Whats the Point?

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rabaroo

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can anyone help me - i am really struggling at the moment with the inspiration to get out there and take pictures - i want to want to go out, but i am just so uninspired about the prospect....

take today, i am off work this week and having done nothing the past 2 days and it was lovely blue skies i wanted to get out today, so i went to a country park, but it was quiet, dank and so depressing walking round bare trees, dead flower beds etc etc...... i am not sure where else i could have gone today, very few places had very little appeal

been feeling like this for a week or so now, last week i was out in London, on Tues night i had a good evening taking some nightime shots, but by Wednesday i just couldnt be bothered anymore.... then on saturday i went out with one of my mates, a few people had said Chester was nice- so we went there but there was nothing there i could see of interest - reluctantly took some pictures that i havent even been bothered to review!

i am just starting to wonder what is the point? - why go out and take a picture.... all i do is frustrate myself with either the input or the output - maybe i am just meant to be a person who takes photographs of his days out??? - maybe it should go no further than that!

i'm just really frustrated as this is my first (ever) hobby and ive been so excited for 4 months learning and reading and getting out there and taking pictures - but now i just cant find what i want to be getting on and doing - i am hoping its depressing weather and overly busy city locations that are dragging me down - but at the moment i am just not sure what to do next in regard to this

:help:
 
Do some sunrise/sunsets......they've been stunning near me (but i've been to busy to tog them myself :()
 
Take a break, stop worrying about it. No point beating yourself up, just chill. If you're meant to be a photorapher then in a while the enthusiasum will come back. If not then, no sweat, there are lots of other things you can do with your time. What age are you and where are you based?
Anything else you're interested in?
Give us a bit more info,
but I hope something comes together for you, cos I know what it feels like.
Marc
 
Hi, thanks

I'm late 20s - and i live in the north west... cheshire! - I've asked on the posts a few times, i dont actually think theres an awful lot to do round here... had a couple of good days out at Oulton Park and have enjoyed doing nighttime city shots..... i guess i just thought that having this week off i could do something, but then struggled with very few "real" options today.....

i was thinking of going into Liverpool (Before i ended up at this country park) to take some pictures of the city and buildings etc - but then i thought whats the point of having pictures of some buildings on my PC? - my wife wants me to take some pics of her horse-riding this week, but i dont even know if i can be bothered to get up and do that

i DO want to go out and take pictures etc, i just dont know what/where to do it i think is my problem
 
rabaroo said:
i DO want to go out and take pictures etc, i just dont know what/where to do it i think is my problem
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Then when you have.... you will think.. why/what shall I do with them!!! :D :lol:
 
rabaroo said:
Hi, thanks

I'm late 20s - and i live in the north west... cheshire! - I've asked on the posts a few times, i dont actually think theres an awful lot to do round here... had a couple of good days out at Oulton Park and have enjoyed doing nighttime city shots..... i guess i just thought that having this week off i could do something, but then struggled with very few "real" options today.....

i was thinking of going into Liverpool (Before i ended up at this country park) to take some pictures of the city and buildings etc - but then i thought whats the point of having pictures of some buildings on my PC? - my wife wants me to take some pics of her horse-riding this week, but i dont even know if i can be bothered to get up and do that

i DO want to go out and take pictures etc, i just dont know what/where to do it i think is my problem
Click to expand...


How long have you been into photography?
What really interests you, floats your boat - nature, wildlife, still life, macro, portraiture, street, urban:shrug:

Take a look around the forum and see if anything inspires you. There's a street challenge on at the moment go out on the streets and capture some of those Xmas shoppers. Get your macro lens out and capture some interesting shots of stuff around the house. Maybe meeting up and going out with someone will be more inspiring.

First and foremost you need to think about why you like photography and what it is you want to achieve in your photography.
 
It sounds like your problem is not having a reason or purpose for your photography. I've been there myself. I started off years ago trying to take photos to sell. It was quite successful for a while, until my main buyer suddenly changed his requirement sand I was no longer in the market. I went through a real struggle for years, shooting a few pics here and there but without much enthusiasum. Sold a few occasionally but then even that seemed to dry up.
I've recently decided I should get some of my shots printed big and framed etc to hang on the wall. I have some smashing pics but hardly ever see them. So I've been printing and framing and am even giving a few to some unsuspecting people as Christmas presents :D
Also been making cards with my pics on. Most people say they're good :D - and it feels really satisfying.
Dunno if this is useful but good luck anyway :)
 
yeah thanks - you are quite right i dont have one overwhelming subject passion - up to now ive just liked dabbling around taking pictures of all kinds of subjects.... i am not really focussed into one thing which i thought was good - would give me some breadth and lots of options - but here i find myself with none

i am not wholly sure what the answer is - ive dabbled at a few areas without particularly achieving in any of them - which on the one hand would give me the motivation to try to improve - but at the moment i just find all my stuff is packed but i dont know what i want to shoot, why i want to shoot it, and what i'll get out of the other end of it :-(
 
As Marc said, don't worry about it. If its a hobby do it when you feel like it and when you can be bothered don't!

