what do you do when your uninspired to find something to photograph?

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thegary

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Gary
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I am at that point of the year , its February damm cold here in Canada and am feeling completely unispired to do photography...i am at the point of what do i take photos of when its so miserable outside or to cold.

What ideas do you guys have? What motivates you and give you ideas for somthing new?

thanks
thegary
 
I continue my daily life as normal, but whenever anything occurs to me that might vaguely be a photography idea, either that I notice while looking at something or that just spontaneously bursts into my head, I grab my notepad (that I always keep with me when I'm out) and pen and write the idea in there.

It'll either make you start to look around more noticeably at things that could be 'shots', or you can use it for inspiration on dry days
 
1. Read your local paper and find out what's going on in your town. Make a point of getting out and photographing events. Do it like its your job. It isn't, but its fun to pretend
2. Look out for light. At this time of year find the best view for a sunset. Use the short days to your advantage - you can get cool sunsets before dinner. How cool is that.
3. Take pics of your dog, cat, neighbour. But make them good ones - play with different lighting techniques, focal lengths, learn about depth of field.
4. Buy some toys - action figures (eg here) and have some fun.
5. Oh, I dunno ....

Try and be creative. Don't think about how hard it is to get out and about. Think about how cool it is that the light at this time of year is amazing. Think about how a shot of that pencil on your desk could be really cool if you put it next to the window.

Tell yourself that you're a photographer.

MV
 
Try some table top :thumbs:

I really enjoy still life. Arguably the most creative artistically, and very satisfying. That's because you start with nothing but an empty table and anything you produce is 100% of your own creation.

Get some fruit or vegitables, or a bunch of flowers, raid the jewellery box, and the fridge! If you've got a macro, then there are even more options. You can also do a heck of a lot with a cheap close-up lens. I have fun with a LensBaby, too. And I like soft-focus filters.

Then there's always portraiture. The light you get from a window on a dull day is perfect and you can do so much with just a reflector. A piece of white card, with silver foil stuck to one side, is perfect.

Richard.
 
thanks for the ideas everyone...some good ideas...its easy to get into a rut...sometimes someone else's ideas get you out..


thanks again
thegary
 
I browse this forum, see what other people are doing. Or flickr, see whats happening there. Then maybe set myself a challenge based on what I have seen. Alternatively, look back over some of your old shots and see if this is the time of year you can repeat them, but better, maybe spend more time on something that was originally a snapshot and get a really great image from the same idea.

On the other hand, you could just leave the camera alone until the mojo asserts itself again and kick back for while ;)
 
thegary said:
I am at that point of the year , its February damm cold here in Canada and am feeling completely unispired to do photography...i am at the point of what do i take photos of when its so miserable outside or to cold.
Click to expand...

I do a few things... One is to stop taking a big kit bag with me and just carry the camera and one lens. That makes things easier in the cold. Another is to look at shooting through a window. Kinda look closer to home iykwim? you could also use this time of year to do things like review your collection and have a clear out, or to redesign your website if you have one (or create one?), or just look at enhancing your editing skills and maybe revisiting pics to improve their pp.

HTH.
 
I force myself to get out and take photos. As long as its not raining, then there is always something nice to photograph.
Sunsets, Sunrises, Landscapes, Macro etc.

Just wrap up warm and take a flask of tea with you :)
 
Get an old image, turn it upside down, zoom in so you can only see small portions at a time and process it depending exclusively on just the bit you can see.
Go somewhere without my camera (guarenteed to see things differently)
Do another creative activity, (there's so much more to life than photography.)
Smell a flower, hold some snow, learn a new skill.
 
When it's cold, it's very important to stay warm, sounds simplistic and it is really.

I saw some stunning scenery a few weeks ago, all covered in snow and crystal clear blue sky. But I didn't stop and get out of the car, wasn't dressed for it and it was way too cold.
 
I plan or take my Photo 52 shot...
 
I lost any inspiration quite a while ago but i suppose i'm lucky in the fact i can
have my camera with me pretty much all of the time so i just snap away at
anything which looks remotely interesting..
 
Being really honest for a moment, if your photography is in the doldrums, buying a new bit of kit never fails to get me going again ;)
 
HoppyUK said:
Being really honest for a moment, if your photography is in the doldrums, buying a new bit of kit never fails to get me going again ;)
Click to expand...
Oh, and this too :thumbs:

I was in a position where I had no desire to take photographs - lasted a while. Partially cured it with a 40D (From the 20D). Finally cured it with a macro setup :D
 
thegary said:
I am at that point of the year , its February damm cold here in Canada and am feeling completely unispired to do photography...i am at the point of what do i take photos of when its so miserable outside or to cold.

What ideas do you guys have? What motivates you and give you ideas for somthing new?

thanks
thegary
Click to expand...

Something that once was quite popular, but never seems to get a mention now:-
Tabletop photography (as opposed to conventional still life).

Googling that does not seem to bring up what it used to be about. Miniature models were used to mimic real life scenes, e.g.
Snow on the ground (you probably don't want to hear about snow) was created by passing flour through a sieve. Then perhaps a toy car was pushed over it to create vehicle tracks. Lit from the side it looked quite real.
It was all about imagination.
 
I just look around at things in my house and try to find an interesting angle to photograph them from. I like to make normal, everyday things look unusual - I've had friends guessing for ages about a photograph I took of a split teabag. They knew they recognised it, but couldn't work out what it was :lol:
 
Thanks everyone for your suggestions..

Tried the still life indoors with my macro 105 sigma...some very interesting results.. But i soon found that i needed more things in my place to take pics of....so started collecting random things that may looking interesting up close..

Weather is finally warmer....-37 last week , -1 this week..so out i will go do take advantage of it..


Anyways, thanks again to everyone's suggestions.

thegary
 
Go for a walk without the camera - bound to see something that you would have liked to take a picture of......that will get the juices flowing.

OR, go fishing.
 
If you can't get out to anywhere interesting, take shots of normal stuff from various angles and using weird techniques. Also, do some weird post processing in photoshop or whatever, that can be lots of fun :D

Don't do it on old pics though, I just find that depressing. Always take something new.
 
i normally check through what everyone else is doing to get some of that inspirational (jealousy) feeling in me, then force my way out and do some stuff. I've not been able to do much until recently as I used to shoot film and it's a bit more precious. I've been out twice a week since getting my first DSLR (D80) just before xmas on a good deal.

I spend alot of time flicking through magazines (mostly NOT photography magazines). I've also signed up to a weekly creative message on facebook (Friday Linkage) which sends me 50 urls of creative stuff. This could vary from sculpture to webdesign and basically, anything creative.

It's not directly linked to photography, but it opens ** eyes a bit to what you could be using your pictures for... and in the end it gets the juices flowing.
 
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