Comfort zone

[Roger Hicks]

Time and again, I hear people say that it's good to get out of your "comfort zone". WHY? Get a comfort zone: learn to take pictures. Does it not occur to people that the best street photographers seldom do insect macros? Or that insect photographers are seldom much good at landscapes? "Getting out of your comfort zone" can easily be a euphemism for "never bothering to learn to to anything properly, and then pretending that incompetence is a virtue".

Cheers,

R.

 

[Lauffray]

Maybe it's a comfort zone in a particular area. I certainly can't be bothered to do macro or landscapes, but I do need to vary how I approach the same subjects. If you like your comfort, nothing wrong with that, there is nothing more annoying than those preachy dogmatic photographers detailing why their approach is the best.

 

[daveleo]

It's good to get out of your comfort zone, or out of the box, whichever phrase you choose.
It makes your world bigger. You might actually discover a new box you enjoy being in even more than your old box ! 😀

 

[Roger Hicks]

It's good to get out of your comfort zone, or out of the box, whichever phrase you choose.
It makes your world bigger. You might actually discover a new box you enjoy being in even more than your old box ! 😀

Dear Dave,

Or you might use it as an excuse for never making as much commitment as you will need to make if you are ever to become truly good at something. I mean, why not take up golf? That might get you well out of your photographic comfort zone -- and stop you ever being as good as you want to be at EITHER photography OR golf.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Lauffray]

And ? you know I respect how seriously you take photography, but the vast majority of people I met who do this don't really care for depth of knowledge, to a lot of people it's just fun, it's the experimentation, the random mistakes and such.
What if they never became good at it ? do you only do something to become good at it ?

I'm not arguing against your point, nor am I saying the "other" view is just as valid, but it's just that, another view on things

 

[v_roma]

Roger,

Generally, when I have heard that piece of advice, it is meant to get people to challenge themselves and not to say that people should change things around for the sake of it. For some people, buckling down and sticking with something long enough to master it may qualify as getting out of their comfort zone...

Time and again, I hear people say that it's good to get out of your "comfort zone". WHY? Get a comfort zone: learn to take pictures. Does it not occur to people that the best street photographers seldom do insect macros? Or that insect photographers are seldom much good at landscapes? "Getting out of your comfort zone" can easily be a euphemism for "never bothering to learn to to anything properly, and then pretending that incompetence is a virtue".

Cheers,

R.

 

[Eugen Mezei]

When did you met the last one caring for depth of knowledge and getting skills? In the last 20 years I met only "artists".

 

[Lauffray]

For some people, buckling down and sticking with something long enough to master it may qualify as getting out of their comfort zone...

Interesting, I never thought about it this way. For me I need a bit of variety every once in a while, I feel that habit numbs my brain and I end up doing things out of repetition rather than by thinking actively about what I'm doing.

 

[daveleo]

Dear Dave,

Or you might use it as an excuse for never making as much commitment as you will need to make if you are ever to become truly good at something. I mean, why not take up golf? That might get you well out of your photographic comfort zone -- and stop you ever being as good as you want to be at EITHER photography OR golf.

Cheers,

R.

Roger,

I can't debate what peoples' motives might be for trying new things, but, as examples of my earlier point.

In my life, I have tried swimming, basketball, golf, dancing, being witty, being charming, painting, singing, playing guitar, and a few other things . . . and I failed miserably at all of these.
Had I not done those things, I would spend my years "what if I had done this or what if I had done that."

Happily I got to explore those things and learned humility, if nothing else 😀

 

[Roger Hicks]

Roger,

I can't debate what peoples' motives might be for trying new things, but, as examples of my earlier point.

In my life, I have tried swimming, basketball, golf, dancing, being witty, being charming, painting, singing, playing guitar, and a few other things . . . and I failed miserably at all of these.
Had I not done those things, I would spend my years "what if I had done this or what if I had done that."

Happily I got to explore those things and learned humility, if nothing else 😀

Dear Dave,

An unanswerable (if perhaps unfairly self-deprecatory) counter-argument!

