Alex Todd Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Go smell the roses don't photograph them! Theses no $ in this anymore anyway. +1. Take some time out to do other things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 Go smell the roses don't photograph them! Sometimes it's worth doing both. Watch out for bees, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 But you can change. I was always an owl, happy to work on into the early hours. However, these days I am usually awake soon after 6am and up shortly after 7am ( I read or meditate for a while). As a result I am asleep by 11pm but still occasionally carry on working or reading into the small hours. I think it is years of being married to a lark and also having to get up early to travel to distant clients for the start of the working day when I was a consultant. True, I'm a lark by nature but I've learned to love the night as well. Does that make me a "lowl"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 NO, ju But you can change. I was always an owl, happy to work on into the early hours. However, these days I am usually awake soon after 6am and up shortly after 7am ( I read or meditate for a while). As a result I am asleep by 11pm but still occasionally carry on working or reading into the small hours. I think it is years of being married to a lark and also having to get up early to travel to distant clients for the start of the working day when I was a consultant. True, I'm a lark by nature but I've learned to love the night as well. Does that make me a "lowl"? No, just a well-adjusted insomniac! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Go smell the roses don't photograph them! Theses no $ in this anymore anyway. +1. Take some time out to do other things. Here we go again . . . for some reason, some hero thought Alex's highly controversial suggestion above was worth a red arrow . . . still some sad little creeps around it appears. Fixed. dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Brook Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Go smell the roses don't photograph them! Theses no $ in this anymore anyway. +1. Take some time out to do other things. Here we go again . . . for some reason, some hero thought Alex's highly controversial suggestion above was worth a red arrow . . . still some sad little creeps around it appears. Fixed. dd Obviously someone taking Alex's advice, and finding something else to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Todd Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Go smell the roses don't photograph them! Theses no $ in this anymore anyway. +1. Take some time out to do other things. Here we go again . . . for some reason, some hero thought Alex's highly controversial suggestion above was worth a red arrow . . . still some sad little creeps around it appears. Fixed. dd Cheers dd, have a greenie back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 NO, ju But you can change. I was always an owl, happy to work on into the early hours. However, these days I am usually awake soon after 6am and up shortly after 7am ( I read or meditate for a while). As a result I am asleep by 11pm but still occasionally carry on working or reading into the small hours. I think it is years of being married to a lark and also having to get up early to travel to distant clients for the start of the working day when I was a consultant. True, I'm a lark by nature but I've learned to love the night as well. Does that make me a "lowl"? No, just a well-adjusted insomniac! Yes, I suspect it also has something to do with aging and a more active bladder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dyn Llun Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I suppose this is a bit of a lame question, but I'm wondering what you guys/girls do when you have "photographer's block" (similar to "writer's block" but it involves a lot of expensive camera equipment). You know what I mean: it's beautiful sunny weather out there and you have time on your hands, but you still can't seem to get motivated or think of what to go out and photograph. What are some tried-and-true personal strategies that you use to alleviate this debilitating condition? P.S. Sorry about the typo in the title. My proofreader has the day off. Never had it so can't answer with any certain 'tried and tested' cures. I have been working on projects large and smaller, constantly for over fifty years without a break. More often than not I have three or four on the go, excluding exhibition preparation, print sales to take care of and research for the next project(s). Currently I have a book on the go, plus three other major photographic projects and a major retrospective exhibition looming on the horizon which will need my attention soon. I also have plans for future projects 'in gestation' that I conduct research on in the 'quiet' times! I find that one thing leads to another so keeping constantly busy is one key. I never stand still. If I did I might fall over. I also believe it's why I don't get ill. No colds or 'man flu' no nothing. I am constantly moving so fast with my work that the bugs can't catch me....... OK, I know, famous last words! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMiller Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 It could be your momentary blahs derive from excessive effort. Dedicated as you are, you may be pushing the 24/7 work week inadvertently. Despite the fact much of the world considers professional photography a 'leisure hobby', you can be working at all sorts of long and odd hours well beyond the standard 40 hour work week, late at night and early mornings for instance, while being perpetually 'on call' for the next photo opportunity. So sometimes i act as though my photo business is a regular job, and force myself to end the work week at say, 5 pm on Friday as though the paycheck is in the mail. I am done, put the camera away and try not to even think about photography- no image processing, nothing. The real leisure time of being out and about, visiting friends, shopping, going places, having fun, etc. without a camera, can help relax and rest the mind and body. Iinvariably while in this relaxation mode,at some point the most amazing photographic opportunity will occur right before my eyes. It's so good, it could even bring fame, but all you can do is observe and wish you had your camera. Then I go into a self-criticizing episode admonishing myself "How can I be so stupid not to always carry my camera!" At that point my photo-blahs are over, and I am re-motivated. Missed great shots- works like a charm every single time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Brook Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Some upbeat advice here, but if you do have a real down period not much of this is likely to work. I think Wim gets closest to understanding what is going on. If you do, (and given the problems we are facing, and likely to continue to face, in this industry it will happen to some), realise this is not the end - it may lead to a new beginning. We can accumulate a lot of crap without realising it, and forgetting and starting again can be a way forward. Somebody like Don McCullin can be an inspirational figure here: war photographer - with all that terrible baggage - now brilliant landscape photographer producing images full of emotion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Smart Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Recently I had a case of photographer's block so I just sat down with a couple of good photographer's hard copy books to give me inspiration and on Sunday, I strolled down to the beach where I live accompanied by my husband on a warm autumn day (too warm due to climate change!) and took this pic. Hopefully I will snap (excuse the pun) out of my block! Sheila Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Super image Sheila. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Sheila, Super image! + Flare! F4? wow! Your block doesn't look that serious ;-) Maybe practise for one week, taking pictures into the sun (or a visible light) only. wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstw Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 I've found that changing my camera from a Canon 1D MarkIII to a 5D Mark III has helped a hell of a lot. Feels like I'm starting fresh. Changing my location all the time helps. Breaking routine and the norm are so important for anything. There's a danger for photographers to believe they've seen it all, but to change a mindset you need to change your ways. Doing what you enjoy and making it feel less like work also helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnapper Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 just do stuff km Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 I have been doing the same daily grind in my village since 2008, except for holidays, and still come up with pictures six years on. Mind you it does feel as though I am scraping the bottom of the barrel at times. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dyn Llun Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 I posted a comment on this topic some time ago but it has sort of fascinated me as have the suggested 'remedies', as it is an alien experience to me. I have written a piece about it on my blog: http://peteslandscape.blogspot.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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