Photographer's Block?

It happens, I am currently going through a milder case of it right now. Sometimes you just have to walk away from it for a bit. If you really have the bug, it will bite you again, and it will be like you never stopped. Forcing yourself, as you have seen, simply makes for terrible images as your heart is not in it.
If its simply a life phase you are going through, you will find something else to occupy your time.

Happens to everyone. Often it is internal pressure you are putting on yourself, demanding every shot you take live up to some standard of perfection you have tucked away in your psyche. Shoot for fun with the intention of not paying attention to any settings or worrying about selling shots later. Taking the pressure off usually helps.

I've barely taken a picture in two and a half weeks. Yesterday I ran by the rail yard and saw a decent piece of graffiti on a rail car. But I had passed it and would have had to back up like five car spaces... get my camera out of the bag, get out of the car... etc, etc. It just felt like a lot of work, LOL. So I didn't take the shot. I can say that I rarely think about selling photos until I have edited them. If I did it the other way around, I'd probably shoot less railroad scenes than I do. But even while I haven't shot in two and a half weeks, I still carry my camera with me all the time and I'm still stalking the B&H web page window shopping for a new lens.

I'm missing so many opportunities. It's rare when all the elements come together like this and I have to head home soon for planting season so I won't be back until April. Who knows what the weather will be then or if other things will conspire to foul it up? I've been offered this chance on a silver platter and I'm blowing it big time. I need to get some good stuff NOW before I have to leave.

We went on vacation last year and I purposedly did not take my camera. No pressure to take shots, and I just relaxed. Maybe if I did for a living I might have a different outlook on it and be more concerned about it. As has been mentioned, sometimes it's good to take a break from it.

Sometimes when I feel like that, forcing myself to pick up my camera and get out there helps. Grabbing that one great shot can get the creative juices flowing again. Or, maybe a change of subject or scenery?

You're putting too much pressure on yourself, Kathleen. I've been in the opposite position, where I'm really in the mood to shoot, but the weather is lousy and I can only go to places I've already been a gazillion times.

I've also had the situation you're having now - I think your brain just wants to enjoy without the pressure of having to make great art out of what you're enjoying.

Set aside one hour to shoot, and tell yourself you're going to relax about it and get in the "zone". That way you can enjoy the rest of the time without all that self-imposed pressure. You're suffering from opportunity overload....

Aw Kathleen. Don't beat yourself up. For me, there is a definite ebb and flow to it. If I'm not in the mood, I'm just not. Ya, you miss some shots. But, you can't possibly get them all anyway. I hope you are enjoying your time there, even if you aren't framing and shooting it. :-)

Sales.

Sales will motivate you every time.

Otherwise, boredom and stagnation can set in.

I hope you have a big sale today!

Sometimes the world is just too big to put in a photo. Don't fight it. Absorb what you see into yourself and enjoy it.

Here's a good video about Jay Maisel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U7bnIYcvRM I like what he says about not going out to take photos, but letting the photos come to him.

This is always a rough time of year for me. Gray skies and cold weather make Chuck a dull boy. Very little motivation to go out and shoot. So trust me, it'll pass. When I get in a slump I simply go somewhere near home that I haven't spent a lot of time at. I just walk around and shoot without any preconceived idea of what I want to do. It's amazing how that can "wake up" my desire and creative side.

you may just be getting bored of what's in front of you. like being flavorblind after eating too much of it. you have to mix it up and try different things. or just get away from it.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Like Chuck above says, it's tough to photograph outside when it's below zero...or even under 10 degrees. I tend to get that block when it's cold out.

Never happens. Although I get burnt out every once in a while and won't want to shoot for days. The mind needs a break. Change of scenery helps. Head to a museum.

I'm bipolar. Peace and survival depend to some extent on going with the flow, and contradictorily, on stubbornly holding on to what you know, if only intellectually at the moment, what is really important. (Emotion comes and goes, and cannot be sustained indefinitely. The chemistry of intense passion cannot be sustained indefinitely!) So take a break, enjoy some idle time, get more sleep perhaps. If you're depressed, a similar formula may apply. Forgive yourself your mood changes. Change your outlook if you can. Returning to your original insight, or perhaps finding a new one. Re-explore you horizons by revisiting photography 101, and survey the possible attributes of a photography, and try to find "pure" examples of each to photograph. Texture, high key, low key, saturated color, subtle color, b&w, and on and on and on. Making my own outline of the possibilities and subjects will often get my juices flowing again.

Edward has the right idea. Unless it is a break you really need when I don't feel motivated I go on the internet (that may not be available right now) and look at images and at some point find something that I really like and get excited, then I can't wait to try it, gets me going again.

