Looking for ideas on how to get out of my own wheelhouse..

[CygnusStudios]

I mentioned in my "re-introduction" that I was recently reminded that I no longer do "just for the fun of it" photography. Honestly I don't know exactly when I lost that, but it is true.

My photography has been limited to work for a few years now. Not that it is a complaint per say, but now that I am aware of it, I want to get back to taking some fun pictures.

Today was a beautiful day here in northern California, so I decided to get out of the office, pop the top on the vette and head out with camera in hand.

Several hours later, I came back without having ever turned the camera on.

My brain seems to be stuck. Who is the photo for, how are they using it, where are they using it, when are they using it, when am I getting paid for it.

I used to see things that were interesting or odd or just needed to be photographed for no other purpose than just being photographed.

That's exactly what brought me back to this forum almost 6 years after I joined.. I honestly need to remember what it is like just to take photos for the fun of it, but honestly I am stumped.

It was suggested to me that I do a 30 day photo a day type thing, but I went straight to my wheelhouse and did product or commercial shots.

I'm looking for suggestions from those who have also gotten into a rut. Something to push me out of my commercial/fashion mode and back into taking pictures for nothing else but the joy of it.

 

[dxqcanada]

Change cameras.
Pickup a mirrorless, P&S, or even a film (if you are that bold) camera ... use that to take "snap shots".

 

[Derrel]

You might thrive on a bit of challenge or limitation; maybe try using a smartphone camera, something that is a "limitation", something that is not purpose-built, but instead is a really generalist tool. I looked at your gear list, and you have a lot of "work-ish" equipment, but nothing "fun" or "challenging" or "limiting". Maybe build yourself an Instagram following, or a Facebook following, shooting only with a simple camera, so you'll get more reward, more "fun" out of creating photos that took some ingenuity or effort to create. Maybe you need photos that are less technically advanced, and more about the journey of capturing them, as opposed to set-up, studio work.

 

[photoguy99]

Consider yourself as a client. Pay yourself in ice cream.

 

[CygnusStudios]

Years ago I could have a blast shooting bugs or flowers or even random birds, even the occasional landscape but somewhere along the lines I just lost that desire.. My brain is stuck in work mode.

A gear challenge might be a way to break out.. I'm certainly not limited on gear at this point in my career, but maybe that is part of the crutch that I rely on. I'll consider that, thank you.

 

[W.Y.Photo]

If you are stuck in a certain mentality about creating for someone or something perhaps you could use that as a drive to create something very different from what you do at work... Consider a topic or idea that is important to you then think of a way to send that message or speak about that idea through your photography. You could answer each of those nagging questions you seem to be stuck on by doing this: Figuring out what type of audience you want your work to reach and how you will present it to them when finished, considering what they will gain or what information they will gather from the images, and considering how the information or idea can leave a lasting impression on them. These considerations can give you a drive to create the work for someone, for a specific reason, and an idea of what you'll get out of it (the pleasure of making it and inspiring or helping others).

Of course, I think Photoguy's suggestion hits the nail on the head. You need to be doing this for you. That's who gets the most out of it after all.

 

[CygnusStudios]

Of course, I think Photoguy's suggestion hits the nail on the head. You need to be doing this for you. That's who gets the most out of it after all.

I know that the problem is in my head, but it's so stuck that I can't seem to find the solution. We have a small division of our company that deals exclusively with visual artists (painters, sculptors, etc) and without exception these artists have that mindset where they create because they have that need to do it for themselves. So I see it, but can't wrap my head around that anymore.

We shoot a lot of different things for various clients, and I can take just about any idea and put it to film. Tell me your product and who you want it to appeal to, how it's going to be used (mag, billboard, catalog, etc) and no problem, I'm off to the races. Hand me that same product or put me in that same location without the "purpose" and I'm completely lost. My brain simply goes blank.

A perfect example.. I shot an ad of a mountain for a travel mag, yet prior to that I drove past this mountain many times and had no desire whatsoever to stop and take a picture of it. I never saw the point in doing it until someone was paying me to do it.

That's kind of the problem in a nutshell. My entire photography has boiled down to who is paying me to unpack the camera gear. Don't get me wrong, I still get excited when shooting toilet paper or silverware or fashion week when I'm getting paid, but hand me silverware on a non paid day and I have no concept of what to do with it.

I look through the forum here and see so many beautiful photos that serve no other purpose other than beauty, and that's what I want to get back to. Yet if I see a pretty sunset I never think about taking a photo of it. I didn't realize it had happened until someone pointed it out to me, that's how bad it is.

I need a check up from the neck up.

 

[Torus34]

Want a real gear change? Like, something really off the wall? Make yourself a pinhole camera. If you make it big enough and use paper negatives which are then contact-printed, you can get by with a really minimal 'darkroom'. There's challenge a-plenty in this. If you're interested, start a conversation with me and we can really dig into it. Jim

PS: Given the weather outside, I've been making four 5"x7" pin-holers. Why so many? Well, it avoids having to design and build a rig to take multiple shots without having to replace the negative in a darkroom.