I usually give myself little weekly projects or challenges to keep my interest up - last week it was a friends wedding (just for fun) this week i'm going to try and do the street photography challenge http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=99758 - i'm pretty sure i'll be rubbish at it BUT you just never know until you try it!

And don't just leave them on your pc put your best ones on a sharing site and show them to people - us, your family and friends. :)
 
Get yourself over to North Wales and do some low level aircraft shooting. I PROMISE you it will sort you.
Seriously. ;)
If you dont want to go on your own, there are a couple of forums you can join and the members will welcome you.
It sounds like you need some sort of shooting that will give you a buzz. This will do it. Or you can pop over my way on Friday and I'll take you to Coningsby to shoot a few.


Kev.
 
When I'm stuck in a rut I like to pick up my Holga or Diana and take random snapshots with that. There's something very refreshing about taking pictures with small plastic film cameras and then the anticipation of waiting to have them developed :)
 
I think you need to treat yourself to an early christmas present. I dont know what gear you have but why not treat yourself to something like a new lens, off camera flash etc?

Hopefully you will take time and have fun exploring the new posibilities with your new equipment and maybe you will come up with something?:thumbs: dont get too down matey, it is the season an all'...
 
And if it chucks it down, have a go at some water drops, or some food photography.

Anything that gets you shooting again, the results almost don't matter, it's the journey. And if you are honestly not enjoying it, leave the camera at home, go out for a walk and you'll soon start spotting things you wish you had your camera for!

Above all relax and have a look at other peoples pics. Go to a gallery, just stimulate your visual senses.
 
Oh dear! Hit the tog brick wall. Yeah been there God it's horrible. Having tried all aspects of photography I was getting confused with what I wanted to concentrate on. I gave myself a project which was photographing Pubs in the county. That motivated me. Got me out and about and focused the photography mind. During this period I decided to put my efforts into portraits and landscapes. So I take those two aspect reasonably seriously and have fun in the other areas.

Paul
 
Instead of walking in the park and focusing on the bare trees and empty flower beds, why not focus on something that is at it's best this time of year.

Christmas markets, Christmas decorations, great lighting for a lot of the day - or why not have a go at improving some of your favourite shots you have already taken.

I live in Warrington, went last year to take some photos of the QE2 in Liverpool, as I was walking back to the car, I went over this pedestrian bridge and caught a view of the liver building all lit up with a great reflection back down onto the water. It turned out to be my best shot of the night. I hadn't had the camera long and now I have gained a bit more experience I know that I could do a lot better on composition, exposure and also fancy a crack at doing a HDR image - so this is one of my next projects when I get chance. So instead of looking for something new to photograph, do something old!!!!
 
kevshore said:
Get yourself over to North Wales and do some low level aircraft shooting. I PROMISE you it will sort you.
Seriously. ;)
If you dont want to go on your own, there are a couple of forums you can join and the members will welcome you.
It sounds like you need some sort of shooting that will give you a buzz. This will do it. Or you can pop over my way on Friday and I'll take you to Coningsby to shoot a few.


Kev.
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yeah that does sound up my street.... something action packed and adrenalin inducing may just be the kind of thing that'd do it.... and aircraft shooting is definitely something I'd be very interested in!! Question, are there locations in N--Wales were you can do that kind of thing? - I thought it had to be a right place/right time kind of deal - I didnt think these kind of things were "routine"

thank you very much for your kind offer, i'm sure i'll be taking you up if my mood doesnt improve and I havent snapped out of this by tomorrow :D
 
Mike V said:
I think you need to treat yourself to an early christmas present. I dont know what gear you have but why not treat yourself to something like a new lens, off camera flash etc?

Hopefully you will take time and have fun exploring the new posibilities with your new equipment and maybe you will come up with something?:thumbs: dont get too down matey, it is the season an all'...
Click to expand...

THanks for the support :thumbs: - I actually have 2 new lenses wrapped under the tree which I am quite excited about, but i wanna feel the buzz now :D
 
Hobbytog said:
Oh dear! Hit the tog brick wall. Yeah been there God it's horrible. Having tried all aspects of photography I was getting confused with what I wanted to concentrate on. I gave myself a project which was photographing Pubs in the county. That motivated me. Got me out and about and focused the photography mind. During this period I decided to put my efforts into portraits and landscapes. So I take those two aspect reasonably seriously and have fun in the other areas.