Do you want suggestions for some exercises? These are exercises we had in photo 101 but most of these were still life unfortunately. They might not appeal or you might have done them all already a million times (they are pretty old):

1. If you have a dark room, you can make a pinhole camera. The odder the dimensions the better (having your pape film on a slant for example). You will probably want to be careful to attend it).

2. Take a box and a light source and a glass / glass objects. Poke a hole/holes in the bottom, and place the box upside-down on a floor or table. Place the light source underneath the box . The ambient light should be dimmer than the light source underneath the box or absent altogether. Then place the object over these holes so they are illuminated, and do some timed exposures of the results.

3. Experiment with those mirrored tiles and take pictures of what might be reflected in it.

4. Take several pieces of glass and set objects on them, layering one sheet of glass on top of another. Your camera will have to be parallel with the floor but you will be able to experiment with depth of field, color and lighting.

5. Paint with light (it might have been done a million times but it might set you in a new direction or free you up for a new project).

6. Take a self portrait without using your face. We had fun as a group trying to guess whose was who.

Well, it was 80 degrees on the front porch yesterday, no wind and not a cloud in the sky. The fields are lush with new grass and wildflowers are popping up along the bluffs above the ocean so I don't think I can blame this on the winter blahs, lol.

It may be a due to a surge of gardening hormones that's pushing away my photography OCD. I go to sleep dreaming about landscape schemes, where new plants and planting beds will go, what will compliment its neighbors. So maybe the gardening bug is leaving no room for any other passions. I am eager to get them all laid out and start digging holes and mixing compost. Maybe when I get that done I'll feel like picking up a camera again.

Alternatively, toying with the idea of running down to Bodega for a few days for a change of scene. Problem is, I'd have to hit the nearest native nurseries around there and bring back more plants! Maybe I should just go back to bed and pull the covers over my head.

Sounds like plants/gardening is the "inspiration du jour" - Follow that:) It's like feeding a different part of the creative soul at this time-sounds fun and beautiful! Never know where this inspiration part of the journey will lead you...:).

Wow, just read the recent posts. So grateful to all of you for taking your time to respond with such thoughtful advice and support. I think it's high time I quit whining and do something productive on this glorious day. You guys are the best!

@Kathleen, thanks for opening this discussion, I feel for you deeply, as you know many months ago I went to see the movie Interstellar here in New Orleans, Louisiana. After the movie, I walked around the mall and took a few photo's of the Christmas decorations Upon leaving the mall downtown on Canal street I proceeded to run and catch the next St. Car. My new and first digital camera Nikon L820 slid off my arm and crashed onto the street. I was absolutely floored and so disgusted I had thought since it was still under warranty and the fact it was damaged by a accident and not mechanical I did not send it off for repair. It was totally destroyed and have not taken any pictures since then. Then to top that off, I was working on my new HP lap top and lost over 5,000 6,000 plus images simply because I did not download them to the hard drive, I only use Picasa and I did copy them to a disk but something malfunction.

Because I did not know how to use the new windows 8 and cloud and all those features I did not drop my images there. I hence have learned how to use the feature and anything I work on now goes directly there in the event of a computer malfunction.... Of course I have the photo chips which I used but over time because I transferred them to my computer I deleted them from the chip to continue using the chip.

Over the years, I did purchase throw away cameras and captured the moment, but there is nothing I liked better as a photographer but taking photos with a digital camera. I know what it is I was taking but to actual see the confirmation of that click of the shutter on the preview screen is quite an amazing feature as far camera technology.

I have thought about going into my own gallery's here and copying my own images which I can do, the only problem with that once you use the water mark and decide to turn it off, it remains on those images....if I have to go thru all the trouble of removing the water mark myself, I will. It will keep me occupied of not having a camera at all.

So, as far as having a photographer block, I feel for you. The one and only thing which is part of my nature taking photos is in limbo. I have taking photo's with my lap top cam, and I do have my Cannon EOS 35mm but its not the same. I am slowly saving funds to purchase a new camera. As far as having a photographer's block I do not, but every photo op I see just slowly makes me depressed because I can not capture that moment I want too you see I have always taken my camera with me to do just that capture that one and only photo I may have missed otherwise.

Cheers, Michael Hoard Actor, Artist and Photographer

Michael, how devastating! I'd be sick too. Last week a friend from home called in a panic. She'd left her Canon in a coat pocket outside and forgot about it. It was out there long enough to get soaked so obviously she doesn't use it that often. It's fried and potential customers are asking for photos of this crop's baby lambs, goats and chickens. She'll lose sales without pics and that's her livelihood. If I was home I'd run over and get the shots but time is of the essence so I found her a much better used Canon on the B&H site and they sent it to her with free expedited shipping. Out the door cost was $109 and its condition was 9+. Maybe something like that would be an option for you?

