What do you do when you think you've run out of ideas of what to take photos of?

[onedownfiveup]

I need to get the creative side of me back in shape. I'm just wondering what others do to get their creative side back. I'm thinking about just going on a walk and not coming back until I take at least 50 photos.

[Maureen Souza]

Take a break. The itch will return soon and you'll find all sorts of interesting things to shoot.

[kensei]

ive been waiting for that itch to some back for months.

[poloman]

Go outside.........
Go to a sports event.........
Water.........
Storms..........
Faces........
Macro.........
Astrophotography......
Archealogical Site.......
Wildlife Refuge......
Sunrise.......
Sunset.......
It is fall

[Skrim17]

You could try reading or re-reading a Petersen book or two. go to the library and look over photography books.

[Tee Why]

General advise for a writer with a writer's block is to keep writing.
I'll say the same for shooting, but try shooting different things, locations, time of day, or a different lens.

good luck

[FlyingPhotog]

I need to get the creative side of me back in shape. I'm just wondering what others do to get their creative side back. I'm thinking about just going on a walk and not coming back until I take at least 50 photos.

One thing I've found useful during periods of "creative block" is to just sit with my gear, open the manual(s) and reinforce the technical side some.

Use of flash(es) [I have a 580, a 430 and the infrared xmitter] has/have become more instinctive and I can find most camera/lens settings by number of clicks/turns/pushes, etc without having to look.

Sometimes the light bulb goes on and it's because I think I understand a technical concept better and want to go try it.

Good Luck finding your "mojo" but I bet it finds you first!! :D

[T.D.]

Only one thing to do:

BUY MORE GLASS!

No seriously, I do what Crissa mentioned. I re-read Peterson's books. They always help me think of things differently.

[Jimmer411]

I dont have shooters block, I have PP block. I cant seem to muster up the energy to PP anything Ive shot with my new XTi.

Tho a shift change at work and nothing but rain dont help the situation either. Try going out and doing something new, maybe a trip to the beach or mountains and just take a picture every 10 feet.

[Riff Raff]

I dont have shooters block, I have PP block. I cant seem to muster up the energy to PP anything Ive shot

I had that for about three years. :lol:

[JCH77Yanks]

If you like the way the light is falling on an object, take a picture of it. It dosen't matter what it is... It could be something stupid like a toilet seat or a doorknob. Try different and unusual angles and use wide aperatures. Sometimes abstract captures of common things turn out to be more intersting than one would think.

[Lani Kai]

Buy new equipment. It never fails.

[Charles Richards]

If you like the way the light is falling on an object, take a picture of it. It dosen't matter what it is... It could be something stupid like a toilet seat or a doorknob. Try different and unusual angles and use wide aperatures. Sometimes abstract captures of common things turn out to be more intersting than one would think.


QFT, this works quite well for me.

Also, try your hand at "light graffiti" ... I've become obsessed with it!

Check it: Lichtfaktor (http://www.myspace.com/lichtfaktor)

Watch the videos at the bottom of the page :)

[tooch]

If you like the way the light is falling on an object, take a picture of it. It dosen't matter what it is... It could be something stupid like a toilet seat or a doorknob. Try different and unusual angles and use wide aperatures. Sometimes abstract captures of common things turn out to be more intersting than one would think.


So very true!
When I got my 430ex, I was just playing around taking photo's of random crap in my room, and took a photo of the bottom of my guitar with a wide aperature and the flash. It came out great, I wasn't expecting anything from it!

[Miyagi-san]

Do digital darkroom work on my old photos till the bug comes back to shoot again. Sometimes it takes a while....luckily I have a lot of photos waiting for CS2 work :D

[Anke]

This is probably why I have a bit of an obsession with buying photographic books. Buy yourself a beautiful coffee table book, have a glass of wine and sit down and enjoy other peoples pictures without thinking of your own. Usually something sticks and you find another idea to go out and try tomorrow.

[DrPablo]

Pick one kind of shooting to concentrate on.

Spend a week doing macros. Or night shots. Or long exposures. Or bird photography. Or candids. Or shooting from rooftops. Or wide angle.

Just pick one thing and obsess over that. Then move on.

[onedownfiveup]

I ordered a vivitar 285hv and an omni bounce for it.

Never messed with flash other than a studio that was already set up for stuff.

[pos]

Living out in the country i just jump in my van and hit the back roads. Aways find things to shoot, (pic's). pos

[Rob.B]

I put dowm my digital and pick up an old rangefinder, and go out with that. I don't know why but it works for me, I soon have the urge to get back to the SLR.

