How to Get Out of a Photography Rut: 5 Things to Try
I think it was yesterday that I mentioned how I felt like I was spinning my wheels. Well, whenever I feel like that, photographically speaking, there are a few things I know to try that usually fix me right up.
1. Go somewhere new. For me, this is a big one. I'm stimulated by new sights, sounds, smells, people. Tastes! And you don't need to travel anywhere far away. Just choose a part of your area you haven't explored, or go to a festival near you. Photograph, but don't forget to participate too.
2. Give yourself an assignment. Doesn't matter what it is. Curves, lines, the color red, close-up, environmental portrait, black and white landscape, whatever. Just make yourself shoot something within given parameters. If you're at a loss, there are many photography challenges online either monthly or weekly. DPS, for one. Also, the Learn Photography Facebook group.
3. Try a new technique (or practice one you haven't used in a while). Panning, say. Or making the lights in your photos become stars. Practice shooting backlit. Take a walk and only shoot from the hip. Try to predict what your camera sees when you can't look through the viewfinder. That one's harder than it seems.
4. Find a photo buddy. I'm always happier when I have someone to talk photography with. People can give you feedback and new ideas. Both of which are obviously beneficial. Don't know anyone? I've had great success using meetup.com.
5. Create a series of images. Instead of thinking in single frames, try to come up with a concept that can be expressed in more than one image. Perhaps change over time? A photo essay about a person or subject can also really get the juices flowing. Or maybe you can document your day, from wake to slumber.
What about you? What can you add to this list? How do you stimulate the photographic juices when it feels like you've run dry?
Blur
More and more I find that integral to a good image is not only controlled sharpness, but also controlled blur.
Split-Screen
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| This is a composite of two shots, one focused on the fence and one focused on the garage. Both were shot at f/1.8 with my 85mm lens. |
Sometimes I feel like I'm just spinning my wheels. Days pass, my to-do list doesn't get shorter, it only lengthens, and the important items remain unchecked. I try to remind myself that this feeling is only an illusion, that actually I'm a lot farther ahead now than I was at the beginning of the year, but I find myself unconvincing.
I'm itchy, too. I haven't spent this much time in one place in a long time, and I need to get some more travel under my belt. I long for far-off places, different languages, temperatures, smells. It's time for a trip. I crave the jolt of creativity that comes with travel; the feeling that we're all the same and yet, thankfully, also so different.
For the time being, I'm staying put, buckling down and working hard. But soon that trip will get put on the schedule. I'm thinking South America, because I've never been. Macchu Pichu, Buenos Aires, maybe Rio? Who knows.
Where would you go if you had the chance? Say money and time aren't factors in the equation.
San Francisco Nights
I don't know if you're familiar with Chris Isaak, but I went through a phase when I was about sixteen where I bought nearly every one of his albums. An unabashed crooner, there are few in the music business who can sing like him. One of my favorite albums by him is 'San Francisco Days' and the eponymous track closes something like this,"I'm heading for that Golden Gate, hoping I won't be too late to find the one that I still love . . . San Francisco nights."
And for me this image perfectly reflects those words, that melody. The soft, muted tones of a San Francisco night. The kind of fog that almost embraces you, muffling sounds and blurring your vision. For me, home.
Mouseover Monday 8 - Depth of Field
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So when I decided that I was really starting a photography business, I made a list of all the equipment I thought I needed to be prepared for almost any job, and I dipped into my savings and bought it. I bought two camera bodies, but I knew what really would make the images would be the right lens at the right time. Since then, some lenses almost never make it off the camera (hello 50mm and 85mm!), some lenses are in heavy rotation (hello Lensbaby!) and some lenses kind of languish (hi 70-200 and 100mm macro).
I decided last week that while the 70-200 is kind of more of a statement lens than I'm ready to bring along with me on casual photo outings, I could definitely use the 100mm more. I mean, it's a beautiful lens, with almost perfect image quality, the bokeh is superb, and it's a macro lens! which I've been wanting for a long time.
So I took the 100 with me on a photo stroll last week, to kind of put it through its paces. We walked around the Panhandle (a smaller park near Golden Gate Park) and we took pictures of whatever captured our fancy.
Some of these you have already seen here and here. The lens is a little long to be a perfect walk-around lens for me. I really like 50mm, and the image quality of the 85mm slays me every time. But the 100 certainly is fun, and there's nothing better than being able to get as close as you want to whatever you're shooting.
Anyway, this Mouseover Monday is a little different than the previous ones. I haven't converted this one into black and white; instead, I'm showing you two different shots of the same leaves, one at f/2.8 and one at f/7.1. Neither one has much depth of field, but they certainly have a different look to them. Which do you prefer? I think I know which one I'm partial to, myself, but I certainly wouldn't mind getting a second opinion.
Oh, and by the way, Happy Independence Day! I hope you're doing something suitably relaxed and pointless.
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