A severe drought

[BJ Bignell]

I'm not the first person to suffer a photographic drought, but it's really starting to get to me... I've hardly taken a picture in the past two months, and I have no motivation. I'm even in the middle of a six-week vacation, visiting family and friends I haven't seen for a whole year, and I just can't be bothered to pull the camera out of the bag. I'm getting so frustrated with myself. :bang:

I think I know the primary cause of this drought: Lack of feedback. Over the past year, I must have shot 5000 pictures or more, but I haven't seen a single one. Travelling ate up all of the monies, and there's been nothing left to pay for the processing. I have bags of film sitting in the freezer, waiting to be processed, to be loved, but no money to do it with.

So what should I do? Sit and stew about it, digging a deeper mental hole? Done. Pull the camera out of the bag and hope for divine intervention, only to put it back unused? Done. Just take a break, and tell myself that there is plenty of time to take those pictures I want? Done.

None of those ideas worked, of course, so I'm taking a different approach: Today, I will go out into the countryside, somewhere quiet and isolated, with a few pieces of equipment and a maybe tripod. I will make photographs, tens of photographs, dozens of photographs, as many rolls as I can until I get sick/tired/hungry or the light disappears. I will make a determined effort to use a lot of film, and to see something new through the viewfinder.

Tomorrow, I will take these rolls for developing, and I will see the results. I will be motivated by the successes and - perhaps more imporantly - by the failures, and I will begin to feel like I can do this again. I will not only feel like I must make photographs, but I will truly feel that I want to make photographs.

I have a goal.
I have a plan.
Wish me luck.

 

[rbiemer]

Good luck, BJ.
Rob

 

[ywenz]

I'd recommend going digital for a while... you won't need to wait until after development to get encouraged to take more pics..

 

[FrankS]

BJ, take photos based on what's important to you. You say you are visiting family and friends, perhaps you could set yourself a goal to take each person's portrait. Do it formally - head and shoulders using window light, or informally while they are doing something (work or play). It is pictures of people that you know and love that ultimately are important. A picture of a landscape or a still life may or may not be good, but a portrait of a loved one will be treasured. Hope you can find your inspiration!

 

[telenous]

BJ,

Good plan. You should have done that long ago. Developing and scanning can be quite costly if you don't do them by yourself. Perhaps you should regiment your style of shooting into a more disciplined one roll a week that actually gets developed so that you get to see the fruit of your efforts. One roll a week. That's around $10.00 over here, it will not break the bank and it will give you all the pleasure you seem to be missing from shooting. Just my 2p of course.

Best of luck with the plan,

 

[BrianShaw]

I'd recommend going digital for a while... you won't need to wait until after development to get encouraged to take more pics..

As unpopular as this suggestion may be to some people, it's a good one to consider.

I agree with the taking a break notion. Taking abreak is something I do in all my interest (and carreer) areas when I get in a rut. I find that it really works.

Also, consider shooting LESS in the future. It sounds to me like you may have shot yourself in the foot... had you shot less film you might have better been able to get it processed and having the feedback you desire. When this trend starts happening to me, I concentrate on shooting less but with a higher likelihood of those shots being worthy of enlargement/display. One decent picture on the wall is worth 5000 frames still in the film cans in terms of encouragement.

Good luck to you!

 

[rogue_designer]

Good Luck BJ - it sounds like a good plan, and a good goal.

 

[back alley]

bj, are you in or around edmonton now?

let's do a day at the fringe (starts today) and then head back to my place, load up the tanks and develop a roll or 2.
you can use my scanner and post a few.

joe

 

[jano]

As unpopular as this suggestion may be to some people, it's a good one to consider.

Regarding digital, I concur. Immediate feedback is good 🙂

 

[Carrotblog]

I have a goal.
I have a plan.
Wish me luck.

Good luck!


xoxoxo

Miffy

I have a bog. I am a blog.

http://carrotblog.livejournal.com

 

[Carrotblog]

Regarding digital, I concur. Immediate feedback is good 🙂

Really? Mine tells me: "you suck!"

I've switched off my digicam instead. Too much feedback too soon 🙂

xoxoxo

Miffy

http://carrotblog.livejournal.com

 

[RayPA]

sounds like two issues, really. The digital suggestion is a good, especially for "standard" family/vacation shots. I find I can get "fired-up" again after looking at my small collection of photo books (nothing like browsing through Doisneau to reaffirm what a pleasure taking photographs can be!). If you don't have any photo books, try the library. Good luck! 🙂


.

 

[BrianShaw]

Really? Mine tells me: "you suck!"

I've switched off my digicam instead. Too much feedback too soon 🙂

I'd get rid of any camera that has a built-in "critic mode". That's one too many features!