back alley
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agreed!
i do look for that 'wow' factor but i want it to come out of my mouth.
joe
i do look for that 'wow' factor but i want it to come out of my mouth.
joe
factors affecting creativity and output
- Thread starter FrankS
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remrf
AZRF
FrankS said:
Thank you for finishing what I was trying to say. In the end ourselves are the only ones we should be concerned with pleasing with our craft.
pesphoto
Veteran
Stress, definitely, stress is the biggest factor that limits my desire to go out and shoot. Finding free time do do what I want and yet not feeling like Im neglecting my other responsibilites is tough and kinda depressing sometimes. Also the fact that we are constantly bombarded by the "latest and greatest" technologies that are supposed to make our lives so much better. One feels like a loser if one doesnt give a damn about technology and just wants a manual camera and a few rolls of film to shoot.
FrankS
Registered User
Also the fact that we are constantly bombarded by the "latest and greatest" technologies that are supposed to make our lives so much better. One feels like a loser if one doesnt give a damn about technology and just wants a manual camera and a few rolls of film to shoot.
__________________
But when you get to that point, it is really very liberating! -when you decide not to play the game.
__________________
But when you get to that point, it is really very liberating! -when you decide not to play the game.
ClaremontPhoto
Jon Claremont
I need to be by myself:
Another person always tries to be helpful pointing out the 'pretty view' and doesn't ever understand I don't really do pretty.
Also hangers-on telling me to use flash. Arghh!
Finally people saying 'don't waste film'.
Another person always tries to be helpful pointing out the 'pretty view' and doesn't ever understand I don't really do pretty.
Also hangers-on telling me to use flash. Arghh!
Finally people saying 'don't waste film'.
RJBender
RFF Sponsoring Member
FrankS said:
I was very active in two local Photographic Society of America (PSA) camera clubs several years ago. If you shoot to win points, your whole style changes to adapt to the judges' tastes. There are people who just shoot for the points they need to advance to Salon level. To me that 's a waste of time. I don't need that kind of peer pressure.
The shoots the clubs organized included 3 figure shoots and 2 studio shoots. The shoots were worth more than the cost of the dues.
One PSA fellow who gave presentations to clubs around the country couldn't figure out what F stop to use with his 400 ASA film when we went into a studio and were metering at 100 ASA. I remember one of his presentations on metering when he discussed the spot meter feature in his Canon Rebel. His slide of pink azaleas was underexposed and his comment was sometimes the spotmeter feature works and sometimes it doesn't. 🙄
Photography is whatever you want it to be, even if you just use it to connect to your inner self. 😉
R.J.
nomade
Hobbyist
1- Repetetive scenes and situations, boredom, everyonce in a while one needs a turnover...
2- the reason above depends also n ur mood today, or for this moment, my mood personally is momental, i donno about other people, but that's it, a thought delivers me to the other and the mood changes..So it basically depend on my state of mind...
3- there r factors that help u when u r not in the right state of mind, like changing faces and places, or it's not u who want to shoot it's the others, and then u hear their praises that fire u up to prove it, yes they r right, i'm good...I'm good...
2- the reason above depends also n ur mood today, or for this moment, my mood personally is momental, i donno about other people, but that's it, a thought delivers me to the other and the mood changes..So it basically depend on my state of mind...
3- there r factors that help u when u r not in the right state of mind, like changing faces and places, or it's not u who want to shoot it's the others, and then u hear their praises that fire u up to prove it, yes they r right, i'm good...I'm good...
jorisbens
rff: penguins know why
Studying seems to stimulate my creativity a lot, after a few hours of sitting behind some books, I have to go out and take some pictures. Those pictures are the most creative and best I shoot, because I'm stressedd from the studying and I want to relax completelly so I don't mind rolling or jumping to take some photographs.
Bertram2
Gone elsewhere
FrankS said:
That can't work, Frank ! Before you watch these pics you must smoke again some non-tobacco stuff !! This first allows you to enter the spheres of inspiration again in which you had been when you shot !! 😀
Simple, , isn't it? :angel:
bertram
bmattock
Veteran
I find that stress at work and home helps me release my creativity in writing and photography. I cannot produce anything good when my life is wonderful - I'm too contented to care.
Best Regards,
Bill Mattocks
Best Regards,
Bill Mattocks
Dave H
Established
Jon Claremont said:
Amen, Jon you must be in a parallel universe because I get exactly the same comments from people.
The biggest factor affecting my output, is seeing all the best photos when I haven't got the camera in my hand :bang:
pesphoto
Veteran
Really enjoying this thread. Helps to know we all deal with these issues. I too have to shoot alone. Whenever Im with someone else I don't feel as free to shoot what I want. Its easy to lose sight of the fact that the reason I like to do this is purely for my own enjoyment and not because I want everyone to like the pictures I make. Do people think Im nuts for walking around dirty and smelly alley ways in the city at times? MAybe, but who cares right?!