@Kathleen, what is the B&H site, is that a site for reconditioned camera equipment. Is it just Canon or is it other manufacturers as well. Of all cameras I have used over the years besides my Olympus OM10 my Nikon was the best after using it for a year, I new everything I need to know about that 16 pix camera. Thanks for that information, of course I will also check out the pawn shops which I have not. But, I do know when I get around to taking photos again without question I will be just as creative as before I destroyed my Nikon. I will pick up where I left off.

For the first time in so many years I can remember of all days one of the best for any photographer's photo op's and that at Mardi Gras! I spent the day actually being a photo op because of my costume and had many images taken of me for a change. And there were thousands of photo ops and I actually enjoyed viewing instead of taking photos. The images will forever remain in my sensory perceptions.

It was my previous tenet George who bought a Digital Nikon and introduced me to digital, he actual let me use it for over a week, and I was sold. George has lent me his camera or if I happen to be with him I slip my chip in and have taken images. George is moving away soon back up north. I will have a camera, I am just getting anxious as I can get.

Cheers, Michael Hoard, Actor, Artist and Photographer.

I think the problem is we all like to say we have a "passion" for what we do.

Which sounds like we should love doing it at any time. That is just not true.

If you don't feel like it, you don't feel like it.

Nothing is wrong. You just don' feel like it.

I haven't felt much like shooting in the last few months. For me it is because it is ugly and cold out. But even in the summer I am not "on" all the time. You can't CHASE the feeling, it has to come to you. I am sure if you just forget about why you aren't doing your "passion" the desire will come back. It doesn't seem to like being ignored!

Kathleen I feel that way every once in awhile, mostly in the winter - do something totally different, take a break, work with plants, read a book, take a walk and don't bring your camera, you're almost always guaranteed to see something on that walk that you will say, "Wish I had my camera, why didn't I bring it?" and then you will be back in the photography mood:)

B&H photovideo (Chicago) is one of about two websites that I trust for camera gear. The other is Adorama in NYC. If you call, they'll try to upsell, sell accessories, warranties, but hey, they're salesmen. Watch out for grey market goods, clearly labeled. Adorama strictly observes Sabbath, and Jewish calendar, etc, which personally increases my confidence factor. I like working with people with principles. Never had a complaint with them, ever. Both sites sell used gear, rated by condition. I trust the ratings.

Michael, I'm on my phone and don't know how to copy and paste the link to the B&H site but hopefully someone will. I think it's bandhphotovideo.com. They sell all the leading brands of photo gear, TVs and computer gear, etc., both new and used. I've been buying from them for over 20 years and have been happy with their ethic and their prices.

Thanks, Gregory. I think B&H is out of Brooklyn, at least that's where my items ship from. Their sales staff aren't on commission so there's no hard sell. I have bought damage insurance and feel that it's well worth the price. They also honor their Sabbath and won't even accept online orders during that time. Have also bought cameras and lenses from Adorama and consider them as good as B&H. They threw in more freebies on the 7D Mark II for the same price as B&H so I got it from them.

@Gregory and Kathleen thank ever so much for the leads, I now have some great information thanks to you both, I appreciate that. You're the best!

@Laura and Johns comment are so very true. In your particular instance the moment at present may seem like a block but its not really. You can pick up when the time deems good for you! It will enable you to see everyone in a new perspective and that does occur when you as a photographer feels and artist alike when they feel they are having a block.

Cheers, Michael Hoard, Actor, Artist and Photographer

Maybe you are just wanting to savor the moments of beauty instead of trying to record them and find the perfect shot. I go through times of not feeling very inspired to take photos too. I usually just wait them out and then pick up the camera again when I feel like it and I get much better results than when I force myself to take photos because I think that's "what I should be doing" rather than doing it beacause it brings me joy.

I've hit a small bit of a blergh streak. May have something to do with the cold and rainy weather. Tomorrow we are predicted for snow, so I think a new subject to capture may help!

Michael: Would you like a free film camera or old 5mp con digital camera? Please call me. x0x-xx5-0989.

here's the trick: x=4

Folks, let this be an example. Always transfer your photos from your memory card to one or preferably more computers. This is very easy.

I lose my mojo all the time, I go through periods where I either don't want to shoot anything or anything I do shoot is just terrible. Used to worry me but I have got used to it now and I always have a few older shots I have never got round to editing so I either concentrate on them or go off and leave all things photography alone for a while

I'm kind of compulsive about backing up. I won't delete anything off my card until the uploaded images are backed up.

