I'm angry and need to ventilate..

I'll offer you a trading spaces scenario.... you come live in my house in nowheresville VA for a month, my wife, kid and I will go live in your house in Sweden...

Someone recommended a book to me titled Experiencing Architecture by Steen Rasmussen. The book identifies architecture as structure and space, function and beauty, etc. The point is it comes down to your intent, perspective and context. You can look at the same scene from many different views ( angles, time of day lighting, weather, exposure , magnification, etc. Etc.). each variable change may convey something new. So I would say, don't give up hope, or move to NYC just yet. Try to explore all you can with what you already have. It may be more than you realize .

PHughes wrote in post #15226029
One day I felt like you do, I had been doing photography for over 20 years and hadn't been shooting for a while. I didn't feel inspired. I decided I needed to force myself to shoot. I went into my backyard and made myself shoot. Now I will say that my backyard is against the woods so it is a decent place, it is just so familiar I wouldn't think to shoot there much. I came up with some images I truly love and have printed.

You may wish to change your viewpoint. Maybe shoot closer. Zero in on doorways, windows, doorknobs, get close, anything to alter what you are doing. Shoot reflections of people in windows. Shoot from a different perspective.

I know it is tough when things start to feel old and stale, but keep at it and you will figure something out. You may just need to take some time out for a while.

Good luck, and don't feel bad, we all get like that sometimes.

Here are two from behind my house from the day I mentioned.

Your post beat me by about 2 minutes. Great shots!

90c4 wrote in post #15226037
Go out and shoot and stop whining. It doesn't matter how big your city is since you're not photographing more than a few people in any given shot anyway. Capture Sweden and feel lucky because the rest of us don't have that luxury.

Capture what?
I've been capturing for a year... i've taken more than 60.000 images in a year. Thats more than 150 images per day.

Sounds like the simplest solution is for you to leave your small town and move to NYC (if you can afford it).

From a much smaller place in Sweden.
https://picasaweb.goog​le.com …639999/VLkommen​TillTraryd

I checked out your tumblr and followed. Great stuff. I can understand your frustration. You could always move to a bigger city at some point. But for now maybe you can take an extended vacation to some great street photography location. Maybe go with some other photographers.

My problem is time. I'm working two jobs and trying to make things work with a 5 month old, two year old, and my lovely stay at home wife. I have Dallas/Fort Worth nearby and no time to go take pictures. But, I do find some time to go out on photo walks when I can.

va_rider wrote in post #15226052
I'll offer you a trading spaces scenario.... you come live in my house in nowheresville VA for a month, my wife, kid and I will go live in your house in Sweden...

haha!
But seriously... thats a great idea.. you see shows and movies about people swapping houses/families for a week or two... imagine if two photographers traded places over the course of two weeks. Entirely new places to photography..

Only problem is... alot of creepy people out there.

apersson850 wrote in post #15226071
From a much smaller place in Sweden.
https://picasaweb.goog​le.com …639999/VLkommen​TillTraryd

Ja, och visst saknar du miljöombytet? Det hade varit fint att bo i exempelvis Stockholm, när det kommer till fotografering.. eller hur?

For you english people*

Yea, but you do miss the change in scenery? It would have been nice to live in Stockholm when it comes to scenery and photography.. right?

ThreeGuysPhoto wrote in post #15226075
I checked out your tumblr and followed. Great stuff. I can understand your frustration. You could always move to a bigger city at some point. But for now maybe you can take an extended vacation to some great street photography location. Maybe go with some other photographers.

My problem is time. I'm working two jobs and trying to make things work with a 5 month old, two year old, and my lovely stay at home wife. I have Dallas/Fort Worth nearby and no time to go take pictures. But, I do find some time to go out on photo walks when I can.

I feel you man, getting time off for yourself isent easy with a family.. but fortunally i can do that.
My wife is in London this weekend.. i envy her alot (she is there shopping), would be a great place for some photography.. i guess i can calm my hunger for scenery if i travelled somewhere for a week.
It's just getting vacation from work, the money, travelling alone or take the whole family and so on.


edit*
Wayne.. great photos, like the matte in this one:

bent toe wrote in post #15226068
Capture what?
I've been capturing for a year... i've taken more than 60.000 images in a year. Thats more than 150 images per day.

