How many take "Creativity Breaks?"

[Rachel Foster]

I find I go through short phases where I don't shoot and write, instead. I start feeling stale, and shooting the same old things over and over. One of the things I get hung up with is that I get so hyper-focused on composition and technical details the creative part of my photography gets squashed. I was wondering if anyone else does this or is this just me?

On the upside, I'm just about finished with the rough draft of the rewrite of my first novel! Anyway, back to the question at hand: Does anyone else take shooting breaks?

 

[Johann van Rensburg]

Totally Involuntarily - but sadly YES - It does happen to me

 

[Rachel Foster]

Have any tricks?

 

[Ken Tanaka]

Resist the urge to think in terms of "taking pictures". That's fine for baby and travel snappers but it's not a useful element of creative expression.

Instead, channel your energies toward using a camera to express concepts and feelings.

 

[Rachel Foster]

That's much harder to do! And that is also the difference between an casual snapshot taker and an artist. That may be the piece I'm looking for.

 

[Maris Rusis]

Putting down the camera, as Rachel suggests, has merit.

Shooting, alias camera work, is a very small part of the creative cycle; except for people whose experience of photography is nothing else. For them things must get boring very quickly. I find that even though I do photography every day camera time comes to less than 1%.

I'm always looking for subject matter that will advance the themes I want to express. A framing card lets me estimate camera position for later times when the light is right.

I'm studying lenses and image making so as not to overlook the wealth of expressive possibilities available. The use of a view camera gives so much image control not accessible to rigid cameras.

I test new film and re-explore familiar film to add to the compendium of picture making possibilities.

There are so many papers, picture sizes, toning possibilities, framing options that I have to master in order to effectively interface my work to the world that I won't run out of work.

I need to look at and genuinely think about other peoples pictures to become at least passably visually literate. Several thousand pictures a year would be a minimum diet. Critiques, reviews, essays, histories, and cogent monographs need to be read to help learn how to think. Photography should not be an intellect free zone.

The websites need a look; OPF not omitted.

There is so much to do and none of it is "shooting". If all I did was "click", generate electronic files, and look at them on a monitor I think I'd go back to painting and etching.

 

[Ken Tanaka]

That's much harder to do! And that is also the difference between an casual snapshot taker and an artist. That may be the piece I'm looking for.

Actually you may find it much easier if you can just get past two hurdles:
1. the self-consciousness of camera ownership (i.e. aperture, ISO, sharpness, "composition", blah, blah), and
2. the normal obsession with making "pretty" pictures.

If you "take a break" make it productive. Make an effort to see more photography, to become impressed and influenced by others' works. Take a weekend trip to a city with some top-notch museums and galleries. Look at works outside your normal sphere of interest. Expand your horizons.

You can also try pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. Put all your camera gear in the closet and buy, say, 5 disposable cameras with the general goal of pursuing a conceptual project over a 48 hour period using only these cameras.

Some might recommend attending a "workshop" but I don't. Most of the folks I know, or know of, who teach these things do so mainly for the income (that they can't earn from their photography) and, frankly, aren't very talented photographers themselves. At best, attendees tend to come home as the "newly enlightened" but shoot the same old crap they shot for years. I'm sure there are some exceptions, but I've not seen anyone's work genuinely benefit from "workshops" (aside from making new acquaintances).

Failing all this you can just do what most people do; give it up. Put the cameras away ("I'll get back to it some day.") and wander off.

(Looks like Maris and I posted simultaneously, with some very similar thoughts.)

 

[Rachel Foster]

Oh, I think there's little chance of me doing what most people do. Walk away from a challenge? Not this pugnacious soul.

Both Maris and Ken have a good point: Looking at the work of others. I eschewed doing that for a long time because I didn't want to begin merely trying to copy what others do. I'm now secure enough in my own "vision" or style that I have little fear of that happening. Maybe it's hubris or arrogance; whatever, I don't think becoming a photographic xerox machine is any threat at all for me.

I also think I need to focus less on the technical aspects. I came into this so ignorant that I had to do a crash course in self study to become even minimally aware of that part of it. But now I'm obsessed with the technicals to the exclusion of creativity. Yes, one must know how to use one's camera to get the best shot; but if that were all that was involved, one could put a camera on self moving tripod, put it on P and let it go. (One million monkeys on one million typewriters would NOT produce Shakespeare, in other words.)

So, maybe I should go out with a point and shoot. Or leave the camera put away (except for portraits) for a while. Or maybe I should shoot concepts or emotions. But walk away? Hahahaha! Nope.

 

[Mike Shimwell]

Rachel

Ken and Maris have much of value here. Most 'digital photographers' have hard drives containing tens of thousands of image files - too many to review, never mind to work on and print.

If you give yourself the time to print one picyure properly, even a simple one, it is not an automatic process and takes real time. You need to both make decisions and implement these decisions - both require thought and time. To deliver a project takes longer.