Michael that makes me sick too.

Kathleen, you have to do the gardening, then something in that process will spark an interesting photo shoot....

Mary, I think you're right. I started gathering things for a run to Bodega/Pt. Reyes then realized that I won't feel settled until I get the new plants home and get everything planted. There are a lot of little trees and shrubs wanting to be in the ground before they bloom. The pink dogwood buds were already swelling before I left. Just need to go straight home without stopping at any more nurseries!

Backing up files - I've had corrupted external drives so now I load the files onto 2 drives before deleting off the card. Time consuming but better than taking a chance.

@Mary, disgust is putting it mildly I had even noticed since destroying my NIKON I have actually been depressed, something extremely difficult for me to even consider. As far as having photographer's block my case is different than Kathleen but would classify as a block as well.


Hello Kathleen, finally I have found your discussion forum, I have been searching since yesterday and thanks to Janie I found it,

today is a new day I hope that block gets better its just temporary spring is not that far away, its taken me since yesterday evening to find your discussion. Since yesterday thanks to Janine, I sent an email to Abbie and to my amazement I have received all my photos back nearly 700. Its a very slow process but I am retired and spending the valuable time upload them back to my computer.....And as Gregory mentioned all my images now are going to the storage apps associated with Windows 8.1 and also my Google file storage. Thanks again Janine what a great FAA friend you are.

Also, I have replied back to Gregory and his offer for me to use a 5 pixel digital camera until I get all my funds for my own. I will take advantage of the camera and work on projects with 5 pixels, I sure appreciate your generous offer Gregory and sent you a private email.


Now here is the something I have noticed as upload our images from the camera to the computer, I might suggest stay clear of any unnecessary tweaking of the photos, why you ask? Well as I am viewing my original images the proof is right there as I watch the actual photo of the full size. It seems I shall be quite busy doing what it is I need to do and correct the poor images which were in my gallery.....

Cheers, Michael Hoard Actor, Artist and Photographer

Wow, Michael, that's wonderful news! And, yes, there are so many good people here who are generous with their time and resources when someone needs help. That alone helps toward getting out of a funk.

Got home just a little bit ago. Unlike the coast, where it was so hot it was almost uncomfortable, feels like it's FREEZING here. Probably isn't but it's such an extreme change. They are predicting up to a foot of snow this weekend. My seasons have been all screwed up for the last few years because I change climate zones/states often enough to not know which season it's supposed to be anymore.

The drive past Clearlake was gorgeous today. Hillsides covered with California poppies and redbud in full bloom. Made me want to shoot again so maybe this aberration is over, whatever it was.

Had to drive up the mountain the last hour with a gallon jug of cold milk in my lap because there was no other place to put it in the truck! Left some stuff behind at the cabin but managed to get all the plants in the back. Tomorrow I'll unload them and start figuring out where they'll go. I swear everything's grown a foot since I left so it's high time I start planting.

I think this happens to everyone Kathleen. I've decided to limit my portfolio to 500 works, deleting older stuff as I add new work. Maybe that's the stimulus you need. It has given me the drive to go out and try and shoot better work, even one photo at a time. If anything it has made my pursuits more fun and I am excited again about taking my camera out.

Think maybe I have too many distractions right now to get my head in the right space though that never stopped me before. I just won't push it and hopefully it'll come back once I finish the plant triage for this season.

Sometimes when I feel like you do I switch my subject matter completely, or switch the surrounding scenery. I have my favorite spots to shoot but can burn out on the site thinking I have caught it all. I return a few weeks later and it all looks new again. Currently I have been in rural barn mode which involves travel down dirt roads and longer trips each time out to keep myself motivated I need new, unseen by my eyes, barns otherwise it is like taking the same image over.

Duane, you're right. I think part of the problem is that I know that country so well that there are rarely surprises. The only thing that would change is more dramatic lighting or wildlife that I haven't already seen a bazillion times. It's the same with road trips. I have many favorite roads but it's always a bit more exciting to start down a new one and see everything for the first time.

BTW, I just took a peek at your portfolio. You have some wonderful images!

I have been in that role for quite a while. What has helped me get out of it is by buying a new Photoshop filter to play with. That helps a lot. Also, sometimes it helps to just start working on some YouTube tutorials with new techniques you can apply to photos.

Then you can grab some old photos on your hard drive that you weren't quite sure what to do with them, and then you will get an idea to try a technique on them...and voila, a new marketable image.

Took a look at your portfolio too and your images are beautiful.