[S.Horton]

Travel.

Or, grab a photography book. Flip through it on a lazy day.

[braduardo]

Put you camera into B&W mode (whether in Picture Styles or Parameters, whatever your camera has) and up the contrast and sharpness to the max. Crank up the ISO and shoot everything in sight. Shooting in the high contrast B&W will help you to see the way light is falling on your subjects, and just about any shot of that variety will have a more 'artistic' feel, even if it sucks.

I like to do it when I can't focus on my photography. Sometimes it will bring the creative 'spark' back a bit.

[nicksan]

Take up another hobby, like drinking.:D
I find that staying away from it refreshes things.

[Dragos Jianu]

Watch some great photography
http://photo.net/gallery/photocritique/filter
http://www.altphotos.com/Gallery.aspx?browseby=toprated

[SRPhotographic]

I keep a short mission statement promising myself what I want out of my photography. When I get photog's block, I go back to the statement. I will read it several times, edit it a little, get it back into the forefront of my mind.

I also have really poor eyesight. If I'm struggling with composition I will take off my glasses so everything falls out of focus. It really helps me notice geometric patterns and the nature of a scene's light. I imagine you can put on a pair of reading glasses for a minute or two and it would have the same effect.

[ClickClick]

Give an old P&S to a young child for an hour or so. Let them come back with about 50 pics or more... look through them. You will gain a new perspective in seeing things from a different viewpoint all together.

[StewartR]

I have two cats, and my neighbours have three more. I'm never short of something to photograph.

[S.Horton]

I've got it!

Fall in love.

That will do it.

Problem: hard to do over and over again.

[Wilt]

I need to get the creative side of me back in shape. I'm just wondering what others do to get their creative side back. I'm thinking about just going on a walk and not coming back until I take at least 50 photos.

Quit thinking 'object' or 'place', but think in the more abstract concepts like
'color' or 'texture' or 'shape' or 'translucent' or 'reflective' or 'proportion' or 'composition' or even material property like 'glass' or 'chrome' Pick one and work on it and see how many ways in which you can depict the one concept...you will find them in many every day items you might otherwise not consider to be photogenic at all!

[tiktaalik]

Take a workshop.

It worked wonders for me.

(New equipment also works well for me too ;) )

[mblanton]

I want pizza.

[jacobsen1]

find contests/assignments on a forum.

[BillMarks]

I need to get the creative side of me back in shape. I'm just wondering what others do to get their creative side back. I'm thinking about just going on a walk and not coming back until I take at least 50 photos.

One thing you might want to try is not putting pressure on yourself to make any photos. Go for a walk without your camera. Experience your life and what's around you. Connect with your surroundings.

[photojournalista]

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=290248

[braduardo]

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=290248


I was waiting for Pete to pop up in here, but he didn't. I was just looking for that link the other day. ;)

[Big WIll]

Go to a sports event :) Its a buzz

[spcalan]

When I run out of ideas... I steal from POTN. HAHA

[Dragos Jianu]

When I run out of ideas... I steal from POTN. HAHA

Yea, me too! That's why i hate watermarks so much! :p

[photojournalista]

I was waiting for Pete to pop up in here, but he didn't. I was just looking for that link the other day. ;)

I was also waiting for Pete to come up with a new assignment. ;)

[PhotosGuy]

Just take a shot. Any shot. Then look for ways to improve it. take some more.
I'm thinking about just going on a walk and not coming back until I take at least 50 photos. A walk by the river. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=103744)

[breal101]

I have used this before, just go out to take record pictures, just the facts mam kind of stuff. Pretty soon creativity creeps in since the pressure to create is not primary to the task.

[RandyMN]

I've had this so many times and usually other people have me photograph an event or something that they need. When off to my own idea's I think of an exotic vacation or a sexy model but these never become reality.

I have a sexy wife that loves to have pictures taken but there is no rrom in the house to set up lighting...

So now I'm visting POTN where nothing is generating any inspiration as the talk seems not really along what I want for motivation.

They only thing left is just force yourself, (I mean myself) to go out and look for things that I see every day and find out what is really interesting about what I see. I'm still pushing myself off the couch to do this, but it will get done. I'll post shots when I finally move my ass off this couch and from behind the computer to create some sort of vision of something I think is beautiful and worth spending the time and effort to photograph.

The only way to get things done is just do them.