J. Borger
Well-known
Best quote on Photography i read in a long time! Thanks for stucking it in mu head too
Richard G
Veteran
Look at more photographs. The gallery picks. Simonsawsunlight has a great thread here on photos with internal gestic quotations, now archived but accessible:
http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/printthread.php?&t=98115
I read an article in the one iPad issue of Leicafotografie I have seen on using the golden section to control spaces in a photograph. Try a new lens or an old one. I have had great fun recently learning to use a 21mm. I spent a day last year with my 135mm Tele-Elmar. Quite a challenge, maybe one good shot. That was enough.
Try capturing some nice light. Last year in late autumn I loved the low sun that lit the gravel beneath the trees at work. It wasn't a great composition but the gravel looked so granular and warm and contrasty. I printed it and put it on my pinboard and it was the most commented on photo of the lot.
I have once taken a few shots sure that there was a film in the camera but there wasn't. I have wondered about the photos that will never come out and wonder also about shuffling the cameras and risking taking one out again with no film in it, deliberately. The pain of those missing shots will make you value your effort and vision more.
http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/printthread.php?&t=98115
I read an article in the one iPad issue of Leicafotografie I have seen on using the golden section to control spaces in a photograph. Try a new lens or an old one. I have had great fun recently learning to use a 21mm. I spent a day last year with my 135mm Tele-Elmar. Quite a challenge, maybe one good shot. That was enough.
Try capturing some nice light. Last year in late autumn I loved the low sun that lit the gravel beneath the trees at work. It wasn't a great composition but the gravel looked so granular and warm and contrasty. I printed it and put it on my pinboard and it was the most commented on photo of the lot.
I have once taken a few shots sure that there was a film in the camera but there wasn't. I have wondered about the photos that will never come out and wonder also about shuffling the cameras and risking taking one out again with no film in it, deliberately. The pain of those missing shots will make you value your effort and vision more.
Richard G
Veteran
I dont know about tacky, but it denies the artistic dimension of photography. Looking at RFF's Barnwulf's exteriors and their compositional order might suggest a passion for galvanized iron but it is form and light that are the inspiration. Photography doesn't have to be in the service of something else.
Jerevan
Recycled User
I know the feeling - taking out the camera, and then... no. But it is a threshold that you have to get over, making the photograph, and then another one, even if it feels like isn't the best you've ever made.
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working" - Pablo Picasso
And who knows, looking back at the contact sheet a few weeks later, maybe you'll see something new in it, or giving you a new idea for another photograph.
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working" - Pablo Picasso
And who knows, looking back at the contact sheet a few weeks later, maybe you'll see something new in it, or giving you a new idea for another photograph.
Sparrow
Veteran
I'd give up altogether if mimicking Eggleston were the goal ...
Rogier
Rogier Willems
Copy / Recreate the shots from a photographer who you like. Once you figured it out start with an other photographer. At one point you will break loose and create your own shots.
Very eloquently put...and I agree.
Shade
Well-known
I dont know about you but I take photos for myself and dont bother whose done it before.
Dave Jenkins
Loose Canon
So very, very true!
v_roma
Well-known
Let me assure you it has nothing to do with age. I'm in my early 30s and often tempted to think everything's been done and done better, and therefore not worth being done by me. Photography is just something I do for my own enjoyment as a hobby, though, so I'm ultimately not all that bothered by this fact (whether true or perceived). Also, it helps that I mostly shoot Street Photography (with captial S and P ) and my family, both of which provide endless unique moments that no-one but me (or you!) could capture.
) and my family, both of which provide endless unique moments that no-one but me (or you!) could capture.
Dave Jenkins
Loose Canon
You miss the point altogether, Richard. Barnwulf's photographs reflect neither a passion for photography nor for galvanized iron. They are about a passion for form and light. Those are his subjects, and those are the things he is passionate about.
Steve M.
Veteran
That's good. You should feel the way that you do. A lousy photographer wouldn't get it. Painters have exactly the same problems, so being depressed over a valid situation is perfectly OK. In painting, when someone starts painting Picassos and Matisses, the saying is "nothing grows under the shade of a great oak". It's fine to emulate the masters, but at some point we need to move on. Not everyone can.