Ken's suggestion was not to go out with a point and shoot - that allows you to be wasteful of exposures leading to the same filling up the HDD with unseen pictures issue - but to try buying 4 or 5 disposable cameras and use only these for a short project. You cannot waste exposures when you only have 120 (or 180) and wish to produce something worthwhile. Therefore you need to have thought about what you are trying to achieve first and to think about why you are exposing any particular frame. Another advantage is that you don't get to chimp - so you need to think first. The you can take them all down to the 1 hour store and get a set of prints and some cut film back to look through. The editing process if very different with a set of 6 by 4s on a table in front of you.

Last year I did a SoFoBoMo project, which I found worthwhile. My final book is here (pdf) or here (paper). Also, look on the 2008 site for 'Portland - A Love Letter' and the 2009 site for loads of other stuff that's well worth a look.

Another idea is 'The Leica as Teacher', as suggested by Mike Johnston on The Online Photographer - printing pictures is an important part of this process too.

One thing I am thinking of at the moment is how to maintain photography in the face of a busy job and family life. I'm currently drafting myself a manifesto to cover off what is important for the next year - and that will (to some extent) dictate where I invest energy and where I don't expend it wastefully.

Mike

 

[Rachel Foster]

Mike, to be quite frank, I'm too much of a tightwad to shoot film. The best I can do is take a P&S and strict limits on the number of exposures.

I think the advice is good; however, the flip side is that I have frozen myself into immobility by overthinking the process. I think a combination of strategies might help, Ken's being one worth trying.

 

[Paul Abbott]

No, I don't take any breaks at all.
I think it is important to keep on shooting and practising seeing things with your eye/ camera. I take pictures of everything when the opportunity arises, shooting different things, and documenting and reporting.
Every time I leave the front door of my house, I take my camera. Things are too transient not to.

 

[Asher Kelman]

I'm constantly working and then roaming galleries and reading up, pulling pictures from catalogs and chasing things down images to catch up on great photographers who's work I missed during my former careers. Every shoot I have brings a lot of issues to solve as performers are so varied and the spatial relationships so different. Still, I believe that for every issue, someone else has likely solved that problem, so I have a lot to learn from other folks.

Frankly I get a lot of stimulation from posters here from beginners to seasoned pros too.

Still, if I wanted a boost, I'd do something very different like shooting motorcross, here which is fun, one can find one's own favorite spot on a course and there's no end of acton, grit, texture and composition challenges.

Otherwise it would be registering in a still life or figure drawing class! The latter should at least make the heart warmed a tad!

Asher

 

[Rachel Foster]

I think I'm going to put my camera down until I stop thinking and start feeling.

 

[Rachel Foster]

Mike, I'm astonished by how your sobomo project is so similar to things I have shot.

 

[Paul Abbott]

I think I'm going to put my camera down until I stop thinking and start feeling.

How can you feel a scene when you don't have a camera operating in your hand and to document what you've felt?!

 

[Ken Tanaka]

I think I'm going to put my camera down until I stop thinking and start feeling.

I agree with Paul. Don't put the camera down. Just use it differently.

Consider, for example, a couple of photographers who Joerg Colberg recently highlighted on his blog, Conscientious.

Peter Brown who has photographed landscapes absolutely bereft of -scapes very successfully and to acclaim. Some of it is rather Stephen Shore-ish, but it's cute.

Or how about 24 year old John Clendenon. Some of his stuff is quite creative.

You can squeeze out something fresh if you try. Just set a 30 day rule for yourself; no more flowers, no more trees, no more sentimentality. Period. Take a sabbatical from photographing what you want others to think of you.

 

[Rachel Foster]

Ken, I'm not aware of photographing for others. I might, but I'm not seeing it if I do. The truth is I'm my toughest critic. I'm not satisfied with what I'm shooting. Nothing takes my breath away. It's all so pedestrian. When I started shooting it was all new, fresh, and interesting to me.

So maybe your advice is right. Maybe I should refuse to shoot flowers, wildlife, trees, and those landscapes. That doesn't leave a lot, but maybe the problem is I've been shooting what is convenient.

The only things I've shot in over a month that even begins to be acceptable are two portraits.

Jacob Eliana: Annette

Jacob Eliana: Tap Dancer​

And these have problems!

So, maybe you're right. Maybe I should take the easily available off my list.

 

[Rachel Foster]

Peter Brown and John Clenendon shoot in a style I'm very uncomfortable with. That's worth examining.

 

[Paul Abbott]

Thanks for pointing out the work of Peter Brown, Ken. I really like off-beat work like this. I'll be looking this guy up, now.

 

[Asher Kelman]

So, maybe I should go out with a point and shoot.

This is an excellent idea. Here are two private aphorisms that I'll venture to share concerning how we experience movies and pictures:

a. Movies that have sound can be ruined by sound more than the technical quality of the picture

b. Pictures don't need detail to express ideas, emotion, beauty or any other human value

So it's fine to work with anything that simplifies, deconstructs or obfuscates the exact nature of things. Our brains get delight in the experience of working things out. As an example, you posted this over 15 months ago, something you waited for a year to show us!

This is over a year old now (366 days, in fact) but still arguably my best. "Dancing With Roger on Valentine's Day."

This is one of the most satisfying images I have seen. It's unusual, hardly technically perfect in defining the nature of the flower, but in that it has caused a spotlight to light it above so many other mages of blooms. That it is rare in your collection, is nothing unusual. This photograph provides a platform for us to feel emotions. If one in 1000 images are like ths, you are doing very well!

Or leave the camera put away (except for portraits) for a while.

Nope! Do some sketching with charcoal. Just shapes and have fun and no conscience! Keep you P&S with you always, as shadows and shapes will visit the room and you must be ready to fight with them.

My views on no camera photography:

1. Teaching Photography: one does not need a camera. It's about viewing and visiting museums.

2. For scouting: When in Italy, planning to photograph the Ponte Vecchio again, for example, I'll arrive in the morning. I use my fingers to make a rectangle and then march around, unencumbered, (but rather stupid looking), working out all sorts of framing ideas, knowing where light will come at sunset, light fades from beauty to impossible in 15 minutes. When I return, it's just a matter of setting up the tripod, getting the reading correct and aiming.

Or maybe I should shoot concepts or emotions. But walk away? Hahahaha! Nope.

Rachel,

You are a psychologist! That's your strength but also a weakness. You chastise yourself and expect too much. There's only so much cream in the best milk! It will rise to the top!

As a modern woman, knowing you are mortal, you cannot expect to be inspired each and every day, (as life continues to vanish without our control), but continue on your projects you started and they will blossom like that flower above that brought joy to you, yourself, and to so many others by sharing. This is all we can do! It's then, the works we leave behind in our children and those that we influence, that gives a measure of immortality. This, I think is the underlying struggle we have with motivation in our lives.

Yes, you will have cyclothymic episodes, but so do I, LOL! This can be a roller coaster to ride and a source of looking at things from different perspectives of hope.

Just don't put your little camera down as you cling on for the ride!

Asher

 

[Rachel Foster]

Thanks, Asher. I guess maybe my mortality is closing in on me. I think I'll shoot just for fun for a and see what happens. Maybe I won't even look at the results til a few weeks pass.

 

[Alain Briot]

I think I'm going to put my camera down until I stop thinking and start feeling.

------- Bingo!-------

 

[Alain Briot]

Take a break from photographing to impress others.

 

[Rachel Foster]

Alain, it's easier to impress others than to impress me. That is part of my problem.

 

[Mike Shimwell]

Mike, to be quite frank, I'm too much of a tightwad to shoot film. The best I can do is take a P&S and strict limits on the number of exposures.

Rachel,

I don't get that! You bought a 5D2, not an inexpensive camera, and I hope that you make prints somehow.

In the UK I can buy a 27 exposure one-use camera for £2.50 and have the film developed and printed for £4. That's 27 prints for £6.50, or 135 prints for £32.50. In the UK a 5D2 with 24-105 costs over £2300, and it won't even fit in your pocket!

Both costs would be lower in the US I'd expect and there would be no technical expectations at all.

Still, whatever you decide, I hope it works out

Mike

 

[fahim mohammed]

heavy...HEAVY!

never suffer from such problems.

never had creativity; and never will. doesn't run. in the family.

I won't create a problem where none existed before! Creativity, evolution, Darwin..what nonsense.

next someone will say the universe is expanding/contracting. Hogwash, I say.

It's the Boston tea party all over again. unrest in the colonies.

Think? why should I think? Outsourced this function long time ago. saved a bunch of shillings.

Doctor? who? dr. who? I am asking. No. No..dr. who, bbc. in that case i4c creativity.

splendid! what!

 

[Ruben Alfu]

One of the most stimulant experiences for me is to hear other photographers talk about their own work. No tech talk, no secret tips, no artistic considerations, just how they think and feel, and what happened "behind cameras" during that shot, and the people they met, and how was the weather, why they were there... just the plain human experience that carry on the eventual photograph.

 

[Mike Shimwell]

Mike, I'm astonished by how your sobomo project is so similar to things I have shot.

Sorry Rachel, no intentional plagiarism

Mike

 

[Rachel Foster]

LOL @Mike and plagiarism!

I never said my penury regarding film was logical! It's like when I play poker: If I lose $2.50 (about 1.6 pounds sterling) you'd think I lost the farm! Go figure.

 

[Mike Bailey]

This is a variation on themes others have suggested. Sometimes function will follow form, contrary to the common wisdom, so if you are slow and methodical in photography, try shooting quickly. If you are hyper and fire off rapid series of shots, try shooting very methodically. Like other suggestions, the purpose is to try to break a repeated pattern that you (or me) might be finding unproductive.

Granted any of these suggestions can be gimmicks, but gimmicks with a purpose. Like forcing yourself to one camera, one lens for a project, real or made-up. You probably get the idea...

Mike

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