing.

[Asylum Steve]

You have some nice work, Sarah. Yeah, unfortunately, block is a common problem for any creative field. Just be glad you don't write a daily newspaper column or draw a daily cartoon or comic strip. Block in those fields can be deadly...

There are several steps you can take to help prevent block and also exercises you can practice to help get you out of it.

I make it a point to write down every shooting or artistic idea I have immediately when I think of it (which, btw, may be why a lot of drivers honk at me in traffic, heh heh). I also note locations I see as I drive that might make good spots to shoot.

I then sift through all these notes when I'm back in my studio and organize them into lists for either commercial shoot or artistic shoot ideas (sure there's bound to be some overlap).

If you're lucky, at some point you'll have a surplus of ideas. After having some time to reflect on them, many, perhaps even most, will not really appeal to you as actual projects, but there should be at least something that seems interesting enough to pursue.

Other things I do are shooting exercises. I went a very long time without shooting much, and now find myself wanting to get back to a very heavy shooting schedule, but it's not that easy.

Aside from assignments or paying jobs,I make it a point to try to spend at least one afternoon each week shooting three things: clouds (we have great clouds in Central Florida, and I plan on using the imagery in my work), textures for my stock collection, and location ideas for future shoots.

What this does is force me to shoot, and what I've discovered is that what starts out as a fairly innocent exercise (often with rather mundane subjects) can morph quickly into some really cool stuff, and that motivates me to go out and shoot more.

Other basic shooting exercises include shooting series, sequences, or variations of shots. IOW, shooting the same scene or location at different times of day (or year) to note what changes and what stays the same, or shooting the same scene form many different angles or perspectives or focal lengths. This gets you looking again, and often you discover things in the image that you didn't see originally. This in turn may motivate you to go back and shoot again, or shoot other similar subjects as part of a series, or simply give you new ideas for other things to shoot.

There is no secret formula to get through block, but I hope my ideas help...

[drg]

One solution I've tried over the years is to find a subject or location that I've never worked with before and make the best possible photos from a technical viewpoint. Then I figure out how I might explore the subject, either as a study or looking for a few choice examples.

The variant theme, which I do at lunch many days, is to take a walk around very familiar territory and look for views that are different from what I've shot previously. Many days I don't find anything much to waste time/film/ (though I shoot primarily digital now) on still on occaision something pops up.

Even a short trip to a museum, and event (festival, sporting, etc.), or a nearby community that one has visited for a few months or so can sometimes spark an interest.

Best Wishes - CDP

[mtbbrian]

Welcome to PR.com Sarah...
Beyond the above suggestions, especailly Steve's "excercises", I'd suggest coming here to help with "photo block". It certainly does me, there are a lot of great people here who do great photography and are very inspiring too!
I like your work, I look forward to seeing more.
Make sure you check out the other forums too.
Good luck with your degree.
Brian

[Janie]

Hey, I do real estate photography and virtual tours - when i'm bored, I photograph my furniture from some of the oddest angles I can think of - hey, it's digital, so it won't cost you anything to do it and you do actually get inspired by it! I do angle and lighting experiments. I have also photographed my food, glasses of wine using candles and lighting, then candles with a reflector, then different speed settings, etc. I was on a dead flower kick for a while too, when fall began. It was depressing so I stopped. lol

Okay, on that note, If you are super bored and want inspiration, check out this really bizarres site of wierd things in NJ http://www.weirdnj.com/home/index.html Maybe you can start Wierd Australia! lol

Hello,

I completed a photography diploma at the end of 2004. And since then have had a photographers block. I don’t have any idea what to photograph!, this has been a problem that has come up afew times. What do you do when you come across this problem?. My main subject matter is architecture, food and nature.

The camera I use is a Canon EOS 3000N, 38 – 80mm lens, which has its limitations, but is still usefull. Buying new equipment isn’t an option at the moment. But further on in the year I plan to purchase a 100mm 2.8 macro for photographing food, still life, product shots for my folio, and possibly a telephoto.

If you would like to see examples of some of my work , I have a basic site:

http://sarahfarthing.tripod.com/


Thankyou!.



Sarah Farthing.

[Chunk]

You do some beautiful work, Sarah.

Are you aware of this site's Photo Projects? While we don't seem to be too active about it now, there are a lot of past projects that you could use as self assignments. Put all the past projects on slips of paper in a hat and draw one out once a week as a self assignment. Be sure to post any you do on one of the forums for us to enjoy too.

Looking through the old projects once in a while always gives me some inspiration as well as a feeling of visiting old friends that I don't see around here anymore.

[megan]

Ugh, being blocked stinks. I've got a lot of tricks to prevent inertia, and they've been included in some form in most of the e-mails above! But I'll list them anyway:

1. I keep a sketchbook. I use it to write, doodle, tape things in, sketch ideas for photos, and jot down ideas quickly. Even if it's 2 a.m. and I'm trying to get to sleep because my mind is zooming and all of a sudden all of these ideas come flying through but I have to work in the morning so I need to go to sleep right now, I still get up and record them.

2. Photograph something I don't normally photograph. Or something I see everyday. Just to get the juices flowing, the eyes seeing, the brain in creative mode. I take a walk up an unfamiliar street in my neighborhood (I'm in Astoria, Queens, so it's kind of easy and unsuspicious to walk up a street...) and see what happens.

3. Try a different media. Again, to get the creative juices flowing, I grab some paper and smudge around some oil pastels. Scissors, magazines and a glue stick and do some collages. Just so I'm creating and my mind goes into that "zone." And hopefully lights a photographic fire.

4. Try a different camera. (I've typed this before, and very recently on this board!) I was religiously a B&W 35mm shooter. I was stuck in a rut for awhile and didn't do any photography - and one day I bought a Holga at ICP (NOT Insane Clown Posse!), and the rest is history. Try a pinhole kit or any one of the fun products lomo offers. Not all are out of budget - the lomolitos are pretty cheap, and fun. (They have gels over the flashes producing interesting effects.)

5. If it's chronic block, and none of the above helps, try "the Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron or one of Eric Maisel's creativity-focused books.

Good luck!
Megan

[megan]

One more thing that gets my mind going and the shutter clicking -
I got through the archives. I look at old prints, old photographs that didn't quite work, old contact sheets - and after NOT looking at them for so long, I see them in a new light. I see what I was looking at, how I framed things, how I would do it differently, the common threads that travel through my work year after year or reappear now and then - and maybe things I gave up on I see with different eyes and decide to try again.

megan