factors affecting creativity and output

[FrankS]

I have noticed these tendencies in myself over the years:

When I"m waiting to receive a new piece of gear in the mail, I take fewer pictures with the gear that I already have than I did before purchasing the new piece.

And when I consume alcohol, my creativity is numbed and I become uninspired to take pictures even when I see something interesting.

And when I smoked (years ago) non-tobacco cigarettes, I thought everything was interesting and would take copious amounts of pictures, only to find out later, once they were developed, that there really was nothing interesting.

And stress from work or family life is detrimental to my photographic creativity and production.

Anyone else care to add?

 

[James Burton]

In the past I have found correlation between sadness/depression and creative output. I'm not so sure that holds any more.

I know one thing for sure. There is little correlation between what I feel like at the end of a shoot (tired?) and what I see after developing the rolls of film. On days when I felt like I didn't get anything I sometimes find I have the best shots.

Thanks for bringing this thread up. I'll have to have another think about it.

James

 

[taffer]

Good post Frank !

- mood, mood, mood. Sometimes I just feel the city pushes on my too hard (stress), I tend to get sort of angry and just go around too fast and too ignorant of what is around me. I'm already working on that.

- doing things I've not done before, going to places I've never gone, meeting new people, they use to be good for my creativity.

- waiting for items or lusting for them does not help me AT ALL.

- receiving them helps 🙂 But temporarily

- there are days in which I feel I have guts to shoot in face of strangers, some others, I don't.

- getting inside the action uses to give me very good results.

- lazyness is probably the worst 'quality' you can have as a photographer. It just kills.

 

[back alley]

winter kills my creativity - it's always dark or feels like it

i write my best poems when i'm really depressed

i can only photograph when i'm in the mood - if i'm not in the mood nothing happens

i need more beautiful, half naked women hanging around my house so i can do figure studies

i hate shooting in the cold and it's cold here much of the time - like all winter

i used to like shooting alone but lately i have wanted company

more to come...

 

[Kin Lau]

Laziness... probably my worse trait. Skills I can learn and I can develop my "eye", but as taffer said, laziness just klls it all.

 

[remrf]

I wonder at the term applied here. "Creative output". We, as photographers don't as a rule create anything. In 99% of the situations we "see" a scene or image that we like and "record" it. Then we develop the image and in some cases we print it ourselves. I have a very few images that I created out of whole cloth. Abstracts for the most part. Framing and composition could in some way be considered creative I suppose but for the most part we are pratitioners of a mechanical craft.A series of actions that sometimes renders what is considered a pleasing image to the beholder.

When working as commercial photographers we "create" an image I suppose in the sense that , at least speaking for myself begin with a blank mental page and then place within it the items I wish to see there and then light it in the manner I think appropriate to the product and situation.

Also, I find that my "take" on the "quality" of an image changes over time. In many cases the image I liked so much at the time is not the one I come to like over time.

Ask yourself a question the next time you feel the urge to "create" a photograph.

Ask" What is the nature of the urge I now feel"? If you are honest I think you will find that in many cases it is the urge to have others (other photographers) see your image and think of you as "creative" and or skilled in this craft.

If you are very new to this then the urge can be to successfully opperate the camera so as to render the image you see before you in a recognizable manner.

There is nothing wrong with either of those motivations or others. But I think we are all best served when we are honest with ourselves as to why we labor at this craft.

Having said all that i must tell you that I am going to now go and have a roll of color film I shot with my Leica IIIa developed at Walgreens. I did not create anything to shoot the roll but I am none the less curious as to the results of the exercise of my chosen "craft".

below is one of the few images I could say I created.

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

Competition with other areas of my life: work, family, other interests/hobbies.

Lack of money to purchase new toys, film, developer, this leads to depression which leads to less shooting and less creativity.

Lack of light in winter time, by the time I get done with my day job it is often dark outside. I still shoot at night sometimes, but not when it is below freezing temperatures.

Looking at some of my past work and thinking it really sucks.

Wayne

 

[JoeFriday]

I have pretty much the same problems as Joe.. especially the lack of figure-study models

I am very much a night-owl.. some of you might have noticed that I tend to be on here late at night.. often after midnight CST.. my creative mood kicks in after 10pm.. I find myself dragging out my tripod and lights to do mini studio shots that those late hours.. unfortunately, that's not exactly a good time for street photography.. particularly when you live somewhere with nothing open after 10pm

 

[ray_g]

Work. I go to work at sunup, and go home after dark. One fourth of all my weekends are also spent at work. My free time in the evening, and every minute of my weekends I spend to catch up with watching my kids grow. It's a good thing I absolutely love what I do.

When we take time off to travel, I am bursting with photographic energy. As taffer said, I am driven by being in a new place, meeting new people, plus just having the time...

 

[f/stopblues]

I've found I simply cannot photograph in any serious capacity while I'm with other people.. family, friends, etc. If I wander out alone I seem to see more "photographically". The only time this isn't true is with a particular friend and its just him and I. I think it has something to do with him being interested in photography.

