man, i suck at this!

[jky]

...as has been mentioned a few times already...

Take a break.

Get your mind off the picture taking even if only for a little while. If you have other interests, pursue those for a bit.

Regards & all the best.

 

[bwcolor]

No talent here, but I enjoy the process and my subjects are usually family, so it all has personal meaning. I also enjoy the learning process and that explains much of the forum activity. I find that my passions in life come with less frequency as I get older and work longer hours. Make things and people that mean something to you your subjects and those photos will speak to you. At that point, why care if someone comments on them.. other than for learning purposes? If you want that, just post the images and ask for comments.

 

[Haigh]

Most of my shots are duds. There are some that I really like but I am not fussed. I am having a flat spot at present but I still notice, cloiuds, shadows, textures. Very enjoyable. Just keep looking and don't worry about the camera.

 

[bobby_novatron]

I think we all share BackAlley's pain in one way or another. I think photography is such a personal thing ... every click of the shutter means we're putting our stamp on that image, whether it's the context, the way we were feeling that day, the strategy or technique we were trying to explore ...

Last summer I felt like my photography was just total crap. I didn't feel like anyone really cared about any of my photos, and I didn't have any positive reinforcement in the real world or online about my 'hobby'. I almost felt like selling all my gear and just doing something else.

But then I started to look at my behaviour, and I realized that a big part of my disillusionment was that I was seeking approval from others about my photos. I don't know why. Insecurity? Validation? Who knows.

I took a hard look at photography and what it means to me. In the end, I ignored my bad feelings and just kept muddling along. I realized that it really DOESN'T matter to me if other people like my photos or not. What matters is that I LIKE THEM and they're important to me. Each photo has a little story to it in my head -- the free hour I had in the afternoon during a rainstorm, or the new lens I was excited to try out, or the obscure roll of film I managed to buy from Russia, or the way the sky looked that day, or the smells and sights and sounds around me when I had my camera out on any particular day.

Each photo is like a miniature time-capsule to me. Maybe out of a roll of 36, I'll get one or two 'keepers'. And that's OK by me. And if my wife or my kids look at one of my photos and say 'hey! that's neat!' or 'wow, did you take that?', then that's a bonus. 🙂

 

[alistair.o]

Some interesting points raised by, and because, of you Joe. I was (and still am really) at a point of deleting all of my gallery offerings and the odd comment on the more 'in depth' threads, because I am at a loss to understand certain things.

1. The gallery for me started as an exercise and has recently turned into me scratching my head at my own doings! Also, I want the licence to say IMO a picture is crap and for others to do me the same service but, we're all so frightfully nice, aint we?

2. I am starting to wonder at whether I am taking pictures at all? This is due to some of the more 'cerebral threads' that define photography - I am convinced that some people live complete lives up their own apetures. So, I am wonder about myself 'sucking at it'!

So, how do you/I get 'out' of this malaise? Well I can speak for myself when I say: My intent was to cut and just get on with my direction and purpose. I went out recently and was so confused about 'why and art and craft' that I just said 'Sod it' and had a coffee and came home.

I am going to do what I do because I like doing it and I want to get better so that if in generations to come someone (just one viewer will be a miracle) looks at a picture of mine and enquires about the life, the look and the what, regarding the content i.e. human nature in my age, then it will have all worthwhile.

 

[pakeha]

Or..set up a facebook page and post em there, facebook people are real easy to please
well, thats my experience anyway😀
regards
CW

 

[Keith]

I can offer sympathy for the way you feel Joe but I never see you posting anything in the gallery these days or leaving comments on other's images for that matter... in fact there are quite a few people here who are prolific posters in image based threads who are never seen in the gallery ... why is this?

I go through the gallery every day and look at every image posted and if the thumbnail is remotely interesting I'll open it for a 'looksee' and leave a comment if I think it warrants it. Leica M2, Alstair.o, lynnb and many others are regulars there and constantly offer feedback and support for what they see ... my hat is off to them.

What's the point of having a gallery with a facility for comments and rating if it's not used for getting some interaction with your images and the members here? It's not just for storage ... we have flickr etc for that.

