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I don't know what's wrong with me lately, but a lot of the photographs I've shot lately just don't measure up to my usual performance, and I'm not feeling that creative spark/passion while out shooting that I normally do (and it shows). I feel like I'm getting worse instead of better. Hoping it's just a slump.
I was wondering if any of you ever go through a period like this from time to time?
I'm hoping all the color and magic of the holiday season will get me back on track, but in the meantime, I'll be advertising for a new muse.
Location: Splitting time between Dayton, NJ and Needmore, PA
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Yes, I've had the experience.
When I get into one of those ruts, it's usually because the subject matter is sort of ho-hum.
What I do to break out is look for subjects that are different from what I usually shoot. In fact, there are times where I'll totally leave my comfort zone.
Example: This Summer, I wasn't really getting into the groove of prepping for shooting college football. One weekend, there was an announcement in my church bulletin that there would be a car show the following weekend. I hadn't shot a car show in my life. So I thought I'd give it a try. Results are here. Certainly not worthy of the pages of Muscle Car Magazine or Road and Track, but it did score me $50 in sales from one of the car owners who told me he had no idea how to shoot his car, but he loved the images I got. See the ones of the red Thunderbird.
After shooting that, I was sort of energized to learn more about photographing cars and getting ready for college football. Go figure!
Happens to me all the time, almost the story of my life, I have gone months, maybe a few years not taking a photo. The age of digital perked me up. I don't take photography that serious. I shoot a bunch of crummy pictures which makes someone smile, so I've been practicing 50 years....
Hey PG, you took the words out of my mouth. I have had two kiddie functions, both indoors in auditoriums and I felt my shots were truly sub par and blah. I thought I've done everything right, shot in RAW, moving from manual to aperture settings to Auto (desperation setting in), ISO at 400, ISO at 200, anti-shake settings on, etc. etc. Still, they came out totally BLECH! I felt like, hey...after a year or so, and with enuff photos that were decent under my belt, what happened????
I guess this whole economy crap is depressing me...we didn't even carve pumpkins for Halloween, kids did not ToT at all...
BLECH is getting under my skin and I need to shake it off.
It's called time.. and compositions. Need to change venue on subject matter and time of day ~ night.
I know I'm in that slump... don't have "time" to be creative and try something new... no time
It's called time.. and compositions. Need to change venue on subject matter and time of day ~ night.
I know I'm in that slump... don't have "time" to be creative and try something new... no time
This is kinda where I'm at as well. I used to take tons of photos and spend a lot of time editing when I had my PnS camera. I got my SLR about 1.5 years ago, and barely ever shoot or edit anymore. I think it's because I've started a full-time job and don't have the same free time or go on as many trips anymore. I just don't have the time to shoot as much as I'd like.
I've found that getting new gear can help spark the creativity again though. I finally got myself an external flash, and am gonna play around with off-camera lighting when it comes in
You can start by figuring out the best way for you to post photos. Search this forum on Photobucket, ImageShack, Picasa, etc. etc.
Take your photo and note the settings you used, including time of day. This means your aperture, shutter speed and ISO at the very least, other equipment (filters, flash, etc. if applicable). Let us know if you have used a point and shoot, a bridge camera or a DSLR. Better that you name your model so posters who have similar cameras can pipe in with their opnions. Might help to let us know your level...newbie, intermediate, pro...
Search for a thread to post your photo to. Try not to start a new thread. We've covered pretty much everything in this forum.
If you ask for opinions, be ready for a critique. That is, if you really want to learn.
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