This is a tough one and I'm not quite sure what to say. However, I will say that you are looking at this the wrong way.

Photography and any sort of creative art for the person who is truly dedicated to it is a journey. Yeah, sounds cliche but it is true. You develop over time. You experiment. You push the boundaries. You try new things. But having done this for ONLY one year ......come on now . I'm not trying to be harsh or anything, but that's really a short period of time in which to get totally frustrated.

I've been doing this for a very long time, and I have produced an awful lot of crap and mundane stuff and so-so snapshots over those years. I have also received museum awards and been granted solo exhibitions.

It's not about quantity. It's about quality, and how you look at the world, differently than other people. I'll do perhaps 150+ images/day, but it is usually some sort of assignment or paid gig. It sounds like you're just machine-gunning with not a whole lot of thought to subject or composition? I realize that is just speculation on my part, but I'm trying to get a handle on your issues here. - Stu

bent toe wrote in post #15226083
haha!
But seriously... thats a great idea.. you see shows and movies about people swapping houses/families for a week or two... imagine if two photographers traded places over the course of two weeks. Entirely new places to photography..

Only problem is... alot of creepy people out there.

Yeah... I think we just get bored with our surrounding after a while... I had a buddy come down and visit for an evening from PA.. I was trying to find somewhere fun to go shooting with him, and was having trouble thinking of a place... in a town where we have 2 old abandoned asylums, 4-5 huge graveyards, a train station, a historic downtown, a Shakespeare theater that sometimes performs on the street, plenty of active farms, and abandoned train tunnels and whatnot... There are ALL KINDS of things to shoot around here... but I'm bored with it.

I told my buddy from PA that there was nothing to shoot around here, he looked at me like I was brain damaged.

bent toe wrote in post #15226091
Yea, but you do miss the change in scenery? It would have been nice to live in Stockholm when it comes to scenery and photography.. right?

Would it? I'm probably a bit more pragmatic than that. Take photos where you are, kind of. Every place is unique anyway.

I took a look at your website and you have some interesting shots there. I don't believe that you have exhausted the possibilities in your area in one year. I grew up in a small town in Indiana and found plenty to shoot: sports, wildlife, scenery, lakes, graveyards, etc.

I now live in Chicago, but people like me pay thousands of dollars to visit Europe to see picturesque towns like the one you have in this photo: http://bentphotos.se/p​ost/34052645482

Look at this guy's street shots: http://newsblogs.chica​gotribune.com/shooting​-from-the-hip/ (You may have to scroll down to see them, but most of his posts are street photography.) Yes he is in Chicago, but he could be anywhere, he just has a great eye for composition.

sapearl wrote in post #15226101
This is a tough one and I'm not quite sure what to say. However, I will say that you are looking at this the wrong way.

Photography and any sort of creative art for the person who is truly dedicated to it is a journey. Yeah, sounds cliche but it is true. You develop over time. You experiment. You push the boundaries. You try new things. But having done this for ONLY one year ......come on now . I'm not trying to be harsh or anything, but that's really a short period of time in which to get totally frustrated.

I've been doing this for a very long time, and I have produced an awful lot of crap and mundane stuff and so-so snapshots over those years. I have also received museum awards and been granted solo exhibitions.

It's not about quantity. It's about quality, and how you look at the world, differently than other people. I'll do perhaps 150+ images/day, but it is usually some sort of assignment or paid gig. It sounds like you're just machine-gunning with not a whole lot of thought to subject or composition? I realize that is just speculation on my part, but I'm trying to get a handle on your issues here. - Stu

You could be right, and it's not harsh at all.. feel free to look at my photos in my signature link.
My friends (who are long time photographers say that i'm VERY intense).
I try not to machine-gun with my 60D.. i try to take good and well thought photos of stuff that i really belive would make a nice photography.
I can't say more than that.. for me.. my photos are no more than ok... i blame the loss in scenery.