Is there always something to shoot?

[Mark D.]

Photograph the boring.

 

[Neare]

There are always new interesting photographs out there to be made, though seeing and taking them depends all on the photographers mood at the time.

I don't think there is such as thing as practice shooting time for me, every time I take the camera out it's practice. But I won't take a shot I didn't 'feel' just to see what happens.

 

[clayne]

Expectations and art have never gone together. They usually get involved due to artist intentions but seldom work out well.

Reduce your expectations when you go out with a camera.

 

[btgc]

Some replays contain what I just were going to write.

If it's empty day, why not take photo saying how empty were this day?

If there's no light, aren't hi-ISO or long times still available?

I keep several cameras loaded - for sunny day, for rainy day, motorized AE AF camera, manual camera without meter. Each has it's use.

 

[icemendicant]

Photograph the boring.

Actually I think there is something in this.

I recently had occasion to go back over about 30k photos on my computer which were badly in need of some organising, and I'd just been teaching myself to use Lightroom, which helped.

One thing that struck me was that of the images from 10 or so years ago, often those that moved me most were the simple shots of everyday life from back then - little details, decor in rooms, who was there, what we did etc. The passing of the years had given these previously mundane shots a magic of their own.

So - when inspiration won't come, just document your life as it happens and leave the art for another day. More often than not, whenever I have done this, something will happen that brings back the muse.

 

[zdav]

Some really interesting thoughts here. I think I got a little caught up reading about composition and trying to teach myself how to make good pictures...

I think I'll just forget about practice shooting, drag my camera with me everywhere (althoug my yashica lynx is one big heavy brick) and take pictures when I feel like it.

really appreciated the replies

 

[Arjay]

1. Do you think there is always an interesting photo to make?

Always, for sure. It only depends if I'm able and in the mood to see it.

It takes a certain relaxed awareness to see the little things that are constantly happening around me (particularly if I'm out to do street photography). If I'm too focused to shoot something very specific, then I will be prone to miss a lot of the unexpected situations that make street photography so exciting.

I try to shoot anything that catches my attention (gestures, little situations between people, odd folks etc.) without making any judgement, almost letting myself be guided by my subconscious mind. I find in this way that I am faster, missing less shots than if I thought a lot before deciding what to photograph.

Intention or the urge to bring home specific results or 'that super shot' are sure recipes for failure. If I have expectations, I often feel inhibited, kind of consciously weeding out all those occasions when I think there's something that might not work in terms of light, composition, or picture taking conventions. This makes me think too much, and then I tend to miss too many really interesting moments.

I often bring home a film / or a memory card full of what are 'boring shots' at first sight when I take pictures without great expectations. When I'm out with my wife, she often asks me 'did you take some good pictures today'? My answer is always unsettling for her: 'I don't know. Maybe I know when I had a look at them after I uploaded them to my computer / after I developed them'. This is because I consciously select pictures only in the editing process: That's when judgement of light, composition etc. makes sense, because then, I'm not risking to lose a shot, only to not discover a hidden gem (which will not go away then, but stay undiscovered in my archives).

So, there's always something out there to capture - the only question is whether I'm ready to see it.

2. More interestingly: do you play games or apply tricks to have a goal when practice shooting? After I got annoyed I decided to focus on shadows only and took 1 or 2 interesting shots with an interesting composition I think.

Absolutely, that's a worth-while pursuit sometimes, to hone one's capability to see photographically. I consider that as an analogy to a musician playing etudes - exercising my 'visual muscles'.

Of course, you could also use this in a different way - to pursue a project by shooting pictures for a certain look, topic or agenda. But that's quite a different photographic game ...

 

[bhop73]

If i'm in the right frame of mind, then I can always find something interesting to me, (maybe not to others) be it a pattern or texture, maybe an old car, or stray animal, even flowers.. i'm not picky. But sometimes I just can't 'see' anything in which case, I figure I just saved some frames for another day.

 

[ebino]

i'm convinced that one must have some neurosis to be a committed and passionate photographer who always looks for the next pictures and never tires.

people go to shrinks to deal with their neurosis, photographers pick a camera... In my case I would certainly say it is a neurosis and a neurosis that i wouldn't want to cure because then i would stop taking pictures.

so if you think you're a neurotic photographer, let your neurosis take control and just flow with it. you will enjoy the ride. 🙂

 

[semilog]

No, there is not always something to shoot. But the better you are, the more often there is.

I wish I was better!

 

[ebino]

Read C. G. Jung, his not as popular or famous as Freud but his more interesting and he has been favorite of many writers and artists not to mention movie directors, such as Fellini.

 

[AngelFly]

Inspiration is really the issue. Try visiting an art museum.

 

[Darshan]

Yes, but all that might not belong on a wall. 🙄

Photos uninteresting at the beginning suddenly appear interesting at a later date, maybe its the mood, a different method of viewing/interpreting etc...I don't know.

So I do believe that there is always something to photograph, if not anything, you will definitely learn something from it...at least not to shoot such a photo again. 😀

 

[shaunmadden]

An interesting thread...

An interesting thread...

something I read yesterday in the book "The Mind's Eye" by Henri Cartier-Bresson, excerpt from 1976,

"...as far as I am concerned, taking photographs is a means of understanding which can not be separated from other means of visual expression. It is a way of shouting, of freeing oneself, not of proving or asserting one's originality. It is a way of life".

I think this helps as the more you look at other people's work the less room their appears for originality with the billions of images available to view on the internet. This quote gives me the inspiration to just go and shoot and not worry too much. Today taking photographs and being captured in photographs is a way of life for us all...