crisis of confidence

[bmattock]

I intend to punish the world with my photographic output, and so far, I'm succeeding. Mediocre photos? Hah! My photos stink on ice!

I don't take photos because I like the way they look, any more than I wear a watch because I want to know what time it is. It's just what I do.

 

[35mmdelux]

Dont worry, be happy. Occasionally I'll get a shot that makes the effort worth it, and Im carrying two leicas mind you.

 

[amateriat]

Free your mind, and your glass will follow.


- Barrett

 

[Chris101]

If I felt like that I would burn everything I had ever done, photos, drawings, paintings, negatives, and all those CDs and DVDs too.. Come to think of it, I would also break off all of my relationships and quit my job, abandon my house and pets, move to LA and live in a seedy hotel room that smelled of stale smoke and dried out bodily functions. I would perform all sorts of undesirable acts to eek out a minimal existence.

Then I'd feel justified in feeling sorry for myself.

 

[sar-photo]

Get a Holga! I've taken some of my favourite photo's on my Holga - they are a truly liberating experience!

 

[tritiated]

Inclement Arctic Weather Trashes Cameras!

of course!

 

[BillP]

Better to be self- aware and self-critical than bombard the world with endless photostreams of mediocrity, fuelled by misplaced self-confidence.

Any normal person thinks like this from time to time.

Don't sweat it.

Regards,

Bill

 

[Oscar Levant]

If it's possible for you, secure an attractive girlfriend and take photos of her.

If this is impossible for you, get a dog or a monkey.

 

[dap]

Free your mind, and your glass will follow.


- Barrett

Harrr - nice reference! I was cleaning out my basement last night and happened across that exact album...hadn't heard it or thought about it in years (looks like I'm going to have to do some catching up today).

 

[Roger Hicks]

When I got my first camera (fairly recently), I started by going out into the woods, walking through marsh, or on the borders of large, beautiful lakes. Know what I realized? I hate that sh*t. I don’t know what the hell I was doing walking through swamps.

I looked at my pictures, and though many of them were fine from a technical standpoint, they did nothing for me. Deleted all the pictures and took a trip to Newark (NJ). Took photographs of people I found interesting. Sold the Nikon shortly thereafter and am now awaiting the arrival of my new rangefinder (M6).

You’ve been in photography much longer than I have. I’m sure you’ve figured out what you like to take pictures of. But it can be more subtle than that. I think people that are often overly critical of their work find that they are adhering to other people’s standards of what good and bad photography is. If you like photographing business cards, and that's art for you, then do that.

Experiment if necessary. Take pictures of things you would not normally take, and see if that catches.

Brilliant. I've highlighted the two bits I thought most brilliant.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Get a Holga! I've taken some of my favourite photo's on my Holga - they are a truly liberating experience![/COLOR]

If it works for you, it works for you. Personally I'd rather give up photography than be limited to a Holga.

The only reason for posting this is to reinforce the point, made elsewhere, that what works for one person won't necessarily work for another.

Tashi delek,

R.

 

[sar-photo]

I didn't mean to limit yourself to just using a Holga. For me the Holga freed me from having to worry about exposure settings etc and allowed me to concentrate on subjects as well as forcing me to 'see' in a different way (the Holga way!). This, in turn, kick started my photography with my 'proper' cameras and I haven't looked back since. Anyway, it worked for me!

Cheers
Simon

 

[Roger Hicks]

I didn't mean to limit yourself to just using a Holga. For me the Holga freed me from having to worry about exposure settings etc and allowed me to concentrate on subjects as well as forcing me to 'see' in a different way (the Holga way!). This, in turn, kick started my photography with my 'proper' cameras and I haven't looked back since. Anyway, it worked for me!

Cheers
Simon

Dear Simon,

I certainly see your point, and I didn't mean to criticize it; all I meant was that it only works for some people. For me, shutter speed, focus, and aperture aren't a worry: NOT being able to control them soon drives me up the wall. Which is why I like Leicas with fast lenses...

Cheers,

R.

 

[charjohncarter]

If I felt like that I would burn everything I had ever done, photos, drawings, paintings, negatives, and all those CDs and DVDs too.. Come to think of it, I would also break off all of my relationships and quit my job, abandon my house and pets, move to LA and live in a seedy hotel room that smelled of stale smoke and dried out bodily functions. I would perform all sorts of undesirable acts to eek out a minimal existence.

Then I'd feel justified in feeling sorry for myself.

That sounds pretty good, let's do it.

 

[monkeypainter]

Just follow mr. bruce lee's advice: Here.

 

[skeletron]

Thanks for all the thoughtful responses. This is a pretty good forum for that. I think I'm partially being too hard on myself (who isn't?) but I've also gotten stagnant. I'm going to take some time off, ride my bike, good off, and just enjoy looking at things. Maybe later, it would be a good idea to switch my focus from my website to producing prints. That might lead me to be more focused on a style or a particular idea instead of the shotgun blast approach I've been taking lately...

 

[crawdiddy]

Stop worrying about the the finished product. Do you enjoy photography? Then do it. Enjoy the process.

Most people are not that good at sex, but I suppose they keep doing it because it's enjoyable.

 

[lorriman]

I still love taking photos and working them into finished pieces. But, jeez, if all I'm churning out is mediocre crap, then what's the point? There are hundreds of thousands of people doing that already.
quote]

As a people shooter I take other people's masterpeices and reproduce variations of them with kids. The result is wonderful. Because the kid brings its own uniqueness and expressions (so long as they don't synthetically smile and destroy the mood) I have seemingly infinite scope. In addition it gives me the satisfaction of the parent's pleasure, and often the kids also.

There is alot of satisfaction also in making the shot happen. Waiting for that moment. Developing techniques such as waiting till the kid gets bored: this sometimes produces sublime expressions. They can get uncooperative though so I get them to choose the masterpeice they want to do, never show them bad photos of themselves, play on jealosy (esp between sisters), limit to 2 shots a day each. Etc etc. Lots of work, much satisfaction and great pics.

Unlike people there are only so many landscapes and bugs before its all the same really. And anyway seeing the real thing with your eyes is a million times more beautiful and special. Mind you the same applies to headshots: I take 1 headshot for a hundred contextual portraits.

 

[peter_n]

Reading "Art and Fear" by Bayles and Orland may help you.

Maybe The War of Art by Steven Pressfield too.

 

[Pavel+]

I get into moods such as yours from time to time. After several years in the fashion biz I put cameras down for years.

Then I realized that when the soul is a bit down ... there is this fabulous invention that keeps a man going, keeps him happy, stops him from pondering too much. Beer!

Take two .... and go shooting in the morning. 🙂