 

[bribrius]

sounds to me like you "graduated". The majority of the rest of us are taking unpaid photos for little real reason. And realistically the vast majority no matter how well done amount to squat. The fact you don't care if you shoot that mountain but know how to do it says to me you graduated from the majority of the rest of us. That still find shooting that mountain a challenge or exciting. i wish i could be at that level. There may be nothing wrong with you. I can't comment on your level or work directly, but it seems to me you have just upped your skill level and maturity or experience in this you might have put the childish things aside at this point. ON that note, i still take photos thinking it is actually fun and a challenge at times. As my skill level isn't quite up to some of you others... I still wonder IF I CAN do it. Which pretty much makes it entertaining.

 

[W.Y.Photo]

Of course, I think Photoguy's suggestion hits the nail on the head. You need to be doing this for you. That's who gets the most out of it after all.

I know that the problem is in my head, but it's so stuck that I can't seem to find the solution. We have a small division of our company that deals exclusively with visual artists (painters, sculptors, etc) and without exception these artists have that mindset where they create because they have that need to do it for themselves. So I see it, but can't wrap my head around that anymore.

We shoot a lot of different things for various clients, and I can take just about any idea and put it to film. Tell me your product and who you want it to appeal to, how it's going to be used (mag, billboard, catalog, etc) and no problem, I'm off to the races. Hand me that same product or put me in that same location without the "purpose" and I'm completely lost. My brain simply goes blank.

A perfect example.. I shot an ad of a mountain for a travel mag, yet prior to that I drove past this mountain many times and had no desire whatsoever to stop and take a picture of it. I never saw the point in doing it until someone was paying me to do it.

That's kind of the problem in a nutshell. My entire photography has boiled down to who is paying me to unpack the camera gear. Don't get me wrong, I still get excited when shooting toilet paper or silverware or fashion week when I'm getting paid, but hand me silverware on a non paid day and I have no concept of what to do with it.

I look through the forum here and see so many beautiful photos that serve no other purpose other than beauty, and that's what I want to get back to. Yet if I see a pretty sunset I never think about taking a photo of it. I didn't realize it had happened until someone pointed it out to me, that's how bad it is.

I need a check up from the neck up.

I'm seeing your predicament as similar to how a person working in a car factory on a specific vehicle part can become so involved with making that part that they forget what else goes into making the entire vehicle. They may have studied for years or decades how the entire vehicle works, they know everything they need to in order to make their part to the best of their ability, but somewhere along the line they lost touch with how to actually craft the radiator because they have been focused on making or designing the fuel pump for years. They could produce the best fuel pump on the planet because it is what really intrigues them but when asked for ideas on how to improve the radiator they may draw a blank... They know how the radiator operates and what it does but their only relation to it for several years has been that they create a piece of equipment that operates in a larger machine that includes the radiator; so to properly help in improving the radiator they may have to start by studying the basics of a radiator (the things they already know about it) in order to get a new mental grasp on the part's operation. Once they do this however, they may come into the radiator design team with a unique and useful perspective on the operation of that part because of the years of experience they have with fuel pump design.

Basically what I'm saying is you are a fuel pump designer asking himself to start building radiators.

 

[photoguy99]

There is no law that says you have to take pictures for love. It sounds like you remember loving it, and want to get that feeling back, perhaps.

But maybe you don't love it any more. That's OK if so. It's not like you had a bunch of kids and bought a house with photography.

 

[CygnusStudios]

A few years back I could run down to the local flower gardens and spend hours taking pictures of bees or flowers for no reason at all, or used to run off with a group of photographers to Yosemite or along the coast and just take pictures. Wasn't all that often because business always comes first, and yeah we are very busy, but it's been years since I did anything like that.

That's kind of where I would like to get back to.

I'll never be the kind of photographer who will spend hours waiting for just the right light or spend hours on editing an image to make it technically perfect, but I used to be able to take "fun" pictures, so I know it's possible.

Maybe you're right W.Y. Photo, I've spent so many years working on just that one part that I am so caught up in the details I forget the rest. That's a very interesting analogy.

I honestly feel silly in complaining like this. I know many photographers who would love to have my problem. The industry has been very good to me for a long time, it feeds my vette habit and allows me to live very comfortably, yet like the old saying goes..... you always miss what you don't have...


Edit to add:

There is no law that says you have to take pictures for love. It sounds like you remember loving it, and want to get that feeling back, perhaps.

But maybe you don't love it any more. That's OK if so. It's not like you had a bunch of kids and bought a house with photography.

I missed your response earlier.. It's not that I don't love photography so much, I just miss certain parts of it.

However photography is still very good to me, over my career it has paid for my houses, my children's tuition, my Porsche's, Corvettes, more gear than any one person needs and everything else since I launched the studio. It is how I make my living and has been 100% of my income since the day I opened it, I just miss the "fun" part.