Need some help shots have become a bit stagnant.

[dearis]

Hi there,

I feel like my shots are lacking pizaz, oomf or that wow factor.
Now I know I can be super critical of my shots but I don't like doing things
by half!

Any suggestions on what could help improve or change things?

Regards Darren

[coreypolis]

posting some images or a website to them would be a good start to see what you shoot and what you've done so far

[dearis]

G'day corey,

here is a link to my shots http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g151/dearis_photos/

regards Darren

[landdownunder]

dearis,
I think your unidentified eagle is a whistling kite? The light patches on the wings are a good identifying point.

With the birds, I've found following them and taking lots of shots works well. A slight turn of the head, or ripple of water can really change things. With the raptors I've managed a few where they are looking right at me as they soar looking for food. They often get used to you and treat you like a peace of the landscape. Also some good behaviour ones, with smaller birds attacking the raptors. I think time is the best tool.
Not sure if that's any help?

[tghaines]

Hi Darren,

I'm no expert, but I wish I had a dollar for every time someone said that.

I get stale from time to time, so I set myself goals. Try shooting all day from as close to the ground as possible. Try dawn and dusk only. Only use manual Mode for a month. Enter the online comps here. Stand in a place, close your eyes and put the self timer on....see what you can get with 10 seconds thinking time. Look in magasines and try to emulate some of the shots in there.....

You'll end up with a lot of bad shots, but some great ones. For the great ones, write down what you did in a note book and remember it for next time.

But then again, I'm no expert....

[dearis]

Thanks for all the help, I will do some of those,

landdownunder, I must change that it is a whisting kite, and he/ she was magic. Love Birds of prey. Am chacing a wedgetail, pereguin falcom and a letterwing.

Regards Darren

[landdownunder]

For wedgetails, find a farm around lambing time. There is always dead lambs and ewes for the wedgies to dine on. When I was younger I was lucky to live in an area which supported about seven adult wedgies, and at lambing time you could get real close.

[dewmuw]

Two tips:

1. Put your latest images away for a month and then come back to them. See what you think then.
2. Leave your camera at home and go out. You'll probably find you look at things differently and start thinking "I wish I had my camera".

This worked for me.

[dearis]

landdownunder,

Its that time now, guess where i will be the next few days, i know where a nest is, every year the same spot but its not until spring.

As for putting my camera away i may give this a whirl.

Regards Darren

[PhotosGuy]

2. Leave your camera at home and go out. I like that!
The album looks OK. Try something different. Put subjects that you seldom shoot like "cars', "kids", "buildings" in a hat & pull one out, then spend a day just shooting them in different ways.

Or maybe just take a 128KB CF card.
Years ago, I took a trip to the zoo when I was a full-time pro. I'd been going out on assignment & shooting a minimum of 60 rolls per day & bracketing like crazy to be sure that I came back with good exposures & I wondered if I had lost the ability to shoot selectively. (Bracketing also gives you extra shots for the portfolio, & allows you to split up the processing runs so that if you lose a roll in the lab, you have only lost one situation) ;)
So I went to the zoo with a 50mm, a 1,000mm, & one 20 exposure roll of B&W film. (Color can save your a**, but B&W is more demanding).
I came back with 4 shots that I liked enough to blow up to 16" X 20". Here's one of them...

[dearis]

Hi Frank,

cracking shot, I can honestly say this is one of the
best B and W or tiger shots I have ever seen. Magnificent! colour would have ruined it.

some of the dissapointment comes from the shots not being what I expected. Here is my gallery http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g151/dearis_photos/

The 3 spider shots (in my gallery) were today, decided to challenge myself by picking a lens (macro in this case) and the subject had to be 10metres from my front door, a view I see every day and have see 1000's of time. It was amazing how mant macro shots were in a 10 metre x 10 metre spot.

Regards Darren

[tghaines]

Great work Darren - Good thinking and a good result.
Spiders are good to use the IFW technique on (I Follow Webs). I never see their eyes until I PP the image.
88679
Some of my best days are with the nifty50. Just shooting people and places.

Love the shots.

Trent.

[landdownunder]

cool spider shot

[dearis]

Nice shot Landdownunder, it'd a rare capture to gt a drinking spider!

where do you focus, front, middle or back to get the best focus result?

Regards Darren

[Photodawg1]

Darren, Some very good advice in this thread, and Frank I adore your tiger. Since I bought my 20D in October, I rarely get that stagnant feeling, mostly because I am concentrating so much on learning and have so much further to go. I actually have more of a problem getting frustrated with my ability. But when I feel like I lost the pizazz...I just move on to another subject/genre. Fortunately, I love nature, sports, photojournalism, and contemporary/experimental, so I am constantly moving from one to another. I also get inspired by going to workshops or photo events and my camera club. I know zilch about macro, so I can't comment on those, but I really like your nature shots. Final thought, those slumps pass often on their own, I also just stop shooting for awhile.

[PhotosGuy]

Thank's, guys. A few weeks ago I borrowed a 100-400 & shot about 1,000 shots, just trying to get a bee flying near some gardenias. (Coming sometime next week in Nature.)
I liked about 5 of them! :D

Since you liked that tiger so much, here's another from that shoot.
.

[dearis]

I will fix the proble....just frustrated :)

[Thornfield]

I love the frond shot in your gallery. It's spot on.
As for shooting stuff, shoot what you love. If you end up shooting just anything it will show in you images. Photography should be about passion so shoot what you are passionate about. Sometimes creativity needs a rest. Creativity cannot be forced so give yourself a break and do something else for a while, then come back to it with a fresh perspective.

[dearis]

I love nature, flora and my frustration could be there is not much going on here as its winter! but It will be fine I am, sure....

[Thornfield]

Here is a suggestion from Freeman Patterson.
Get a hoola hoop and throw it, then plant your tripod there and don't move it. You can raise it or lower it but not move it. Change lenses. focus, etc. Amazing what you come up with. Having another go tomorrow. It works

[mspringfield]

Darren,

What I do when I start to feel stagnant is grab 1 lens, always a prime and never, ever a zoom and park it on my camera for at least a week. What that does for me is it forces me to look at things differently. Rather than zoom in or out or change to what I think is the right lens I have to rethink my shots, use my feet to zoom in or out not stand rooted in one spot. I force myself to look at the world from a different angle.

Give it a try.
Michael

[dearis]

hanks thornfield and Michael,

Both greatg suggestions, I tried sime new things and it seems to have worked, I am in a cgallenge from another site and thet makes you think,

Regards Darren