Lost my photo mojo

slothmeister

slothmeister

slothmeister

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Joined
21 Feb 2006
Posts
1,644
Location
Southampton, UK
Harrumph, I'm in a real slump at the moment, looking back over my Flickr it appears that I haven't been out taking shots in a few months, I just don't seem to have the love for photography that I had a few months ago.

I'm not sure what the cause of this is, but might have something to do with the fact that a couple of months ago I moved house, I used to live near the coast and would love popping down to the water and doing some long exposures. Where I am now is in the middle of nowhere, I have a massive field and some nice views right outside my front door but can't seem to translate that to anything that I think would make a nice photo, I went out for a 7 mile walk yesterday and took the camera with me but it stayed in the bag the entire time.

I've been meaning to do some star trails but the last few weeks have been utter ***** weather and every time I have a free night it's just endless cloudy nights, it's really beginning to grate on me.

The Motorsport season finished as well which meant I had no races to go and shoot at, roll on February!

Anyone else going through a 'dry spell' at the moment, or does have any words of encouragement for me??
 
I am too, I've also recently moved house from the country to a city, I don't think it being winter helps much either really.

Why not try forcing yourself to go out for a couple hours with the camera this weekend? You never know what you might see.
 
I've been sat here on the iPad flicking through Flickr for the last hour and nothing is really jumping out at me as something I'd like to try. I need a project or something I think, not like a 360 where I'm just taking pics for the sake of it but something to get me to think about it.
 
Flickr isn't really a good place to look for inspiration as you literally have to sort through a ton of crap before seeing something worthwhile. Photobooks, on the other hand are usually the result of some kind of extended project (which you could adapt to your own style) or period of shooting, and generally the standard is quite a bit higher. Plus having an actual print in your hands is much nicer to look at than an iPad screen. Maybe you need to try a style that's drastically different to your current stuff?
 
slothmeister said:
Harrumph, I'm in a real slump at the moment, looking back over my Flickr it appears that I haven't been out taking shots in a few months, I just don't seem to have the love for photography that I had a few months ago.

I'm not sure what the cause of this is, but might have something to do with the fact that a couple of months ago I moved house, I used to live near the coast and would love popping down to the water and doing some long exposures. Where I am now is in the middle of nowhere, I have a massive field and some nice views right outside my front door but can't seem to translate that to anything that I think would make a nice photo, I went out for a 7 mile walk yesterday and took the camera with me but it stayed in the bag the entire time.

I've been meaning to do some star trails but the last few weeks have been utter ***** weather and every time I have a free night it's just endless cloudy nights, it's really beginning to grate on me.

The Motorsport season finished as well which meant I had no races to go and shoot at, roll on February!

Anyone else going through a 'dry spell' at the moment, or does have any words of encouragement for me??
Click to expand...

I'm pretty much always in the same boat. Over the last ten years, in this area, they've build housing estates on almost all open fields. There's next to nothing to just 'pop to see'. Anything is a concerted effort to take even simple photos. Now I'd have to specifically plan a day out somewhere, due to the time it'll take getting to anywhere of interest, photography wise. Unless I want to take photos of chavs and drunks in the town centre.

I find that going somewhere you've not been in years often helps. I really enjoyed wandering around Llandudno not so long ago when I went to see Joe Bonamassa. Admittedly I was annoyed by a mirror covered in sand :P That trip spurred me into taking a lot of photos again, but it tapered off and after being smacked over the head with the noro virus in the beginning of the year my health went downhill and 7 months later I'm only well enough to go back to the gym! As a result I missed a lot of the photo 52 I was doing, and was also forced to take some shockingly bad photos just to stick in for the week. I ended up about 8 short.

I think these things are cyclical though as I always try to do too much, and get stressed out and lose the 'eye' for a photo when in the wrong frame of mind. I was going to get the 5DmkIII this year, but I'm now leaning towards getting a 24-70 when/if it comes out and trying to go out more. Trouble is I'm already wondering if it's worth it. Guitar, gym and photography leave no time for anything else, so I think I need to cut something out!

I think everyone goes through this though, but it doesn't stop it being damn annoying.
 
Just a quick thought... why not try star trails if you are in the middle of nowhere?

Edit.

Bah! Just seen you have tried to do star trails! To add to your last comment, I have been taking less photos of late partly due to going to work when it is dark and getting home when it is dark!
 
Thanks for the advice GTRacer, looks like a trip to waterstones is in order tomorrow, will have a look around and see what I can find.

Zeropope, have you used this app before, shame they haven't got a proper iPad one, is it mainly portrait stuff or is it a bit of everything?

Eldude, glad I'm not the only one in this situation, obviously yours is a more valid reason!

I think another cause of the problem is that my best mate who is also a photographer hasn't been out and about with his camera lately either, we used to go out at least once a month first thing in the morning, or late night excursions, but neither of us has really put the effort in to keep it with this, plus the fact that I've moved further away from him and it takes a bit more effort to get us together.
 
Try to change you way of looking around you. There's a lot more than "long exposures" and "star trails" in photography. I remember starting to shoot B&W a few years back in a /dreadful/ winter, for example. With my "previous" photography eye, I'd have stayed home, but when you start looking at things differently, you can get fantastic images in any places, in any weather...

Shot in a dreadful light drizzle:
crown-shanghai100-273-800.jpg
 
Limiting yourself to anything is, well, limiting. It's not always that simple though. I for example, won't be found taking star trail photos as they leave me cold. I'm just not interested in it. B&W, landscapes, street, candid, macro are all good for me, but if you're limited by what is actually interesting to you, it is a pain. I've run out of things in my immediate area, to actually take photos of. The one exception being light trails on cars, which is a subject readily available to me as I'm next to a bypass. That doesn't really interest me photograph wise. Technique wise it's interesting though.

I think sometimes over stimulating yourself by constant viewing of other peoples work, and endlessly reading about it, can have negative effects on you.

Still, I'm of for 2 weeks in 46 days (me, counting the days, never!) so I'll pick a train and go somewhere random for the day, like York.
 
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