changes for the better?

back alley

back alley

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just in a curious mood today ...

i recently bought a sony a300 dslr along with a few lenses and have been using it exclusively so i could get used to it.

the ability to easily look at and process and upload to the net after shooting has been a blast and i think it has helped my shooting too.
i am getting more feedback on my photos and therefore it has sparked me to shoot more. i like that i can shoot a few frames and see them quickly without having to wait for my film to be shot, finished and processed.
i want an rd1 now so i can use my zm lenses on it.

anyway, my point is not digital or film, but my question is this -
has there been a stimulus for you that has sparked a renewed interest in your own photography?

joe
 
Travel is the strongest photography stimulus for me, but a new piece of gear helps too.
 
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Joe
I really luv your b&w w/ the sony
A Beautiful edge in Contrast....Lovely

Best- :) helen
 
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back alley said:
anyway, my point is not digital or film, but my question is this -
has there been a stimulus for you that has sparked a renewed interest in your own photography?

joe
Click to expand...

Definitely. My stimulus was my first exhibit several years ago. It caused me to force myself to edit very tightly and begin to create cohesive photo series. I began to see a goal, to create a smaller number of really good (relative term) photos that told some story rather than a large number of only moderately good photos that were all over the place.

It was when I started forcing myself to edit very critically, to dispense with 99% of what I shot, keeping only the very best, that I started sensing that my quality was improving. Then I felt I was accomplishing something, thus creating a renewed interest.
 
Digital photography brought it all back for me. I rarely shot photos for years, after being really into as a teenager, and then I got a Fuji F30 a couple of years ago...this led me to buying a DSLR last winter, and then I kind of went berzerk, rediscovering everything, and getting really excited about film rangefinders as well. I have a bunch of film and digital cameras & lenses now and use them all. I am having the time of my life.
 
Digital photography saved me. I bought the 1st generation Canon Digital Rebel as soon as it came out. The instant feedback taught me so much about photographer and I quickly learned the basics to produce technically correct photographs. Fell in love with primes and fast lenses which lead me to RFF.

So Digital gave me the confidence to shoot film! Now I have my Canonet, Rolleiflex, and just bought a Canon EOS 10s (film SLR) to use my EOS lenses with. I sold my Canon Digital Rebel and hope to upgrade to a new DSLR body next spring.

So I would say Digital photography was the key enabler for me to continue my photographic journey.
 
Strangely, if I were forced to give up film cameras and allowed only digital, I think I would give up photography.
 
Yeah, for me travel is a good stimuli for me too. Just being in new surroundings can be very refreshing. Plus when I'm out of my locale, I feel more adventurous, with sort of a "I can push the boundary a bit -- I'm a tourist!" mentality, though I know in actuality that can be a dangerous train of thought.

A close, but related, second to that is just seeing work from other people in other parts of the world. I'm finding the recent "beach photos" thread to be extremely inspiring because there is nothing of the sort where I live... just fields and mountains.

Switching up formats can get the get the ol' creativity blood flowing too. If I'm getting too comfortable with 35mm, I'll grab the Hassy and shoot MF for that for a bit. Then I may do a bit of large format before going back to either one and vice versa.
 
FrankS said:
Travel is the strongest photography stimulus for me, but a new piece of gear helps too.
Click to expand...

Frank, my sentiments exactly. I will be traveling this wekend, and bought new gear for the occasion.

I really struggle trying to take photos in my milieu - seems so commonplace. Given that I live in the Washington DC area, I ought to do the tourist thing from time to time, and observe/photograph things and people that I don't see everyday. Lots and lots of good people shooting, and all sorts of demonstrations, festivals and other events to take in. Had a few really nice images with Nikon SP a couple of years ago when I was playing tour guide to visitors.
 
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Switching things up, for me, is very necessary to keep things interesting. I find new-to-me photo books, new-to-me gear, and new locations to be very invigorating. A new challenge is the best for me, however. I generally have avoided street photography because, well, it is hard! Have started doing more of that with my TLR.

I dislike photos of flowers; this is what I have also started doing! A little bit of exercise!
 
every time I meet a new person I start trying to figure out how I'd want to shoot their portrait. so there's that.
But I've been driving across the country with my Hasselblad and a ton of 120 film and that's been such an endless rush.
Except for the damn State troopers...I forget I'm not in San Francisco anymore!
 
Travel for me as well. Pretty much goes without saying.
Trying to impress my fellow RFFers is a big one for me too. I love it when one of my shots gets lots of feedback. It's nice to get recognition from your "own kind"!
A newly discovered stimulant is shooting a whole roll of film in a day. I just got my M6 back from a CLA at Kindermann and I wanted to double-check that everything was okay before I go on my trip. I managed to shoot a whole roll during my lunch break and on my way to the photo lab after work. It was really exciting and I managed a bunch of shots I really liked - three of which I just recently posted in my gallery.
 
Some Neopan 120 (400 ASA) and the Mamiya 645 has been doing it for me lately...
Sunday I'll be driving up to Paso Robles, CA and working up there for a few days...hope to catch some interesting light...
 
Range finders and developing my own black and white, were the stimuli for me. I spent a lot of years traveling and living in different parts of the world, but had so little interest in photography that I often traveled without any camera at all (ouch!!)

Then I had to take photos for a newspaper column that I was doing (mostly food.) So I bought a Nikon 4300 and began recklessly snapping away, after a couple of years of developing my eye and learning about exposure and such, I bought a Kiev 4am, an Iskra, and a 6x9 Zeiss Ikon super Ikonta (the anti-digicam).

Once I began developing my own black and white it was off to the races, I own and use about 15 cameras now.

I still take macro, snapshots, and telephoto stuff with my digicam and the work flow really is a lot easier. Lately the the Lumix lx3 has been calling, but there is still something about using mechanical cameras and film that has a hold on me.
 
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