Lots of options results in indecision

[GSNfan]

This thread is about the problem that arises once you become conscious of the fact that you have a lot of options and you feel incapable of narrowing them down to the bare minimum.


I'm planning to go out and take some photos. My first priority is shooting b&w film with my RF, but I'm also planning to take a small DSLR with a zoom lens 'just in case' the light is good for color... But I also know that I'm taking the DSLR because I might get bored half-way since film makes me concentrate more and be more selective so i'm more likely to get bored with it...

This is something I have always struggled with and its not going to change today, I'll take the DSLR and put up with the weight, because I want that extra option in case I get bored, because I want to be able to shoot for fun as well...

This made me think how cool it will be, lets say like HCB to have that discipline and stick with bare minimum and give it all. But why I can't do it, its not that difficult. Why this obsession with shooting more and having endless options and having fun rather than concentrating on what I really like and where I get most of my satisfactory shots? Namely RF with B&W film... I'm not shooting for money so why should I carry all the tools in order to not miss the chance...

And it does not end there, because all the shots with the DSLR open an almost infinite number of other options as to how I should precess them and depending on my mood etc...

Anyway, all these decisions are beginning to weigh me down into a state of indecision... And I'm beginning to get annoyed by it.

 

[imokruok]

My solution has been to focus on a format and limit myself to a base level gear within those formats, although that means different things for different people. I understand how frustrating it is...having built up major kits, only to have the indecision of shooting, and then selling for less than what I paid.

I always stockpiled gear on the assumption of what if something breaks? What if I need a replacement right away? But I'm not a pro. I can let eBay and KEH be my "closet" - I can get what I need in less than a week, and that's fine for my purposes.

I decided my favorites are 6x6 film and nice digital point-and-shoots. So I have pared my gear down to one nice digital P&S, and I'm currently in the process of selling the last of my 6x4.5 gear. (look for my awesome Mamiya kit on eBay, HAHA. 😉 )

I have two 6x6 TLRs at the moment, and that's it for film, but for my Polaroids that I just play around with at parties. I will force myself to be rid of one or both TLRs moving to another 6x6 camera. Ideally, I'd like to have ONE film camera, so there is never any question of what I shoot. I can grab and go, and there is never any frustration, and the digital P&S is only there for the shots I need right away.

I sometimes develop at home too, and the reduction in formats really helps there as well...one medium format tank, one set of reels...etc.

 

[LKeithR]

...because I want to be able to shoot for fun as well...

...Why this obsession with shooting more and having endless options and having fun rather than concentrating on what I really like and where I get most of my satisfactory shots?

If you're not shooting for money and you're not having fun then there's not much point in doing it, is there? I sometimes try to embrace the "discipline" mindset by setting myself a goal for a particular outing only to find that I come back with mostly "happysnaps". Honestly, I find that most of my "good" shots happen when I'm relaxed and just sort of "going with the flow", although I do have moments of brilliance when I set out with a goal in mind and everything seems to click and I get a series of shots that really satisfy me.

As a digital shooter I probably take more shots than I should but I'm not a "machine gunner" either. I've only just passed the 15,000 mark on my three year old K20D and I've fired the shutter only about 1500 times on a Digilux 2 I've had for nearly 2-1/2 years. My suggestion: enjoy what you shoot when you shoot it. There are more important things to worry about...

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Anyway, all these decisions are beginning to weigh me down into a state of indecision... And I'm beginning to get annoyed by it.

I remember watching a little "reportage"/commentary on French TV about the Tyranny of Choice: when you have too many choices, it is far more overwhelming than when you have no choice. Paradoxical? Perhaps. True? Maybe. A pain in ze derriere? Soitenly.

 

[rogerzilla]

You take the best shots when you have one camera, one lens, and one frame left.

That's why Ansel Adams did good stuff.

 

[delft]

...
Why this obsession with shooting more and having endless options and having fun rather than concentrating on what I really like and where I get most of my satisfactory shots? Namely RF with B&W film...

You can shoot more and have fun with a RF too. It might help if you pack a bunch of B&W and a heap of colo(u)r films and give yourself the assignment of shooting them all in one day. Even with modest heaps and bunches, I find it a liberating experience.

Dirk

P.S.
Obsession with having fun is a human trait, nothing to worry about.

 

[Roger Hicks]

This thread is about the problem that arises once you become conscious of the fact that you have a lot of options and you feel incapable of narrowing them down to the bare minimum.


I'm planning to go out and take some photos. My first priority is shooting b&w film with my RF, but I'm also planning to take a small DSLR with a zoom lens 'just in case' the light is good for color... But I also know that I'm taking the DSLR because I might get bored half-way since film makes me concentrate more and be more selective so i'm more likely to get bored with it...