 

[deerstalkr]

Henrietta,
Look at the bright side - you live in Sydney. I have been there several times and, in my opinion, it is the best city in the world.
I have made a point never to try to make money at photography. I have enjoyed it for many years but I have done what Charles Ives (one of America's early great composers) did. Ives loved music. He studied it in college but decided to never make it his living. Instead, he became a very successful insurance salesman. He wrote music when he could and composed a body of work that is still respected.
Ives thought that if he made music his living, he would never be able to compose as he wanted. He also thought that doing it for a living would take the joy out of music.
I am not a particularly talented photographer. But even if I was, I would not try to make a living out of it. For me, that would take the fun out of it. So I chose science as a career. I am a microbiologist and I enjoy my work very much. And I still enjoy taking a camera with me everywhere I go - including Sydney.

Thank you for the advice Eric.

Sydney's a nice place, however I'm not entirely sure I agree with what you said about Sydney being the best city in the world. 😛 I've only been to a few other cities in the world such as Osaka, Tokyo, Bangkok, and other cities in Asia so I don't have much to compare it to.

Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the life I have. I'm appreciate the city I live in, the people who love me and who are beloved by me. Nevertheless I feel as if I would be doing the world a great disservice if I didn't share my art in the form of music and perhaps photography with the rest of the world. Whether that means I must juggle another career with song writing and composing is unclear at the moment.

Money was not a primary motivator in my choice of career, however being paid to write and/or compose means I am able to invest a lot more time into it. I'm sure those of you who have families to support and full-time jobs to attend to don't have as much time as one would like to practise whatever it is your heart desires. I may not be making the right choice in regards to my financial prospects, but it is something that keeps me up at night and my heart won't rest until I've done all I can.

I agree and understand that relying on music or photography as a primary source of income means I may have to make a few sacrifices in order to be commercially successful, but I will try my best to find a balance.

I think it's awfully tragic if one is unable to appreciate one's own work. I beat myself up over my inability to meet my own expectations.

P.S
I'm new to the forum and joined with the intention of making friends who are interested in photography as I know very few people interested in photography. If any of you visit Sydney, or live in Sydney I would like to meet and go on a photo walk if time permits such an occasion. [Open invitation]

 

[Sparrow]

I can offer sympathy for the way you feel Joe but I never see you posting anything in the gallery these days or leaving comments on other's images for that matter... in fact there are quite a few people here who are prolific posters in image based threads who are never seen in the gallery ... why is this?

I go through the gallery every day and look at every image posted and if the thumbnail is remotely interesting I'll open it for a 'looksee' and leave a comment if I think it warrants it. Leica M2, Alstair.o, lynnb and many others are regulars there and constantly offer feedback and support for what they see ... my hat is off to them.

What's the point of having a gallery with a facility for comments and rating if it's not used for getting some interaction with your images and the members here? It's not just for storage ... we have flickr etc for that.

... yes but it's a pain to use, no facility to link photos hosted elsewhere, tiny file limit for uploads and as user friendly as a bag of rats.

joe; stick with it, it'll come right in time, you're like me we have been doing it too long to give up now, if it's any consolation I'm having a rubbish year too ...

 

[maddoc]

Sell the X100, get back to your R-D1(s) only, cycle through some lens buys / sells and be a happy camper again. 🙂 Or .... sell some more stuff and get yourself finally an M8 ...

 

[kosta_g]

keep on it keith, we all suck at this sometimes. but I think we are all probably pretty good at this too. sometimes a change of (temporary) scenery makes the whole difference.

 

[thegman]

Joe, if your own work bores you, then change your work.

My own work bores me, the same old pictures from the same old places. A little while ago, this would have depressed me. Oddly though, now I find it a challenge, and I'm optimistic I can improve.

Think about what is wrong with your work, and try to get out there and not make the same mistakes. That's what I'm going to try to do, for me, my mistake is to take my camera places I'm going anyway. That means that I'm looking for photo opportunities when perhaps there are not any. I'm going to start making an effort to go out of my comfort zone, go new places, take new photos.

