#1 Tee Bone

These are excellent ideas, and one can always catch the re-runs of Eastenders anyway....

One thing my Dad and I used to do, when he was teaching me how to shoot, is use the subject cards from the old board game "Pictionary" to develop a sort of image scavenger hunt. Pick four or five cards head out and try to capture something that resembled those topics. Some of my best photographs were taken this way.

Tee

3:23 pm - Thursday, March 25, 2004

#2 Sensiti

Excellent article Mark, and thank you. I have only recently experienced 'the blues' and it took a couple of months before I could work up the enthusiasm to go out with the camera. The winter weather doesn't help.

I was thinking about events just recently, and wondering about protests or protest marches. Being reasonably content I don't feel the pressure to protest about anything myself. Consequently I only seem to find out about this type of event once it has past. Do you, or does anyone else, know of a resource that would help us to find protesters before their activities hit the newspapers.

3:37 pm - Thursday, March 25, 2004

#3 Bill

Mark

Very good article!

Yes I know that feeling. I got volunteered to take photos at work and was stuck using my free time editing, creating a sideshow and printing those photos. Honestly the photos were not very good and what was worst I had to take a photos of certain people because they are big shots at the company I work for! They loved photos but I thought they were very boring photos. A long month went by were I just did not want to take any photos and the camera stay in the camera bag. :(

To get out of the rut, I went back to some old photos that I loved, reedited them in PhotoShop CS, printed them, framed them and hanged them on my wall. The passion came right back!

Bill

4:54 pm - Thursday, March 25, 2004

#4 Rodrigo G?mez

Excellent article!!!

I have found myself several times in that "status". I usually carry my camera everywhere, but unfortunately I "think" I have ended with all that can be of any interest to me in my daily routine. As you, I spend 8-10 hours in an office, with not so great view (except for the sunset, as in the top nothing except a small antenna is between you and the sunset), so the photographic creativity is not at it's maximum. I usually try to take photos at least every day, but there are days that I can't see nothing "good", or at least that I haven't photographed before.

I like the idea of starting a project. When reading it, my mind started to think of a lot of small things that I could have as project, and I think I'll do that soon... let's see what happens.

Regards,

5:03 pm - Thursday, March 25, 2004

#5 Reid

It seems that winter time causes these "blocks" for many shooters. I was in one for a couple of months. What got me out of it? New glass. I bought one of those LensBabies and replaced my 17 year old zoom with an L series lens. Of course, I simply had to shoot with them. The fact sping has finally sprung here in Atlanta is also helpful.

And, you're right (even though you don't follow your own advice), having a camera with you all the time is half the battle. When I got my first digital (a Nikon 990), it was easy to take it everywhere, and when I upgraded to the Canon D60, I was determined that wouldn't change, even though my "kit" tripled in size. It's been almost a year and a half now, and it still travels everywhere.

However, I have noticed one definite advantage of the 990 over the D60 ... stealth. I don't take *quite* as many pictures as I did with the 990, because when you break out a digital SLR, everybody knows what's going on. With the 990, I could often take pictures without anyone around even knowing it. I do kinda miss that.

6:11 pm - Thursday, March 25, 2004

#6 Steve

There is a notable lack of mention of various Macintosh specific applications blog software. Why is this? The Macintosh share of the general market is relatively slow, but representation among photographers is much, much higher. Photoshop was first introduced for the Mac and Mac users remain a very high percentage of purchasers of this basic photo software. I'd warrant that the percentage of both serious amateur and pro shooters include a large percentage of Mac users. I was unaware until now that this was largely a photo blog for Windows users.

6:14 pm - Thursday, March 25, 2004

#7 Mad@TT

re: Steve
I think there's a pretty good reason for lack of Mac ;)
Let me ask you... do you use PC software on your Mac? Do you have extensive knowledge of non-mainstream PC software? I'll take the easy way out and presume you don't. You don't have to and there's nothing wrong with that. Why would it be different for a PC user? Mark, and everybody else, writes about what he knows.

PS blogger.com is web based blog service and so are many others. I'm pretty sure there is a number of mac specific resources to find such info.


re: Mark
Interesting article. I'm often faced with such challenges and I usually overcome them by taking a camera wherever I go, pushing myself to take photos of things I otherwise wouldn't.
The trick is to always have a camera in hand and ready to fire. If it's in the bag or pocket I'll change my mind several times and eventually miss the shot. ;)

7:14 pm - Thursday, March 25, 2004

#8 Mark Goldstein

Steve - I would be more than happy to add some MAC resources to my article. As Mad@TT has pointed out, I use a PC (I've never actually used a MAC before), but I certainly don't consider PhotographyBLOG to be a Windows-only website.

8:00 pm - Thursday, March 25, 2004

#9 Nynavae

Excellent advise for those slumps, and here I was feeling like the only one to encounter them. My hat is off to you.