Paul
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Ah I knew I couldnt have been the only one who got in this boat so I'm glad I posted..... photographing pubs -now theres an idea to kill 2 birds with one stone!!!!!!:clap:
 
The_Bulb said:
Instead of walking in the park and focusing on the bare trees and empty flower beds, why not focus on something that is at it's best this time of year.

Christmas markets, Christmas decorations, great lighting for a lot of the day - or why not have a go at improving some of your favourite shots you have already taken.
Click to expand...

yeah your totally right, see now i can appreciate how futile it was to go out to a country park today.... a couple of months ago then yeah, i guess today i just suffered for being a bit lazy and should have took myself to liverpool as my first instinct warned me - but i was just put off by my negative chester experience at the weekend.... i dunno what it was but i just found it really rubbish!
 
My advice is go for a walk in the country/town or park but dont have photography as you main aim. Take a compact. I wonder if youve got a little obsessed in getting the ideal shot which results in you not being happy with any?
 
rabaroo said:
yeah that does sound up my street.... something action packed and adrenalin inducing may just be the kind of thing that'd do it.... and aircraft shooting is definitely something I'd be very interested in!! Question, are there locations in N--Wales were you can do that kind of thing? - I thought it had to be a right place/right time kind of deal - I didnt think these kind of things were "routine"

thank you very much for your kind offer, i'm sure i'll be taking you up if my mood doesnt improve and I havent snapped out of this by tomorrow :D
Click to expand...


Here you go. have a read of this.

http://warplane.co.uk/Wales.htm

It can be a case of of waiting for hours, but to be honest that adds to the buzz when it finally happens. (or not in some cases.:lol:)

Don't bother until the New Year now though.


Feel free to pop over Friday. Its their last day be Christmas...

Kev.
 
dcash29 said:
My advice is go for a walk in the country/town or park but dont have photography as you main aim. Take a compact. I wonder if youve got a little obsessed in getting the ideal shot which results in you not being happy with any?
Click to expand...

I know my shots are FAR from ideal, and i accept that... one of the problems i think i have found is the inconsistency..... i took some night time shots a while ago which were fantastic, but the latest batch were far inferior in comparison in my mind... despite doing everything the same (if not better this time round!)

i am however quite obsessed with taking better pictures, and i think thats haunting me a bit and i'm constantly looking for the next "venue" to take pictures...... tonight however i stumbled across some driving via the cheshire salt mines and industry, that looked quite a rugged and interesting subject!
 
i am however quite obsessed with taking better pictures
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For some people its trying to obtain better shots that theyve seen either on the site or at a club, all it knackers is your head

Take a step back
 
You could have tryed Chester zoo plenty to take shots of there :thumbs:
 
kevshore said:
Here you go. have a read of this.

http://warplane.co.uk/Wales.htm

It can be a case of of waiting for hours, but to be honest that adds to the buzz when it finally happens. (or not in some cases.:lol:)

Don't bother until the New Year now though.


Feel free to pop over Friday. Its their last day be Christmas...

Kev.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, i've had a look through and it looks very interesting- definite appeal there.... is there more luck or judgement involved in managing to catch them flying.... i was up in windermere 4 weeks ago and saw some planes about 400m above my head at 08:30 in the morning when walking the dog..... and yep, i had my camera safely stored back at base....:bang:.... never did see them planes again after that!
 
rabaroo said:
Thanks for that, i've had a look through and it looks very interesting- definite appeal there.... is there more luck or judgement involved in managing to catch them flying.... i was up in windermere 4 weeks ago and saw some planes about 400m above my head at 08:30 in the morning when walking the dog..... and yep, i had my camera safely stored back at base....:bang:.... never did see them planes again after that!
Click to expand...

Judgement, luck will only get you so far, regardless of the genre. Unless of course, you mean the catching flight times? I have no idea if thats the case.

Gary.
 
Set yourself a worst subject photo project :) but it can't be technically bad i.e. exposure etc has to be good, it's all about subject, look for something ordinary, everyday things such as road signs, street markings, wheelie bins, whatever :D

It's surprising what you get :)

Steve
 
This is exactly how i feel at the moment. Twice this week i have been to a country park. the first was not to bad as it was really stunning day and just nice to be out, but my photos just didnt come out as i wanted them to, today i went out and i was in the woods, very dark and damp nothing that jumped out at me and said "photograph me!" Then i feel that i am forcing myself to take photos that are not going to come out good anyway due to the subject matter.
Im trying to get out more and my photos posted on here havent had the responses that i had wished for, and by that i mean contructive criticism. by the way, that is not me having a dig at anyone on the forum, its just something that is also clouding over my hobby, as i do not know what could be done to improve them!!

