I am not taking enough photos with film.

[Yoricko]

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

Cheerios, that statement reminds me a little of Joel Meyerowitz when he goes street shooting. Let the photographs surprise you, instead of hunting for good photographs.

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.

Pay for my vacation, I'm just a student who spent all his cash on photographic/music gear. Leeching off my parents and not working.

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.

That reminds me of something, why am I shooting the streets?
Sure, I want to take beautiful moments like Winogrand and Cartier Bresson, but, for what?
To capture a decisive moment that people will remember for years to come?
Maybe, but I'm not too sure on that.

I'm not sure why I even picked up the camera, one thing for certain is that I didn't pick up the camera to earn big bucks. Don't even know why I shoot streets, maybe because I feel as if I had control of the pace of life and thus photographing life itself. Or maybe I am photographing the streets because I lack of something... moments?

I'll pick up your advice and instead of trying to take beautiful photographs for others, I will capture moments for myself, and only for myself, as a form of memento that only I will understand.

I'll start to capture the moments of my existence instead of trying to get beautiful street shots. I'll point my camera at everything, the lamp post I walked by, the bus driver that smiled all day, the annoying kid that assaulted me, the porridge that tasted horrible, and whatever that interest me, instead of just hunting moments, I should let the moments come to me.

Thanks for the advice.
Wonder how it'll turn out...

 

[Yoricko]

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.

You wouldn't want to have my problems... ahahah.
Though, I should know that I am fortunate enough to have time to go out and capture moments...

May the force be with you uncle padawan.

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...

I could I not notice... that life itself is a great thing to document on!
Cheerios and thanks for the advice.

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...

Good way to train composition, but I don't believe doing this would help me in any way.

 

[Yoricko]

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.

Thanks for the advice, its been a while since I did my random travels in Singapore.
My shots looks random and half-assed, compared to the masters of photography.

It's like, I see something interesting, and only take a single shot.
Compared to ...

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

I have a large format camera. 4x5inch.







No lens ...

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.

True, but what if, both quantity, and quality, are miserably miserable?

 

[Yoricko]

I think Yoricko needs a vacation in Europe.

Limitations.

never count quantity. see result, the quality!!

As above, what if they're both downright Miserably Miserable?

'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？'

Translation please

 

[Yoricko]

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

I accidentally took the red pill instead of the blue pill, oh sh*t.

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

Motor drive may be the solution! Oh 'tis holy, worship thee Motor Drive!

Yeah, I should try to find my own decisive moments instead of trying to capture their idea of the decisive moment.

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

Yeppo.

 

[Yoricko]

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.

I should only capture what I care about, but what do I care about?
I have to ask this question to myself and try to pry an answer out, hopefully.

Thanks for the advice though. Lovely quote.

well said by ahsim. If u could just bring yr gears out often.. photo moments will just stumble upon you when u least expect it. That to me is one of the beautiful thing abt photography.

My camera is in my hand 99% of the time. No lens cap, no bag, no proper strap.

Recently, I look like an idiot, a camera is in my hand and I don't even raise it for once to take a shot, its as if I was holding it to look cool or something.

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.

Aite, thanks for the advice.

 

[Yoricko]

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...

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.

I truly believe there is a difference between film spam and digital spam.

--------------------------------------

To sum it up -
Photograph what is important and interesting for you.
It may not be pretty, or important for others. But it should be something precious for you and only you, would understand the motive of the image.
With your heart set in capturing images you want, the pretty moments will unfold by itself.


Thanks for all the advices guys, they sure help a lot.

p.s. : Finally my Leica is ready for action after a month of servicing ... good luck to all!

 

[aloyyolaaloy]

I have a large format camera. 4x5inch.

No lens ...

bro.. its not like we have them too.. can always share.. heh ^^

True, but what if, both quantity, and quality, are miserably miserable?

did you ask yourself why?