Cheers,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Roger,

Generally, when I have heard that piece of advice, it is meant to get people to challenge themselves and not to say that people should change things around for the sake of it. For some people, buckling down and sticking with something long enough to master it may qualify as getting out of their comfort zone...

Elegant!

Thanks,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

And ? you know I respect how seriously you take photography, but the vast majority of people I met who do this don't really care for depth of knowledge, to a lot of people it's just fun, it's the experimentation, the random mistakes and such.
What if they never became good at it ? do you only do something to become good at it ?

I'm not arguing against your point, nor am I saying the "other" view is just as valid, but it's just that, another view on things

Entirely fair. It's just that some people think they CAN become good at something without actually working at it.

Cheers,

R.

 

[zauhar]

Roger, I also think a common meaning of 'breaking out of the comfort zone ' is to drop inhibitions that are holding you back. That means doing what you are already doing, but with a higher level of commitment and courage .

Randy

 

[KoNickon]

Yes, I think one can get out of one's comfort zone by either trying something new, or committing to something familiar to a much greater degree. An example of the latter might be someone who's a more casual runner deciding to train for a marathon. Using the same analogy, the "trying something new" would be a runner deciding to try triathlons.

But to your original point, I think you can't truly get out of your comfort zone with regard to a specific type of endeavor until you've established a comfort zone in the first place. That is, there must first be some level of experience and competence that you've achieved -- otherwise you're just sort of trying various things, in a scattershot fashion.

 

[Mauros]

Time and again, I hear people say that it's good to get out of your "comfort zone".
R.

To me it means "put some effort into it", whatever that "it" is

 

[tunalegs]

I think it's obvious that when people say this what they mean is that maybe one has become too complacent in their approach, and they may as well try something different to see if they like it.

Is that a bad idea?

History is certainly filled with artists who ended up stuck in a "comfort zone" and progressed very little after finding it.

 

[doolittle]

Getting out of your comfort zone is something you can try when you are stuck in a rut. When your muse deserts you, when all else fails. It's the antithesis of the adage 'If it's not broken, don't fix it', i.e. it's probably best to try only when something isn't working.

 

[Mackinaw]

I spent 35 years photographing scenics and landscapes until I decided one day I was in a rut. As I glanced back at my work over that period of time, most everything looked alike. After all, How many different ways can you photograph autumn color? Or a winter snowfall?

I changed to primarily photographing people about ten years ago. What a difference and what a challenge. Working outside of my comfort zone was the best thing I've ever done photographically. I discovered that, unlike trees and rocks, people talk back to you! And if you want to take a good portrait, you have to establish a relationship with that person. One other unplanned side-benefit was meeting many new people, some who are now friends, that I otherwise would have never met if I kept on photographing scenics and landscapes. So yeah, I think there is benefit in trying something different.

Jim B.

 

[jljohn]

Maybe what you are missing is that this piece of advice is always directed at those who are not "the best street photographers." For those who lack the skills, vision, or chutzpah to be a great street photographer, "getting out of their comfort zone" may provide one step in the right direction. To the would-be street photographer who is scared to point his lens at a person who is looking at him: "Get out of your comfort zone and point the lens at your subject as he glares at you." To the photographer who is hesitant to get in close to subject with a wide-angle lens: "Get out of your comfort zone and get in close." To the photographer who is missing shots because he is fiddling with his light meter: "Get out of your comfort zone and risk missing a shot because you guess the exposure wrong." And finally, to the photographer who still uses the Auto setting on his DSLR: "Get out of your comfort zone and see what changing your aperture and shutter speed manually does for you." Your post seems to assume that the advice is directed to the likes of Gary Winogrand or Bruce Davidson, when it is more likely directed at those whose work is not nearly as good.

For those times when such advice is directed at one as competent as a Winogrand or a Davidson, my guess is that it has to do with staying sharp by continually learning. Few people actually like to reach a plateau in their learning, where they simply stop developing and growing in their field. Stepping out of one's comfort zone is a way to stay fresh by allowing your mind and body to grow, even if only in parallel areas.

 

[Moto-Uno]

Thanks Roger, it's good to stir the waters ! Peter