GeneW
Veteran
Inertia. I think it's subtly different from laziness -- just not getting started in the first place.
Ever noticed how when you sell a camera, you first have to quickly shoot out the roll of film that's in it, taking pics of anything, and it usually has some keepers on it?
Or, you get a new camera and run a test roll -- taking pics of anything you see. Again some keepers.
When I get more 'serious', I find I have fewer keepers, and I feel less inclined to get started.
So I try to toss out 'seriousness' and 'intent' and just react to things I see. Doesn't always work, but it often helps, and above all lowers the barriers to getting started. Inertia ...
Gene
Ever noticed how when you sell a camera, you first have to quickly shoot out the roll of film that's in it, taking pics of anything, and it usually has some keepers on it?
Or, you get a new camera and run a test roll -- taking pics of anything you see. Again some keepers.
When I get more 'serious', I find I have fewer keepers, and I feel less inclined to get started.
So I try to toss out 'seriousness' and 'intent' and just react to things I see. Doesn't always work, but it often helps, and above all lowers the barriers to getting started. Inertia ...
Gene
jan normandale
Film is the other way
I know what I want to shoot. My problems are time and money. If I had about 2-3 years of paid leave and paid for materials and equipment I would be on a roll. I have an idea that most of you have been shooting cameras for more than 5 years and are suffering 'fatigue' , maybe put down the camera and see what you want to shoot without the camera then come back and get the camera and make the shot.
I think going out the door with your camera and bag in tow looking for photographic subjects is a difficult thing to do. When I go out I know exactly what I am wanting to shoot. I may not get the shot the way I want though, so sometimes I have to revisit the site and try again. Hopefully the ability to get the shot is still there. Some shot may not be available again for a year or more. That is okay , I wait.
I think going out the door with your camera and bag in tow looking for photographic subjects is a difficult thing to do. When I go out I know exactly what I am wanting to shoot. I may not get the shot the way I want though, so sometimes I have to revisit the site and try again. Hopefully the ability to get the shot is still there. Some shot may not be available again for a year or more. That is okay , I wait.
wilt
Well-known
Travel is usually good for me. Makes me see new things in people and sceneries. Needn't be to exotic locations, though, just a change of place.
djon
Well-known
I think "creativity" itself is a dubious concept. And I agree with Poptart about distractions.
For me, primary reasons to make photographs come from contacts with other people or desires to make some sort of neo-journalistic point (the point would actually be journalistic if I intended publication around a theme).
Often I see something graphic that's appealing...I respond to some of that, but I don't usually find it worthwhile to state the obvious photographically. Recently I did a typical "wrecking yard automobile photos" series...I'm proud of my l3X19 prints...they're beautiful. But why would I want to describe them as "creative?" That word puts them in the same class as hand-painted fishing lures and the Sistine Ceiling...it's too vague to mean anything.
If someone want's to call us "creative," let them...though it may not be much of a compliment...does that person know what they mean when they use the word?
I think we acquire an egotistical burden if we apply the word "creative" to ourselves: paradoxically, I believe the word itself is totally empty, meaningless.
For me, primary reasons to make photographs come from contacts with other people or desires to make some sort of neo-journalistic point (the point would actually be journalistic if I intended publication around a theme).
Often I see something graphic that's appealing...I respond to some of that, but I don't usually find it worthwhile to state the obvious photographically. Recently I did a typical "wrecking yard automobile photos" series...I'm proud of my l3X19 prints...they're beautiful. But why would I want to describe them as "creative?" That word puts them in the same class as hand-painted fishing lures and the Sistine Ceiling...it's too vague to mean anything.
If someone want's to call us "creative," let them...though it may not be much of a compliment...does that person know what they mean when they use the word?
I think we acquire an egotistical burden if we apply the word "creative" to ourselves: paradoxically, I believe the word itself is totally empty, meaningless.
Toby
On the alert
I've found that my creativity is based around confdence. One really good session of shooting puts me on a roll. One bad one stymies my enthusiam for a couple of weeks. I guess I take the motto "you're only as good as your last picture" way too seriously. Time is the other killer. For street photography you need plenty of time on your hands (and plenty of film) to get to the good stuff. In my stock library days when I would work abroad I would spend one day just walking around a city and then subsequently shoot more day by day as I got a feel for things. Now I'm lucky to get a couple of hours free - it's no surprise then that I don't produce as much good street photography -most of my best stuff is done in the studio.
Pherdinand
the snow must go on
when i consume alcohol, opposite to frank, i become extremely active and optimistic and i take much more photos, and some of them amaze me later.
now, when my model takes alcohol... lol, just kidding, i never give them alcohol
i never have models, in fact
now, when my model takes alcohol... lol, just kidding, i never give them alcohol
i never have models, in fact
wintoid
Back to film
The more I shoot, the less creative I am. The less I shoot, the more creative I am.
FrankS
Registered User
I am usually surprised at the number of photo opportunities I see when I am without a camera. 🙂
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