So, since it's all been done before (and done and done), what I decided was needed was a style, for lack of a better word, that was suitable. I won't say an original style, that may not be possible, but something that says me. Has to be something that I like too. This is doable, and possible.
What I finally came up with is shooting wide open portraits w/ a Leica R 90 lens in bright sun. It gives me the effect, somewhat, that Edward Weston was getting w/ that great head shot of the guy that had just fired the gun. He really blew out the background on that, and had that guy super sharp. The difference is Weston was shooting stopped down, while I shoot wide open. For some reason, and maybe to me only, this type of shooting is a direct influence of Weston's. With that R 90 Summicron wide open, and the right film, the right light, the right subject, and the right printing, I get a "look" that consistently works for me. If I hadn't come up w/ this (more by chance than anything else) I'd probably still be shooting those bell peppers endlessly and never, ever shoot one as well as he did. I wonder how many he failed with before he got his keepers? I'm guessing there were lots.
Anyway, the best fix for that depression is to go shoot some film. Lots of it. Load up the camera, shoot whatever interests you, and shoot 4 or 5 rolls on your walk/outing. Trust me, you'll get something that you like and can build on.
So, since it's all been done before (and done and done), what I decided was needed was a style, for lack of a better word, that was suitable. I won't say an original style, that may not be possible, but something that says me. Has to be something that I like too. This is doable, and possible.
What I finally came up with is shooting wide open portraits w/ a Leica R 90 lens in bright sun. It gives me the effect, somewhat, that Edward Weston was getting w/ that great head shot of the guy that had just fired the gun. He really blew out the background on that, and had that guy super sharp. The difference is Weston was shooting stopped down, while I shoot wide open. For some reason, and maybe to me only, this type of shooting is a direct influence of Weston's. With that R 90 Summicron wide open, and the right film, the right light, the right subject, and the right printing, I get a "look" that consistently works for me. If I hadn't come up w/ this (more by chance than anything else) I'd probably still be shooting those bell peppers endlessly and never, ever shoot one as well as he did. I wonder how many he failed with before he got his keepers? I'm guessing there were lots.
Anyway, the best fix for that depression is to go shoot some film. Lots of it. Load up the camera, shoot whatever interests you, and shoot 4 or 5 rolls on your walk/outing. Trust me, you'll get something that you like and can build on.
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dreilly
Chillin' in Geneva
Lots of good advice in this thread. I was in a similar spot a few years back. I just wasn't getting what I wanted out of my photography, from the process to the results. I felt like I had hit a wall.
So I gave myself a project. I asked my friend the baker if I could photograph him making bread, from when he started at 5:30am to when the first bread came out, around 10. It was really fun, and he liked the photographs enough to put a collage of them on his wall. An editor of a local food magazine saw them and asked me to take restaurant photographs for the magazine...so my little attempt to break through my creative wall became a little job. But it did great things for my photography.
I hit a wall when travelling to Copenhagen for work a few years ago. I fell into the usual mode of the tourist in Europe...lots of photos of buildings and none of people. So when I returned I had a project in mind. I had an old polaroid and I walked around asking people if I could take their portrait. I went to Cristiania which is a hippy commune, figuring high people would be easier to approach, and that was true. Met lots of great folks--didn't take a good portrait really, but I made images and met people...it pushed me forward.
The bottom line is that I'm a big believer in projects, in giving yourself a structure and then doing it.
I don't really worry if a photo has been done before. I know it hasn't been done by me. There can be a value in imitating as it can give you insight in how the other artist sees and composes. Hey, Columbus gets credit for discovering a continent where there were already people living, so I think you can get some credit for taking a nice photograph of a fork and a knife.
Craft a project, push your boundaries a bit, rinse and repeat. If the work of the greats hangs over you, stop looking at it. Spend some time thinking about how you don't photograph, and try those things...publish your own work in a zine or book or hold a little exhibition so you can see your photographs communicating to people...
Lots of ways to go forward.
So I gave myself a project. I asked my friend the baker if I could photograph him making bread, from when he started at 5:30am to when the first bread came out, around 10. It was really fun, and he liked the photographs enough to put a collage of them on his wall. An editor of a local food magazine saw them and asked me to take restaurant photographs for the magazine...so my little attempt to break through my creative wall became a little job. But it did great things for my photography.