 

[alistair.o]

keep on it keith, we all suck at this sometimes...

Ha ha, this made me laugh. It's actually Joe whose having a hard time at the moment. You may get some polite antipodean phrases soon 😛

 

[jsrockit]

some days i just want to sell all my gear and watch tv or walk the dog...anything but take another lousy picture.

i can't remember the last time any of my posted pics (here at rff) got a comment!
even a 'what crap' would be better than being ignored.

but even taking you all out of the equation...i don't even like my stuff anymore.

think i'll go take a cold shower...

You need to take a break from it and/or not take it as seriously. I took off 10 years from photography a few years ago due to being burnt out.

Also, do you look at a lot of different photography? Sometimes looking at a great book of photographs gives you some temporary excitement for the genre again.

 

[taskoni]

Joe, I am challenging you to a photo duel. I have X1 as digital only but it will be a match for the X100 you have (I can do manual focus too), so we can do it digital way 🙂. Let's have some fun and lets post our pictures here 🙂 Let the crowd choose a judge who will chose the theme of the duel and rate us with no mercy 😀 . Of course, we can have more participants to have more ass kicked folks 😉 What'd you say? Lets shoot?
Regards,
Boris

 

[Keith]

Ha ha, this made me laugh. It's actually Joe whose having a hard time at the moment. You may get some polite antipodean phrases soon 😛

I assumed what you assumed ... a classic case of mistaken identity. 😛

Mind you I had an impending sense of entering a dry spell a couple of weeks ago and knocked it on the head instantly by switching straight back to MF film in a camera I hadn't used in years ... but I suspect that may not be an option for Joe. Changing media and making a point of using a camera I'm somewhat unfamiliar with seems to re-invigorate my photography and re-kindle my enthusiasm if I'm sensing a level of disinterest on my own part and starting to feel like I'm just going through the motions.

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Sell anything you have on camera's and lenses, and after cold turkey, try again with something completely different

 

[filmfan]

Maybe it is because the random image gallery is no longer displayed on the home page, a feature I miss. It is now more challenging to see gallery images and thus more difficult to share comments for any image.

I was wondering about this...
[Mods, I hope you are reading this]

 

[OurManInTangier]

No offence Joe but I like seeing these types of threads simply so I know its not just me😎😛

I'm setting up a photolibrary with some colleagues at the moment so alot of my summer was spent taking pictures of pretty landscapes amongst the other library type shots - the type of thing I usually avoid photographing as I get no great pleasure from it. However the complete break from my usual type of thing has been hugely invigorating and opened my eyes a little wider to other areas. I'm in no rush to go back to the rut I was in and am looking forward to enjoying a slightly more extended spectrum of opportunities.

As for comments in the gallery. I shouldn't put too much stock in the comments you get...or indeed those you don't. There are simply far too many factors as to why pictures are ignored, overlooked or lauded. Even when you do get a comment it can vary from a simple "Neat photo," through to a well thought out comment on what and why the image has impressed the viewer so much...or you could end up with the type of dumb-arsed comment I tend to leave which is less well thought out, reactionary and based upon my initial viewing. I must admit I'd like some more critical comments from time to time but as I'm too polite to criticise when it hasn't been asked for I can hardly complain myself.

Hope you get your mojo back soon...and ignore any 'fishing for compliments' replies - I think these type of threads are perfectly acceptable and indeed useful as reminders to us all that we suffer our own peaks and troughs as well as a source of advice/inspiration or simply the kick up the bum we need.

Cheers
Simon

 

[dave lackey]

Joe, I am challenging you to a photo duel. I have X1 as digital only but it will be a match for the X100 you have (I can do manual focus too), so we can do it digital way 🙂. Let's have some fun and lets post our pictures here 🙂 Let the crowd choose a judge who will chose the theme of the duel and rate us with no mercy 😀 . Of course, we can have more participants to have more ass kicked folks 😉 What'd you say? Lets shoot?
Regards,
Boris

This sounds interesting, Boris...go for it!🙂