 

[night86mare]

Translation please

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？

i don't know if you know the story of journey to the west, but here is a wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_West

Tripitaka, or tang san zhang, went to the west to.. bring back some scriptures with some people, that's a very quick and bad summary of what it is about; the story explores all the obstacles they have to overcome, etc. eventually, all of them got rewarded in one way or another; tripitaka achieved enlightenment and achieved buddhahood.

now, the verse up there translated directly:

did tripitaka go to the west to fetch scriptures to become a buddha?
even if there was no temple, does it matter?
it is about faith, why care about whether the journey is long or short?

people these days tend to equate everything to cause and effect:
1) i go to the gym, i work out, i will be buff
2) i study hard enough, i will do well
3) i work hard enough, i will succeed in my career

for 1, 2, 3 , none of these statements are true. when you put in effort, you shouldn't ask for a result in mind. it is just like faith, do you ask for anything in return for faith? not really.

so don't get disheartened, don't keep thinking that you don't take enough photos. look at what you have. look at what you have done. look at what you're going to do. think, think, think, work hard at it, and stop thinking that a+b = c. when you take a step back, approach photography with less than a Must Get Results mentality, everything becomes easier.

we must remember that not everyone is equal. i'm not saying that you might not be as great as you want to be one day, but not everyone can be what they want to be. but there is more to life than just having great pictures. there is so much to learn from photography than just having a nice album of **** to show at the end of the day. so take pleasure in the hobby, it isn't just about the results, even though merit is given purely based on the results. but by doing photography, you can learn so much; why restrict it to just one aspect?

 

[archlover]

haahaha...
i still believe that it's like RPG game...
fight monster more, shoot monster more, kill monster more, higher chance to get rare item, faster to level up...

 

[night86mare]

haahaha...
i still believe that it's like RPG game...
fight monster more, shoot monster more, kill monster more, higher chance to get rare item, faster to level up...

lol.. but in rpg game, you kill x monsters, you level up one level.

here you might shoot 800 rolls of film, and still be at square one.

 

[Yoricko]

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？

i don't know if you know the story of journey to the west, but here is a wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_West

Tripitaka, or tang san zhang, went to the west to.. bring back some scriptures with some people, that's a very quick and bad summary of what it is about; the story explores all the obstacles they have to overcome, etc. eventually, all of them got rewarded in one way or another; tripitaka achieved enlightenment and achieved buddhahood.

now, the verse up there translated directly:

did tripitaka go to the west to fetch scriptures to become a buddha?
even if there was no temple, does it matter?
it is about faith, why care about whether the journey is long or short?

people these days tend to equate everything to cause and effect:
1) i go to the gym, i work out, i will be buff
2) i study hard enough, i will do well
3) i work hard enough, i will succeed in my career

for 1, 2, 3 , none of these statements are true. when you put in effort, you shouldn't ask for a result in mind. it is just like faith, do you ask for anything in return for faith? not really.

so don't get disheartened, don't keep thinking that you don't take enough photos. look at what you have. look at what you have done. look at what you're going to do. think, think, think, work hard at it, and stop thinking that a+b = c. when you take a step back, approach photography with less than a Must Get Results mentality, everything becomes easier.

we must remember that not everyone is equal. i'm not saying that you might not be as great as you want to be one day, but not everyone can be what they want to be. but there is more to life than just having great pictures. there is so much to learn from photography than just having a nice album of **** to show at the end of the day. so take pleasure in the hobby, it isn't just about the results, even though merit is given purely based on the results. but by doing photography, you can learn so much; why restrict it to just one aspect?

Actually, you just needed to say "Journey to the West".
I can't read chinese.

Thanks for bringing it up though.

 

[shunzi]

Cheerios, that statement reminds me a little of Joel Meyerowitz when he goes street shooting. Let the photographs surprise you, instead of hunting for good photographs.

Pay for my vacation, I'm just a student who spent all his cash on photographic/music gear. Leeching off my parents and not working.

That reminds me of something, why am I shooting the streets?
Sure, I want to take beautiful moments like Winogrand and Cartier Bresson, but, for what?
To capture a decisive moment that people will remember for years to come?
Maybe, but I'm not too sure on that.

I'm not sure why I even picked up the camera, one thing for certain is that I didn't pick up the camera to earn big bucks. Don't even know why I shoot streets, maybe because I feel as if I had control of the pace of life and thus photographing life itself. Or maybe I am photographing the streets because I lack of something... moments?

I'll pick up your advice and instead of trying to take beautiful photographs for others, I will capture moments for myself, and only for myself, as a form of memento that only I will understand.

I'll start to capture the moments of my existence instead of trying to get beautiful street shots. I'll point my camera at everything, the lamp post I walked by, the bus driver that smiled all day, the annoying kid that assaulted me, the porridge that tasted horrible, and whatever that interest me, instead of just hunting moments, I should let the moments come to me.

Thanks for the advice.
Wonder how it'll turn out...

take the moments which you care and love most about.

the 'positive energy' will flow through the whole body and in no time you will reach enlightenment. :bsmilie: