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Out on killiney beach with camera but no inspiration
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So i went for a stroll on killiney beach yesterday evening wtih the camera. some nice waves, moderately clear skies and overall a nice evening. i took a few photos but not one is a keeper.
This may be an unanswerable question, but how do you look at a scene and decide what to photograph, when nothing stands out?
Also, when nothing stands out, how do you develop your eye so as to be able to pick out a potentially good image?Is it possible on your own or would you need to go with someone more expirienced?
I often come home without taking a shot, other times taking some and not having a keeper. I think it is normal. Then other times more than half a roll of stuff I’m pleased with.
I’m relaxed even if I set aside a Saturday afternoon and go out hunting for snaps and get nothing. I enjoy the walk, nosing around or whatever.“This may be an unanswerable question, but how do you look at a scene and decide what to photograph, when nothing stands out?
Also, when nothing stands out, how do you develop your eye so as to be able to pick out a potentially good image?Below is my partial 2 cents on the above, but if nothing stands out, nothing stands out. And as Mick says working at it is the most important thing.
Myself I find it easier to use primes to try to be creative (I did start on zooms).
With one field of view I get a good idea looking around what shots might look like; pre-visualisation I think they call it.
Of course zooms give you a lot more options but for me it can be option overload.
For documenting stuff zooms are much more versatile. I use one when it suits my purpose.
But to create “nice shots”, going out with a prime works for me.Martin
I think everyone experiences this at some stage.
The dissapointment in using a full roll of film or a full
memory card and not one is one to keep or to put in the
portfolio folder is something that we all experience/experienced.Whan I first started with photography I bought a lot of
Magazines as the HYPERMEGANET was not around then and I got
a lot of inspriation from other images. I was then able to recall
an similar image and try in some way to duplicate or half duplicate
it in the field, sometimes it worked sometimes not, that was a learning curve.Mind you I still love looking at other images and I think im able to
recall some when I need to.You just have to keep plugging away and dont get too bogged down
If you dont see anything because as mick says different people have different
styles and notice things that others wouldnt and vice-a-versa . . .and there are places that are just not going to be inspiring on a certain day
but on another day with different lighting or cloud formations or whatever it could be.Below is an image of a place I have passed for about 5 years now
a change of camera and vision made an interesting image out of it, otherwise I would
still be driving past it without a care. People who commented on it really liked it, I like it too but
would anybody else have seen it ? yes in passing but the light would have been different
would it have been interesting to them? proably not because the light would have been different
most likely overcast :)
Going out for a stroll and taking the camera “just in case” doesn’t really work for me, I find it better to have something half planned before going out. Needless to say, if I’m out without a camera, there’ll be all sorts of photo opportunities for me to miss!
I like nature especially birds. There are plenty of days of going out and finding nothing. Even worse is going out and missing everything flying past you. I was out for a whole week without coming back with a decent shot. Frustrated yes, but giving up no. I will keep plugging away and sooner or later I will get something that I am happy with. So keep it up and don’t dispair.
The best photos rarely just show up on your doorstep waiting to be taken.
That’s not to say they can’t and don’t… but more often than not it’s best to have a vision of what you want to do before you go do it.
I often just head out with no intentions or ideas of what to photograph… and end up with a lot of uninspired muck… sometimes I don’t even take the camera out of the bag having drived for an hour.
Best to have a vision of what you want to do… and execute it when the time is right. I’ve a field with some trees up the road… it’s been good to me on a foggy morning… it’s been good to me recently for some I.R. photography… but I always knew what I wanted to get before I made the decision to go and get it.
Planned – I’d be reasonable happy with this
Sometimes it’s nice to go with the flow and not think to hard about things… I’ve done it in the past… but I find that a lot of the pictures I took during these phases never had any lasting power e.g. what was this all about I ask myself?
Un-Planned – No idea what I was thinking
Of course… the sometimes you can get lucky in unplanned situations and get great photos.
Photography is as much about ideas and vision as it is about anything else.
I used my wooden toy camera last weekend-
exposed 5 packs of Fujiroid, got one picture I was happy with.I also exposed 18 rolls of 120, I’m a bit despondent about developing them,
but reckon I might have one good one out of those too.
Maybe.Well, I say 18 rolls, but I left the darkslide in for half of one of them…
joseph
We all go through dry patches where we can not get a decent shot for love or money.
On days like these, I usually try a new perspective, climb higher or get down and lay on the sand etc.. sometimes things look very different on days like this and often can stimulate your brain. An early example of this is show below. I go to the belfast castle almost every month and I had been sick of rattling to same old shots. Lay down on the grass and go this and a few others. Not great i must say bit a starter to build onGood luck and keep snapping, also look for reflections on puddles, lines , shapes etc.. These always work
Dee
I think I had it backwards when I was a beginner, like you I went out to places that are staple photo-fodder, beaches, castles, formal gardens, street events etc. and became more and more bored with the photos and the whole process. The real turning point was a couple of years later when I became interested in a subject that I felt could develop into a two tier project, a research and write up project alongside a photographic one. Both elements fed the other and this in turn focused my attention, I was able to pick up the technical elements during the process of doing something that really excited my interest, mostly to solve specific problems I came across whilst trying to achieve a particular idea I had worked out long before I even left the house.
The skills and experiences I picked up soon gave my general photography a huge boost and made it much more enjoyable, even tackling subjects that otherwise left me cold.I think the best way to progress is to pick a particular subject you have a keen interest in already or would like to find out more about and set yourself some goals, find out more about the subject whether it’s wildlife, landscape, people, still life etc. Really delve in deep on the research and appreciation side. This may also help you identify aspects that have been overlooked by other photographers and you might even develop your own niche. Photographers are everywhere these days but if you earn a reputation for expertise in a particular area you might stumble on a market just crying out for a photographer that understands their area and talks their language rather than mumbling about f stops and depth of field.
Don’t be afraid to try new approaches and new techniques, but from my own experience I think it’s best to avoid going with the herd and going with fashions and fads. Evaluate new approaches in terms of what they can add to your existing ways of working or fix a particular problem you’re having. Don’t just apply new techniques by default because you can.
Personally, it took me at least three to four years to learn the elusive value of subtlety that makes a photograph intriguing and lasting rather than just eye-candy, and I’ve only just begun to learn how to apply it. It’s easy to believe that eye-candy makes you a great photographer but it can be very disquieting to realise after a few years your whole portfolio is generic (ie. could have been taken by any of 100,000 photographers) and lacking a strong inner voice that distinguishes the masters from the crowd.
thanks guys for all the advice. much of it was taken on board and i did indeed take a few shots this weekend.
Kind regards,
FguihenWhen I’m stuck I tend to look for a different perspective, lie down, hang off,hang upside down if you can…break the rules :wink:
This is a great thread with lots of insightful replies. I regularly swear at my screen when I see what NFl, shutterbug, Aoluainn, Noely etc come up with.
Part of learning how to take a great shot for me is being able to recognise what you are shooting before you shoot. Trying to recognise what I like/dislike in an image. It is hard to switch on the creative side of your brain unless you know all the factors at work and can register them as you look around (like imagining a colour image in black and white). For mortals like myself it is a case of trying everything and figuring out what elements are conspiring in the good images.
These will generally be lighting, composition, perspective, depth of field. Each time I compose an image I am generally thinking about one of these, amongst others. In the shots that stand out more of these elements will come into play, whether by choice or accident. It is only by practice and application that you really figure out how it all works and how you learn instinctively to capture images you will be happy with, you will also be satisfied to learn from the shots that don’t work as they have a purpose.If you are stuck try telling a story in 6 or 10 images.
C
Beaches can be great but can be vast empty places as well What I did once in that situation was to stack some stones and photographed them :D
if the overall look of the place is not doing it for me I usually try looking for smaller and smaller scale.
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