it's all crap!

[2WK]

Nothing a new lens can't fix!

haha j.k. Well, personally I find getting a bit intoxicated and going for a walk usually has me seeing and photographing things I never looked at before. Although if you are currently fighting off a bug, it might be better to wait until you are healthy.

If you are sober, super offended, shocked....just forget I said anything. 😉

 

[stompyq]

Come over to NYC again. We'll get you motivated!! Increased GAS will be a bonus

 

[Al Patterson]

in a funk!

shooting but hating everything i come up with!

just got a pretty good deal on a fuji x100 that i will pick up tomorrow...not sure why though...

need to take a break and clear my mind and hope that i can 'see' again soon!

till then i think i'll just hang out here and whine for a bit!!

Remember "90% of everything is crud"....

 

[Rob-F]

Joe, is it possible that you need to discover some new subject that excites you? That's the only thing that does it for me. Currently, it's the railroad museum.

 

[Keith]

Sorry to hear about it Joe.

I got dragged over the coals last night for missing an instalation at the last gallery opening I did by the curator of the gallery. That didn't feel good! 🙁

 

[seakayaker1]

Joe, go out and buy a new camera bag then write a review. You always appear to be in a great mood after a new camera bag works it way through your hands.

. . . . .

 

[back alley]

i think part of it is the growing realization that gear is really such a small part of the big picture. i always 'knew' this at some intellectual level and ignored it but now it seems to be hitting closer to home for some reason.

 

[semilog]

I suck right now, too. Terrible work.

 

[Keith]

I'm not very happy with my own output at the moment and sadly it always seems to create thoughts of aquiring gear.

I wonder why this is because I know damned well that it's not the gear that's the issue?

 

[KM-25]

I was in a funk this afternoon.....

First my folding viewing hood for my 4x5 slipped off the camera and slid down icy rocks into 5 feet of cold water, it took four tries using a 10 foot avalanche probe to fish it out. Then I had a cable release fail by sticking in the cold snowy weather. After running out, I then realized I had forgot to load more 120 Acros for my 6x12 back in my pack and then pulled the dark slide on a sheet of Tmax 400 before checking to see if the shutter was closed.

I about went home but stuck it out...

With no working cable release I used a really dark ND filter so I could use the T setting on my lenses by hand. And then the light got good and all was right, it always works out if I stick with it....

Photography is fun but great photography is hard work, keep at it...

 

[ssmc]

I hear ya...

I hear ya...

I'm glad you started this thread.

I've been in a very bad place mentally and photographically for quite a while and I keep getting these self-punishing urges to start selling off my gear (despite the big losses involved) because my skill level - not to mention "motivation" - doesn't warrant most of it, I have some lenses I hardly ever use, I'm wasteful because I buy stuff I don't really need, etc., etc. (you probably know how it goes :bang🙂

Something like this happened to me years ago (different underlying reasons, though) and at the time it seemed like everything I shot was just "blah". It probably was, too, because I've found that if my heart isn't in it I couldn't take a decent photo of my cat. Eventually things turned around... but forcing the issue (at least for me) makes taking photos feel like a chore rather than anything resembling fun. And nets more blah results.

There's a roll of Provia 100 in the GA645 and I can't bring myself to finish it, even though the darn thing only takes 16 shots... ugh... just gotta hang in there and not do anthing hasty I'll regret later 😕

Sorry no advice in all that just another whine to add! But sincere thanks for the opportunity to vent

 

[lynnb]

Joe, this happens to all of us.. why not refresh your vision by visiting an art gallery or two.. or borrowing some good photo books from the local library. Sometimes I find that helps!

 

[tbhv55]

Joe, another mood changer I use, in this age of electronic everything, is to go out with one lens and the camera set up completely in manual. Go by Sunny 16, or take a light meter with you. And set the camera to manual focus. Getting back to basics like this often pulls me up out of the 'funk'.

+1 to these comments. For me, it has something to do with getting the sense that I really created the photograph.