This is something I have always struggled with and its not going to change today, I'll take the DSLR and put up with the weight, because I want that extra option in case I get bored, because I want to be able to shoot for fun as well...

This made me think how cool it will be, lets say like HCB to have that discipline and stick with bare minimum and give it all. But why I can't do it, its not that difficult. Why this obsession with shooting more and having endless options and having fun rather than concentrating on what I really like and where I get most of my satisfactory shots? Namely RF with B&W film... I'm not shooting for money so why should I carry all the tools in order to not miss the chance...

And it does not end there, because all the shots with the DSLR open an almost infinite number of other options as to how I should precess them and depending on my mood etc...

Anyway, all these decisions are beginning to weigh me down into a state of indecision... And I'm beginning to get annoyed by it.

It sounds a bit Zen, but it'll probably get a lot easier if you stop worrying.

Just go out with a camera and a lens. Take some pictures. When you get back, ask yourself if you'd really have taken better pictures with another camera and another lens, or whether that's an excuse and you'd really have spent have the time about worrying about what to use.

If you really, really feel that a second lens would have been useful, put it in your pocket next time you go out.

Tomorrow is the big vide-greniers in our village: sort of like a village-wide swap meet/cart boot sale, with outsiders coming in as well. I'll probably set out with the M8 and a 50 Summitar. If I don't like that, I'll come back and change to something else. The real question is, how much is my equipment limiting me, and how much am I limiting myself by worrying about what I'm carrying?

Just concentrating on taking pictures helps you to answer that question.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Nikon Bob]

Why is your first priority to shoot B&W with a RF when it bores you and you have to use something else to have fun and put enjoyment back into your photography? You maybe trying too hard to limit yourself. That is not liberating but enslaving yourself. No shame in having fun.

Bob

 

[back alley]

But I also know that I'm taking the DSLR because I might get bored half-way since film makes me concentrate more and be more selective so i'm more likely to get bored with it...

i still think this is pure unadulterated crap...if a person truly lacks this discipline i can only also presuppose that they wet their pants on a regular basis...

 

[hausen]

I think I can sympathize because I have been in and out of different systems over the last few years. I have found myself with an M9 and 4 lens options. All can fit in one shoulder bag and it has been a liberating feeling for me. In last 6 months I had a Mamiya 6 with 3 lenses, Contax G2 set, Leica M6 and Canon 5D2 with 5 L lenses and I spent large amounts of time each weekend trying to work out what to take with me when I headed out. My wife and I were out for a walk one day on a very hot day and I was carrying what seemed like 20kgs of gear and it came to me that I had to simplify things as I nearly passed out from heat exhaustion. So my choices now are M9 and which lens. Have to say last month since I got M9 has probably been the most enjoyable in my memory.

 

[FrankS]

The problem is only in your head. I prefer variety and choice. It does not have the same effect on me.

 

[back alley]

frank is a man of discipline...

 

[FrankS]

In the same situation, some will see their glass half empty (too much choice) others would see it as half full (the luxury of choice). I'm the happy guy with many great classic cameras to use. But everyone is different, and that's okay. Do what works for you.

 

[MikeL]

But I also know that I'm taking the DSLR because I might get bored half-way since film makes me concentrate more and be more selective so i'm more likely to get bored with it...

i still think this is pure unadulterated crap...if a person truly lacks this discipline i can only also presuppose that they wet their pants on a regular basis...

Is this different than buying lenses and cameras and bags all the time?

Kinda surprised this came from a mod.

 

[Roger Hicks]

If anything, I have even more good, usable cameras than Frank (and that's saying something).

But like him, I don't try to use then all at once.

Make a choice. Shoot with it. If you change your mind when you get home, change cameras. But don't carry everything you possess in the off-chance you might use it.

Cheers,

R.

 

[35mmdelux]

Comes down to the self realization if one is a photographer or gear head.

 

[FrankS]

Comes down to the self realization if one is a photographer or gear head.

Sorry I disagree. It doesn't have to be one or the other. Few things in life are as simple as black or white.

 

[back alley]

Comes down to the self realization if one is a photographer or gear head.

another in a string of one liners...

 

[back alley]

Is this different than buying lenses and cameras and bags all the time?

Kinda surprised this came from a mod.

very different...did you see what line i was reacting to?

the one about lack of discipline because it was not a film camera?

i am sick of this clap trap...as if the camera had anything to do with our self discipline...you either have it or not but please don't blame the machine.

and i am a member first and a mod second..the day i cannot speak my mind here is the day i start my own forum!

 

[MikeL]

Joe, I saw that line, and to my mind that is GSNfan's experience/reality. Regardless whether it is mine, I can empathize enough to not call his experience/reality pure unadulterated crap and presupose he wets his pants on a regular basis.

Maybe it is just me, but If I wanted to question someone's assumptions or present an alternative, I would do it just like I would if we were face to face.