I am not taking enough photos with film.

[Yoricko]

I've tried going out more, buying more film, trying to be a little more trigger happy but I just can't seem to just take more pictures. There are times when I went out for the entire day and came back with just a shot, am I not appreciating the surroundings or noticing how beautiful this world can be?

When I look at some photo documentaries about the old masters of photography, you can see from their contact prints, it was as if they are documenting a story of their existence. A stop-motion film with no gaps of moments that goes unnoticed, then excluding the bulk of mass and then finally choosing the perfect shot that usually end up in photo books or whatsoever.

My contact "prints" however, looks like just cluttered randomness. It was as if it I took a shot once a day, at random stuff I would point at. Well, not really random, but it looked random.

Garry Winogrand once said that nothing was un-photographable, but yet why am I not pointing my camera at everything and anything on sight?

The saturation of pictures I've shot is miserable, I go out on the street, see something interesting, take only ONE shot, then walk away from the interesting subject instead of stalking it. It sums up to just a single mediocre shot at the end of the day. Wow...

If I am not taking just enough pictures, how am I suppose to get better?
I don't feel by just watching and observing my surrounds will I get much better.

Repetition is the mastery of skill.
I have to take more pictures to get better pictures.
Yet I cannot take pictures so blindly that I clutter my memory with a false moments that strays from the original image.

I feel I'm missing out on a lot, a lot of things.
So how do I take more pictures?

I do expect a sarcastic response with a "digital" in it.

 

[osocan]

Photographer's Block...I get it all the time

My way of dealing with it is to force myself to take the shot. Sometimes I'd get into the rhythm of things within the first few shots, sometimes it'll take as much as half a roll before I'd start to "see".

Just keep shooting

 

[Cactus jACK]

definiately not a digital vs film issue... all i'll say is that i think you need a vacation to lift your photographer's block.

 

[iNotion]

You actually answered your own questions.
Instead of going out to shoot streets for the sake of shooting and not documenting,
why not you start documenting your own daily life or a day in your life?

Take a photo of what you always do daily, places you go, for example, to work, to study, walking to the bus stop, mrt station or to your carpark, at the office, people u meet daily.
Then every photos will be meaningful to you. Memories.

When I look at some photo documentaries about the old masters of photography, you can see from their contact prints, it was as if they are documenting a story of their existence. A stop-motion film with no gaps of moments that goes unnoticed, then excluding the bulk of mass and then finally choosing the perfect shot that usually end up in photo books or whatsoever.

 

[ZoomP]

Wish I have your problem, and it's a good problem. Between my work and baby girl, I hardly got time to go out and shoot. Need to find more time to do that or else I really can't improve. As what INotion stated, documents your life. I am doing that now and takes alot of pics of my baby girl growing up daily.

 

[lightrules]

Wish I have your problem, and it's a good problem. Between my work and baby girl, I hardly got time to go out and shoot. Need to find more time to do that or else I really can't improve. As what INotion stated, documents your life. I am doing that now and takes alot of pics of my baby girl growing up daily.

ZoomP has a very good answer, actually.
Instead of seeing the limitations, he has adapted to the problem and now, the problem is actually the solution ....he is now taking photos of his baby girl and documenting the activity around her..perhaps even of the caretaker, etc

So, you may see that going around and not having anything to shoot may indeed be the solution...ie, shoot the things that block a great picture !
for example , see how they put a signboard right in front of the historical building, no parking sign at the very front view of a great looking temple, grow a huge tree at the front facade of a cathedral etc...
this itself is a great documentation...

 

[hongwen37]

Maybe instead of just going out to take random things, try setting a theme for yourself for that day shoot? Say maybe, today my theme is "people", and you will go to the street and shoot all sort of people...

You can even make the theme interesting like "Old People", "Triangles" (have to take subjects with triangle shapes), "Water" (photos with water element in it), and the list goes on...

Like this, you dont have to think of things to take cos you already know what to take...

 

[mmmel]

Perhaps a change of scene would help!?

Sometimes a trip to a new place really opens your eyes and makes you record things that you feel worth recording, because you have come a long way from home.

It's important, I think, to accept the individual style of photography. If you prefer to take pictures more random it's not necessarily a bad thing. If you like to work more slowly and deliberate, maybe you could make the most out of that, by using a different format.

Bigger film formats will work better, if you prefer a more deliberate and slow approach. If shooting a roll of 135er film in ten seconds is not for you, so be it. Take your time...