but i love being out with the camera and do enjoy being out and about, its just the end product is not what i hoped for!!!

il stick at it and improve as im sure that is all you can do when you put time and effort into something!!
 
mysterio84 said:
This is exactly how i feel at the moment. Twice this week i have been to a country park. the first was not to bad as it was really stunning day and just nice to be out, but my photos just didnt come out as i wanted them to, today i went out and i was in the woods, very dark and damp nothing that jumped out at me and said "photograph me!" Then i feel that i am forcing myself to take photos that are not going to come out good anyway due to the subject matter.
Im trying to get out more and my photos posted on here havent had the responses that i had wished for, and by that i mean contructive criticism. by the way, that is not me having a dig at anyone on the forum, its just something that is also clouding over my hobby, as i do not know what could be done to improve them!!

but i love being out with the camera and do enjoy being out and about, its just the end product is not what i hoped for!!!

il stick at it and improve as im sure that is all you can do when you put time and effort into something!!
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hey, well on the one hand its good that someone else has been feeling the way I feel - there again I also wouldnt want to wish this on people- so keep your chin up!

I havent noticed your pictures on the review boards, albeit I personally dont make too many comments as I dont feel "qualified" to critique others work..... are you able to evaluate your own work or are you looking to others to do that for you??

you've got me curious now - i'm gonna do a quick search to see what you've been posting ;)
 
ive got one post in the general photography section called "got your number" and in the landscape section called "bryngarw park".
 
mysterio84 said:
ive got one post in the general photography section called "got your number" and in the landscape section called "bryngarw park".
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I've dropped a couple of comments on each of those.... for what my views are worth!... actually quite enjoyed properly looking at your shots and thinking about what i do and dont like about them..... i think I'll take from today that I should do that more often... at least view and offer my opinions, even if they arent the most informed viewpoints :nuts:
 
Well, I posted when I was feeling a bit uninspired but I do not think I felt as bad as you do.

I really think it is the weather that gets some of us down. I was at York a few weeks ago and it was bloody freezing on the day and that did not help. looking through my images I took loads good pics in the summer when there was lots of fine weather, blue skies, green landscapes, open air events etc.

My next project is having a go at night shooting I have never done it before and am quite exited about it.

Had a quick look through the this thread and did not see mention of finding yourself a "tog buddy", i have not checked the "tog buddy" thread but I would thoroughly recommend getting yourself a buddy to go out with.


Me, I have adopted one cure that was mentioned and that is to spend my way out of it :D
 
rabaroo said:
.... is there more luck or judgement involved in managing to catch them flying.... i was up in windermere 4 weeks ago and saw some planes about 400m above my head at 08:30 in the morning when walking the dog..... and yep, i had my camera safely stored back at base....:bang:.... never did see them planes again after that!
Click to expand...


It forces you to learn to be patient, pan correctly and get that sharp shot of an aircraft doing speeds at low level that you wouldnt believe if you didnt see it.
Go once and you will have the 'bug'. I've yet to meet someone who hasn't been caught by it.
I am one of the most restless people you could meet. Always on the go. But up in the hills I'm totally different. The peace and quite is amazing and then....:eek:
You'll love it.


Kev.
 
I'll start by saying ... I wish I had a choice.

I would love to be able to leave the house and go around all day with my camera. I would love to be able to do low level shots, or be able to stand up long enough to do some shots that work best at that level. I would also like to be able to go to places that are off road, to be able to sit on the bank of a slow flowing river with rocks and moss and small water falls as far as the eye can see. I'd love to be able to get into a nature reserve and sit amongst the animals and birds. I'd love to be able to pace up and down (or dance around like DD) in a studio triggering off shot after shot of lively kids and happy faces. I'd love to be able to get up a mountain and take an amazing panoramic of the view for miles and miles. I'd love to be able to go into water and take under water reef shots (Cobra :) ). I'd love to be able to walk into town and take hundreds of 'Street' shots. I'd love to be able to have a ride to the coast and feel the sand between my toes and then the tide rolling over my feet as I take a long exposure shot of an incredible sunset/sunrise. I'd love to be able go to a Pantomime and try and get some decent shots of colourful people in colourful costums. I'd love to be able to go into a Christmas tree plantation, where people go and pick their own tree and have it cut down there and then and take some shots. I'd love to be able to take my niece and nephew to see Santa and get a few shots of the terrified look on their faces (:lol:) ... the list is endless. I hope I've given you some ideas and some inspiration :)

Hopefully it won't be too much longer before I can do some of those things. But I know if I could do any of them now I would.
 
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