I hit a wall when travelling to Copenhagen for work a few years ago. I fell into the usual mode of the tourist in Europe...lots of photos of buildings and none of people. So when I returned I had a project in mind. I had an old polaroid and I walked around asking people if I could take their portrait. I went to Cristiania which is a hippy commune, figuring high people would be easier to approach, and that was true. Met lots of great folks--didn't take a good portrait really, but I made images and met people...it pushed me forward.
The bottom line is that I'm a big believer in projects, in giving yourself a structure and then doing it.
I don't really worry if a photo has been done before. I know it hasn't been done by me. There can be a value in imitating as it can give you insight in how the other artist sees and composes. Hey, Columbus gets credit for discovering a continent where there were already people living, so I think you can get some credit for taking a nice photograph of a fork and a knife.
Craft a project, push your boundaries a bit, rinse and repeat. If the work of the greats hangs over you, stop looking at it. Spend some time thinking about how you don't photograph, and try those things...publish your own work in a zine or book or hold a little exhibition so you can see your photographs communicating to people...
Lots of ways to go forward.
johannielscom
Snorting silver salts
This is it.
In another thread I told about the moment I realised I wanted to shoot anything at anytime: When I was scanning I ran into some shots of my father and my son, on the day my father had a minor heart attack. Trivial shots, until the circumstances suddenly shifted.
Today I took my camera to the funeral of my grandmother. A one-of situation that will never be repeated.
that's the kind of stuff you would want to shoot, those things that can pass all to suddenly!
Fraser
Well-known
From the point of view as a working photographer (that would be me) one of the things that is hard is coming to terms that there is always a better photographer than yourself and maybe you are not ever going to be brilliant, just enjoy and do your own thing.
dallard
Well-known
Neare
Well-known
To me it sounds like you're trying to take photographs like other successful photographers take them. Stop shooting to imitate what you think and know is good and develop your own individual style. Always ask yourself what differs your work from everyone else. Starting your own specific project may help you in this.
zauhar
Veteran
There are an infinite number of striking and important images waiting to be captured. The fact that 10,000,000 or so have already been recorded should not discourage you.
All the best,
Randy
All the best,
Randy
williams473
Well-known
Thanks for your frank admission of feelings. We all struggle at times like this - for me I can share that I had a rather amazing revelation a while back in another area of my personal life that has freed me of the same type of depression you're in as it relates to photography. I too often became overwhelmed (especially when sifting through all the work available online) and came to a "what's the point" attitude regarding photography – an attitude that is not very conducive to creativity.
What worked for me, was realizing that my EGO was running the show and needed some serious downsizing, which gratefully (albeit painfully) I received. That big old ego would just not settle for anything less than fame and fortune. This attitude naturally engendered a constant sense of failure, because the ego was writing checks I couldn't cash in reality. So now, rather than needing to be one of the best, I aim to be a good photographer. I simply am now prepared to be ONE OF the photographers, rather than THE photographer. The depression I experienced had a lot to do with not accepting things as they are, and from failing to see how many blessings I have in my life, including the time, peace, money and support to shoot just about anything I so choose! This is a classic example of how much our minds have to do with the images we make. Hope that helps!
What worked for me, was realizing that my EGO was running the show and needed some serious downsizing, which gratefully (albeit painfully) I received. That big old ego would just not settle for anything less than fame and fortune. This attitude naturally engendered a constant sense of failure, because the ego was writing checks I couldn't cash in reality. So now, rather than needing to be one of the best, I aim to be a good photographer. I simply am now prepared to be ONE OF the photographers, rather than THE photographer. The depression I experienced had a lot to do with not accepting things as they are, and from failing to see how many blessings I have in my life, including the time, peace, money and support to shoot just about anything I so choose! This is a classic example of how much our minds have to do with the images we make. Hope that helps!
Hjortsberg
Well-known
again, thanks everyone. It's just a passing moment. Had 'em before and I'll have 'em again.
gonna go take some photos now. glad the site is back up and I especially like looking at the photos on the gallery.
gonna go take some photos now. glad the site is back up and I especially like looking at the photos on the gallery.