9:53 pm - Thursday, March 25, 2004

#10 Reid

Re: Steve, and Mac blogging software ... perhaps I'm confused. But every application Mark mentioned in this article will not run on a PC or a Mac. They all run on Apache, or some other web server OS.

With most every blogging program I've seen, the only interface is your browser, and it isn't OS dependent as it's all web based.

12:40 am - Friday, March 26, 2004

#11 Darren Rowse

best photographic tip article I've read for ages - great stuff mate. I hope lots of people read this. Thanks - I appreciate it - hit me right where I'm at.

3:09 am - Friday, March 26, 2004

#12 Mark Eichin

A variant of "find a project" for those with a "boring" commute... find something that varies only a little (some plants, or even the shadows in a given area at a particular time of day) and try and shoot at least one shot of the same spot every day. Then you can go back and see seasonal changes that you miss by seeing something that you think of as "the same" every day, which might help you out of the deeper underlying malaise/boredom that is getting in the way of your shooting :-)

7:00 am - Friday, March 26, 2004

#13 Catherine Jo Morgan

This is a terrific article! I do photography mostly for "inspiration photos" for my sculptures - and had gotten out of the habit of it. Also your article can be adapted to any art medium. Love it! Will write about it on my own weblog and mention it in some forums.

BTW, I can recommend the Canon Digital Elph (or Ixus) series of "pocket cameras." If you hang one in your car by the wrist strap, or lay it on the seat beside you, I bet you'll find some good shots during your commute. And you take a lunch break, don't you? You're missing some good shots by not having a pocket camera.

2:57 pm - Friday, March 26, 2004

#14 Maris V. Lidaka Sr.

Some excellent ideas there. I'll be returning to the site when I have more time (often promised, but in my case it will be true)

Maris

1:00 am - Monday, March 29, 2004

#15 Tommy Williams

Nice article, Mark. I need to get back into my photos.

But it was trying to do one of the things you describe (blogging my photos) that drove me away. If you check my blog, you'll see I haven't updated since February. I was doing the 29 Frames project (shoot 29 frames each day in this leap-year February) and was trying hard not just to take random frames but to take meaningful ones. This coincided with a heavy time at work, and after little more than a week I found myself deeply dreading the act of taking photos. It really burned me out and short of a couple of unenthusiastic walks around our yard taking documentary shots of the spring flowers and blossoms, I haven't done anything since then.

I'll get back to it soon, but there's been a huge barrier to that.

I think I was trying too hard to produce high-quality work day after day *on top of* the intense effort of my real job.

5:33 pm - Tuesday, April 6, 2004

#16 K Madhavan Pillai

I keep getting in and out of photography "dry" days. This is an excellent article.

Here is something that I follow personally as well... on a more esoteric level. I believe that it is important for a photographer to allow other influences to affect photographic style, function and expression. Eventually, my personal art is a culmination of what I wish to express and the sum of all my past experiences. Music, moods, location and people affect the way my pictures turn out. Eventually, a photographer is also a sensualist. Take that away from him / her... and something valuable goes missing.

11:01 am - Wednesday, September 22, 2004

#17 Gordon Jennings

Great Article. In particular:
* Take your camera everywhere. Even during your normal commute. I do! You never know what will happen on the way to the office or at the office.

There are times that I am discouraged about a shot. I will look at it and talk myself out of it "That's no good, why are you stopping to look at that... there's no shot there, keep moving buster!" I attribute this to some bad shots.

Clean your Shot Past by looking at some of your old "Winning Shots" that will put a smile back on your face. It will encourage you to get back on your game face and get out there.

I liked the public thing. I often will dress in suit and tie and attend a real formal do. Hang outside and take pics of peeps as the walk out in their formal wear. Some people really appreciate it. When they look good they know it and appreciate the "MEDIA" taking a picture.

9:37 pm - Thursday, October 6, 2005

#18 Maureen

I don't have the photography blues currently, but it's something I have struggled with occasionally. This article is well-thought, clear and super useful. I'm saving it for the eventual blue-day. Thanks - excellent tips.

7:49 pm - Sunday, January 15, 2006

#19 Anna. S

Excellent blog.
My granfather told me to 'sieze every opportunity as they are gone in the blink of an eye' he was right !
Despite having lived in 10 countries in the past 15 years and visited many more, I have relatively few good photographs. When I arrive in a new country and culture I am overwhelmed by the amount of photographic potential but put off rushing out to take photos as there seems so much time. A year is enough surely? But it never is and so many opportunities are missed. Get oup there and start blinking that shutter ! ;-)

11:48 am - Friday, August 4, 2006

#20 femi

Nice write-up. I am a wedding photographer whose major problem when not taking official events is logging my camera everywhere. I use the Nikon D80 with 2 lens kit, so my gear is kinda too bulky for me to carry everywhere. I do want to take more pictures to improve myself and after reading this, hopefully I would improve. Thanks for a lovely site also.

10:26 pm - Friday, August 17, 2007