With so much automation available now, it's easy to feel almost left out of the process.🙁 Yes, of course, the photographer decides the composition... but from that point on, I find it a somewhat "empty" process when I just press the shutter release, and let the camera's computer do the focus/exposure calculations. These days, I try to shoot more frequently in manual focus and exposure modes, as I find it more satisfying to use my judgement (such as it is😉) on these factors.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Joe, maybe you need to do a bit of a road trip -- get out of your familiar surroundings and that might enliven your creative juices. I know that when I've been seeing my same environment day after day, I get into a sort of 'sleep'. Perhaps that's what you're experiencing.

Know what they say -- changes in latitude, changes in attitude.

 

[ricnak]

Joe.

Go out with someone. Take your camera along - it will naturally fall into your hands when you see the moment. Midlife is no fun on your own. The internet is - the internet - easy to get swept up in. Nothing beats real people, real places and real encounters. Get out there!

h.

PS. Note to oneself - read the above

 

[raydm6]

Joe, maybe you need to do a bit of a road trip -- get out of your familiar surroundings and that might enliven your creative juices. I know that when I've been seeing my same environment day after day, I get into a sort of 'sleep'. Perhaps that's what you're experiencing.

Know what they say -- changes in latitude, changes in attitude.

I agree with Vince. I recently got back from a one week trip to Venice/Florence/Tuscany with my girlfriend. Took 1,857 photos (iPhone4 & Canon S90). Never done that before 😀. Lots of nice keepers/post-card shots etc...

 

[tunalegs]

Usually art block comes from doing something - A - when one really would rather be doing something else - B.

The problem is many times we can't identify B right away so we're not sure exactly what we want to do. But once you know what it is - go do it, and suddenly even A will be easy again.

I also agree that sometimes simply changing things up can get one thinking again. I have a few "odd" cameras on my shelf for when the normal stuff gets boring. An old Exa, a box camera, a folder. All enough of a jolt from the normal to get the brain back into gear. They are also inconvenient enough that I don't mind going back to normal after a roll or two through them. 😀

I do the same thing with illustration. I pull out some tools I don't normally use, or try a new technique I've been thinking about. Occasionally I even find something that sticks with me by doing this.

 

[Rodchenko]

Joe, another mood changer I use, in this age of electronic everything, is to go out with one lens and the camera set up completely in manual. Go by Sunny 16, or take a light meter with you. And set the camera to manual focus. Getting back to basics like this often pulls me up out of the 'funk'.

This is what I tend to do. I take out a lesser-used camera, like my folder, loaded with mono. Or my Minox. Or I set my digi to mono, and try to go somewhere completely different. The vast majority of my images are taken in an area of about a square mile just south of The Square Mile. But I keep seeing the same images coming up, and feel like everything's stale & cliched.

Seeing something fresh can cleanse the palate.

 

[john neal]

Joe,

As others have suggested here, a change is as good as a rest. I recently felt the same but started to look at some books on photography that were outside my norm - for example, thaere is one called "The Art of iPhone Photography" by Bob Weil and Nicki Fitz-Gerald (google for a copy) - not an area of photography that I would normally consider, but I found this has so many different ideas that there were two or three I could use right away with a real camera, and even my existing library of digital pix, to at least try to raise some interest.

I would also suggest "The Minimalist Photographer" by Steve Johnson - some great images that you can look at for inspiration, many of which could be taken in your house, yard, street & so on.

It will pass, you just need to get your mojo working somehow - fretting about it probably won't help. Get yourself distracted - tie some flies, play frisbee with the dog, anything to raise your mood 🙂

 

[zuiko85]

Yeah, know the feeling too well.

My most pleasing work (at least, pleasing to me) comes when I go out specifically to work some photo I have in my head. Thats why a notebook and pen are my most valuable photo items. Usuually when I "see" this shot I don't have the right lens or whatnot with me or the light is wrong. So, I make a note to return. Dosen't always work out. Somestimes I misplace my notebook.