Doing anything else creative always leads me to my camera (or the desire to use it). For instance, writing will get the juices going and shortly I'll be driving downtown to shoot. Seeing a quality film, going to a gallery of any medium, etc. They all have that effect.

Opposite of Frank, a couple drinks translate to liquid courage for street shooting. Course, I don't drink with that goal in mind, but if I'm out at a bar I get the uncontrollable desire to push HP5 to 800 and have a fast lens with me.

Not liking my own work kills creativity for both photography and writing. I try to keep my head in the clouds at all times 🙂

 

[Kevin]

When I see work from other photographers who are much better than I then I decelerate.

But when I happen to take a really great picture I am motivated to shoot more and take more risks in the months that follow.

 

[Byuphoto]

I am in a somewhat different position. My full time occupation is a studio/wedding photographer. So my outlet is to get out and shoot fun stuff. This is why i like the simplicity of rangefinders. I can concentrate on the subject and not the equipment, which is the opposite of the studio when I am concerned with the lighting and setting up the shot. To much time in the studio, weddings, parents and brides tend to kill any creative juices but a good country drive changes all that. If I don't have any appointments I can just go out and walk the small town I live in.
I am also different from my northern brothers in that winter here is much better to shoot in that the stagnant heat of summer. I tend to take way more shots from Oct. to Mar.

 

[egpj]

Interesting. I remember the Lenswork Audio Blog having something about this. Mr. Jensen talked about things that caused in him the desire to be creative. For example, great pieces of music or examples of art... blah, blah, blah. The brunt of such things is that if we desire to be creative and productive we should surround ourselves with great people, works of art, or anything that can inspire us while staying away from the negative as much as possible. I enjoy the Lenswork blog and count it as one of those things that helps me in the creative life style.

Glenn

 

[Todd.Hanz]

I agree about the "waiting for new gear" thought, I recently bought a VC meter II and it was slow to come. I kept waiting each day to use it, M3 loaded with film just waiting, waiting. Finally it got here and the juices flowed again, weird.

I also find it hard to shoot with someone in tow, the exception is shooting with my kids. If you ever get that stale feeling again then take a kid along, give them a camera and try to see through his or her eyes. Get on the ground, shoot into the sun, take a picture from the other end of the see-saw. 🙂

Todd

Todd

 

[Poptart]

I think that the most destructive things to creativity are the distractions: tv, work, errands, even the (gasp!) internets . . . all of them are such a huge waste of time that they get in the way of making art.

And "non-tobacco cigarettes"? I assume you must mean banana peel. (They call me mellow yellow--precisely.)

 

[RJBender]

I have pretty much the same problems as Joe.. especially the lack of figure-study models

I am very much a night-owl.. some of you might have noticed that I tend to be on here late at night.. often after midnight CST.. my creative mood kicks in after 10pm.. I find myself dragging out my tripod and lights to do mini studio shots that those late hours.. unfortunately, that's not exactly a good time for street photography.. particularly when you live somewhere with nothing open after 10pm

Hey Brett, you actually have quite a bit of talent in Sheboygan. Maybe you can find one who will trade talent for photos. 😉

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R.J.

 

[RJBender]

...And when I smoked (years ago) non-tobacco cigarettes, I thought everything was interesting and would take copious amounts of pictures, only to find out later, once they were developed, that there really was nothing interesting.....

Maybe you can take some of those uninteresting photos and Photoshop® them into something surreal. 🙂

I wasn't stoned when I took this photo but I did use a Rapid Omega 6X7 rangefinder camera.

R.J.

 

[unky tone]

I go through phases - sometimes I feel cretive, sometimes I just like taking tons of pics in the hope that one or two is a keeper. Often I feel disinspired after looking at photography sites on the web and I realise that I'm just a snapshot photographer. But I feel more creative when my 4 year old (Basil - see avatar) steals the digicam and starts shooting - he's slightly autistic - yesterday he had a ball using 'Basil's camera'
Note the creative use of movement artefact and the homemade soft focus filter (finger on the lens)
This morning I found my canon F1 on the floor of his room - looking forward to developing these!

 

[cp_ste.croix]

I also go in phases, most often coinciding with non-winter months and periods away from working. I seem to not have much time to just go and shoot, which is why i like taking my camera with me when my gf and i go out...she is the only one understanding enough to wait for me to take the #$%&* picture already.

I find that if I am writing, my photography suffers and vice-versa. ah well. right now, photography is slower than molasses in January.

 

[FrankS]

Ask yourself a question the next time you feel the urge to "create" a photograph.

Ask" What is the nature of the urge I now feel"? If you are honest I think you will find that in many cases it is the urge to have others (other photographers) see your image and think of you as "creative" and or skilled in this craft.

I cannot tell you how "over that" I am. I used to be that way. And when I did the camera club thing I was that way. But with age and experience, the need for external validation decreases. (Not that I am THAT old.) And okay, I am 49. It is still nice to have others like your pictures, but I'm doing it much more to please myself now.