I don't want to be sarcastic, but when it comes to "learning curve" digital can be quite helpful due to the immediacy of the format. I shot 100% digital for a couple of years and feel that I have improved. The fast feedback and the fact the cameras record all your settings can be quite helpful.

At the end of the day I cam back to film, because I simply like it better. Everyone has to find her/his own way.

Keep up the good work, even if it's random or slow. Nothing wrong there.

Cheers, Sean.

I agree with Sean. Try to shoot a bigger format eg medium format. It really helps you compose and have greater satisfaction.

 

[mamypoko]

Once I took 2 months to finish a roll of film. On other days I can take less than 2 hours to finish 1 roll.

Its not about the quantity, but the quality of your shots that matter.

 

[free2move]

I think Yoricko needs a vacation in Europe.

 

[boochap]

never count quantity. see result, the quality!!

 

[night86mare]

'唐三藏岂是为想成佛而取经？西天路有没有雷音寺又有何关系？但求一心白反依，哪计路程长短？'

 

[aloyyolaaloy]

bro.. long time no see.. take a step back for now.. chill aliitle.. and then shoot LF with us

 

[rgy1993]

take a chill pill and get inspired... its hard to force it upon yourself.
look at like bresson's or cappa's work and try to find your own "decisive moment"


either that or got get an eos 1V and let the drive mode rip through your film on one particular subject.. ahah ;p

 

[baboonish]

Maybe u can try taking pictures and create like a photo diary, it might be more interesting that way. Keep shooting!

 

[Yoricko]

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll take my time to read them when I have some time to spare.

Cheerios

 

[ahsim]

I have the same problem before (and will surely again, but that's normal). These are the days when you can do your scanning or post-processing or pick up a photo book and take a step back to admire other people's works. When enough time has passed you will be itching to pick up a camera again.

Or you can do the well-worn early morning/ late evening routine and capture some of the spectacular light on a lucky day...

If you have some buddy photogs I think shooting alongside them will result in more photos taken...

The advice by the bros above makes sense. The author Kurt Vonnegut once wrote that you should only write what you care about. Find a subject you care about and you will take pictures. So it goes.

 

[Xtol19]

No point shooting things you don't like....

Often people say that anything can be photographed... look at how the masters can make a pepper or tree bark or even a piece of garbage look gorgeous, dripping with beautiful midtones. But I have no interest in pictures of pepper, or tree bark or garbage, so why should I waste my time and film and developer on those?

Remember the back office needs just as much time as the front office (except for slides). If you shoot but do not print or dodge or burn or tone, your pix won't be pretty as they could be anyway.

I've tried going out more, buying more film, trying to be a little more trigger happy but I just can't seem to just take more pictures. There are times when I went out for the entire day and came back with just a shot, am I not appreciating the surroundings or noticing how beautiful this world can be?

When I look at some photo documentaries about the old masters of photography, you can see from their contact prints, it was as if they are documenting a story of their existence. A stop-motion film with no gaps of moments that goes unnoticed, then excluding the bulk of mass and then finally choosing the perfect shot that usually end up in photo books or whatsoever.

My contact "prints" however, looks like just cluttered randomness. It was as if it I took a shot once a day, at random stuff I would point at. Well, not really random, but it looked random.

Garry Winogrand once said that nothing was un-photographable, but yet why am I not pointing my camera at everything and anything on sight?

The saturation of pictures I've shot is miserable, I go out on the street, see something interesting, take only ONE shot, then walk away from the interesting subject instead of stalking it. It sums up to just a single mediocre shot at the end of the day. Wow...

If I am not taking just enough pictures, how am I suppose to get better?
I don't feel by just watching and observing my surrounds will I get much better.

Repetition is the mastery of skill.
I have to take more pictures to get better pictures.
Yet I cannot take pictures so blindly that I clutter my memory with a false moments that strays from the original image.

I feel I'm missing out on a lot, a lot of things.
So how do I take more pictures?

I do expect a sarcastic response with a "digital" in it.

 

[archlover]

i'm actually having the same experience when i'm using film...
i became too selective on shooting, my hit-rate getting lower because i shoot low amount, and i always think that everything is not worth to shoot... :|
i also ended up going around for a day with only taken 3-4 frames :|
and i think for a guy that's still in learning process, it's not really good, because i always feel that when i shoot more, see more results, i will improve more...
so at the end of the day.. i'm back to digital...
still keep some film camera for "any given sunday" though...

 

[adamadam]

I like it.
I like going out and coming back with only 1 or 4 shots rather than 500.

but I go out with the purpose to wander around, and just happen to be carrying my camera.