I know that sometimes I feel like my pictures just aren’t good enough, and other times I feel like I have a “creative block”, just can’t think of any ideas or topics to shoot. I think the following article by "Anete Lusina on Fstoppers helps describes and overcome these issues.
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Lately when I work on stuff I take a pic of before so I can see the arrangement wire colors and locations etc. Once in a great while I see a great pic in scenery or a critter.
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Some people have preferred things to capture, but if you don’t then you need to be an opportunist.
I mostly take photos because of the amount of times I have said “This looks amazing/unbelievable. I wish I had a camera with me.”
Just keep one with you and capture scenes you want to remember or share.
A very common phrase people say is to look at the world from a different angle.
It helps to look at anything from as many angles as possible.
Look at the scene as a whole, then look at anything that draws your attention first.
Look at a room from the corner or side while standing on a chair.
Look at a room from low down.
Lots of my photos are sunrise and sunset. These provide more options than most people realise.
Most go for the charm of the vista of nature, but if you zoom into the horizon you often find surreal apocalyptic landscapes with many shades of orange, red, pink and yellow.
Due to the forced back-lighting almost everything on the horizon you keep in will be a silhouette.
You can be as abstract as you like.
Looking through an object of some sort so it obscures the edge of the picture can give a voyeuristic feeling, as if you are capturing a secret image.
I don’t photograph people much as I prefer natural looking scenes, so when I do, I hide or shoot from a distance.
I prefer animals so may spend a while watching an animal and getting a lot of wasted shots, as I am looking for a shot that shows the nature of the animal.
Plants, flowers and fungi can be fun. Again it is about scale.
Time to explore the macro feature and the wonder of the world at ground level.
Look in the flowers, from under them and up the stem. Wood-chippings and piles are great for fungi and a view from underneath is one you never normally see.
Hell I have even photographed a fly on a cowpat !
Some people like to make a story, so putting a diorama together with toys, tools or items that relate or contrast.
We often do this in the radio station at the end of our weekly show. Setup a diorama with a teddy bear for the first presenters that come in to find. I get photos each time.
Reflections can be fun and again you get big and small scale to play with.
Large reflections give you a mirror to play with (Glass buildings, water), and small reflections work more as a lens in which you peer through (sunglasses, xmas tree baubles, car mirrors).
Refraction is also another fun but often tricky way to look at the world differently.
After a shower or spraying the garden use the macro mode and find some pretty or interesting droplets. Often you notice you may see bright coloured objects in the garden reversed in the drops of water. You can arrange things to get them in shot, but it is like playing pool in reverse trying to line things up specifically.
Sometimes I photograph walls simply because the texture caught my eye.
Walking home late I have used my pocket tripod to quickly put my camera on the floor near a bend in the road. As the car goes by I capture a 2-3 second night shot.
I may be able to see the vehicle frozen in the photo, but I’m not interested in that as it is the pattern the lights draw that is the point of the shot.
I saw a happy birthday balloon snagged in a bunch of overhead electric cables on a grey day. It made for a miserable and depressing photo. I like it because of the contrast.
I am going to stop now or I’ll go on for way too long
I found a link to my old panoramio profile. You can see a lot of my outdoor stuff, but if you look around you’ll notice I am generally picking up on more abstract views.
https://web.archive.org/web/20161103155234/http://www.panoramio.com/user/doc.flay
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Because I like the process and it’s another form of exercise.
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I’ve been thinking about this subject a lot lately:
When I’m scrolling through my Instagram feed, which is 100% photography related, I can spot a Trey Ratcliff, a Scott Bourne, and many others, almost immediately. They have a certain style, subject, what have you, that makes their photos unique and “theirs.”
What do I want my style to be as I try to elevate my photography game? It has been a source of photographic inspiration just thinking about it. Don’t have a clue yet. I think I will start rather broad (nature) and keep refining it to what really interests me.
To see things better. You only see a glimpse of an object with your eyes, but you can study a photograph of an object or memory for a longer time and get a better understanding of it. What ever it might be.
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I just like capturing a moment in time the way I’m seeing it. The last part of that sentence is the toughest, because it goes beyond what is literally visible in front of me.
Sometimes it’s what I’m visualising in my head as I take the photo; other times it’s trying to capture a visual representation of my emotional experience at the time.
Problem I have is that I don’t consider myself naturally creative. So when I go out with the goal of taking photos, I often end up frustrated with the results as it feels forced.
However when I take that pressure off and take pictures as I’m experiencing things in my life, I’m much more in flow and far happier with the pictures as a result.
This is why I tend to primarily lean towards mobile photography and pocketable cameras such as my Ricoh; instead of anything that requires a dedicated bag or camera constantly around my neck.
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I’ve discover this about myself, too. When I’m trying, I fail. When I just happen to come across something that interests me, I often get some shots I really like. They might not be great photos, but they are great memories!
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I echo the sentiments above. Unless you are doing it for commercial reasons photography should just fit in with your life to capture the moments you didn’t plan on.
Many people go on a mission for perfect sunsets and sunrises. Yes they get to see nice views, but mostly on screen or in a viewfinder, and on a schedule with added stress.
I used to live right next to a picturesque harbour with a view I could access any time I liked. I would look at the sky for signs of good colours and then go sit on the wall of the old quay with my mug of fresh coffee.
I was there to enjoy the sunrise and take some photos while being there, rather than there to take photos while a sunrise is happening (which is what you can easily end up doing).
This gave me so many opportunities I started looking for alternative sunrise photos.
One of the superpowers of having a camera is it allows you to see the world from angles and perspectives that would normally be hidden from view.
A lot of my photos are just me trying to capture the view as accurately as possible, and others are a single detail in the world that is shouting at me.
Macro and long exposure night shots can open a world of magic the human eye cannot see, so those photos are driven by my curiosity.
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