Anyone been somewhere where there is nothing to take pictures of?

I just spent a week in North Dakota, up near the Canadian, North Dakota, Minnesota border visiting my in-laws (ouch right there!!). This is a little farming town and I brought my camera to try to get some ideas of something nice to shoot outside. THERE WAS NOTHING!!!!!

Maybe my imagination is limited but all I saw was desolation and a ton of sugar beet trucks (yeah, welcome to North Dakota). I did see what I thought was sections of an ICBM going down the interstate but that's a different story. Also, I didn't think taking pictures of an ICBM would go over too well.

Anyone else been somewhere where there was nothing? Let me know.

Dan

I don't think I've ever been somewhere where there's nothing to shoot, but I've definitely wandered around for an entire day and didn't SEE anything to shoot! I consider a good day one where I found maybe four to six scenes to shoot, expending a half dozen frames on each. But some days I'll wander around and have nothing but a sore shoulder to show for it.

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

DCB wrote:
I've definitely wandered around for an entire day and didn't SEE anything to shoot!

Yep done that........ And then seen someone elses pictures from that very same place and thought WOW !

N

Oh, man! You spent a whole week up in North Dokota, and in a farming town at that, and came back with nothing? How often do people (especially the city folks) get to see a picture of a truckload of sugar beets? And a picture of "Desolation" would look great in B&W or sepia toned.

Last saturday in the early afternone I drove around the outer area of where I live, with 20D loaded with the 100-400...what did I get? big fat "nothing!" and I drove for almost 3 hours!

If I've learned one thing, it is that driving around looing for a photo will usually yeild nowt. Not a sausage. Zip.

I know, I've done it - a lot.

You want good photos, get your legs working

that's what i call a photographers block!

on a good day a regular lamppost can make a nice subject and on a bad day you walk around with your gear to return home with some crappy shots because you had to shoot something

Photographers Block:

Symptoms:
a) Can't find anything to shoot.
b) Can't find anything I think will look good when I shoot it.

Fix:
a) Get out of the car
b) Fix a single lens to your camera
c) Just walk a random route
d) Anything that is marginally different from what you have seen before, shoot it.
e) Revisit that image a week later, it'll look better (maybe).

Other fixes:
a) Plan a project, e.g. photograph a bridge from different angles, different lenses
b) Get the maps out and plan a visit to a waterfall / coastline etc.
c) Visit a zoo / wildlife park / aquarium / etc.
d) If you usually shot street scenes, try shooting table top macros for a change.
e) If all else fails, put the camera away for a few weeks, I promise, it'll come back to you.

Cheers

Ian

I was at a funeral once.


Plenty to shoot but it just didn't seem proper.

Same here. On Thanksgiving morning of this year, one of my uncles died, and a few days later we buried him. I had brought my camera with me (I usually bring it if I'm driving anywhere, just in case an opportunity arises) and since he was in the Marines, he had a military funeral. I would have liked to have gotten some pictures of it, but with all the grieving family members around, it just didn't seem like the best thing to be doing.

iwatkins, great advice there. I don't like the idea of putting my camera away for a few WEEKS though

I could have sworn I lived in such a place, but then LazyPhotographer came down here and took some bird pictures that just blew me away---right in my own backyard (figuratively).

Art (and beauty) are truly in the eyes of the beholder. To a person with a good eye, these opportunities exist in abundance almost everywhere.

When it comes to birds & wildlife I have to agree strongly. But I think it depends on what you're looking for. I did a lot of looking in the last few months, "landscape" type of stuff, for things like barns & covered bridges & farm scenes & horses & great views & so on and on. Basically looking for landscape with the hand of man involved. That's just about always road work, and walking across private property is often not a good idea.

However, I didn't get much shooting done.

I also have to admit that a walk through a nice patch of woods *should* reveal a great number of shots. I'm just not that type of shooter myself. I can't "see" so easily. But I'm working on it.

That's my problem - I don't have that "good eye." I think I need to hang around Laz for a few weeks.

If I am driving my car along a deserted country road, and if I have my wildlife camera rig in my lap, then I can be certain that I will not see a damned thing to point it at.

On the other hand, if my rig is secured safely in the trunk of the car, then every fence post will have a hawk sitting on it with a sign around its neck that says "Photo -- Here".

---Bob Gross---

Hmmm. I see a BIG money making opportunity here for LazyPhotographer if she would consider writing a book explaining her secret of how she always ends up getting such nice bird pictures from out of her car window.