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

I'd buy two copies - one to read at home, and another to keep in the car whaen I can't find anything.

Man! that's so true! on that same Saturday I was stalking some birds (mind you, they were the lowly house sparrows ) yet if I move from my location, dozens will show up, even few steps away

YES!!!!

Ro1

PacAce wrote:
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.

Lazy's a girl?

Sounds to me like you had lots to shoot! I'm curious why you didn't think shooting an ICBM would go over well. Go over well with whom? (or is it who?)

I was at Ellsworth AFB a couple of years ago and got some shots of a Minute Man in a silo! Cool and creepy at the same time...

Yes.. we better make an 11 page long thread about it soon too or she'll get jealous...

Perhaps, you can put down the camera and just sit there. Write down what you see and how you feel around...a neat farm, busy workers, annoying insects, windy afternoon... These may be your photographic subjects. (Like PacAce said, I've never seen a truckload of sugar beets!)

If there's nothing arouse my interest (or I'm not in the mood), I will not take any photos. In the end, taking photo is a hobby, not a job to me.

Usually, what gives me block if I'm out and about is if the lighting is a little depressing and dull.

When I can't see the 'big picture' I go for the 'small' picture instead and start looking in hedgerows etc.

I recently turned out to shoot trains and got nothing worth keeping, so at the side of the track I rummaged around and got these macros.

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I tend to get more shots keeping the camera in the car and shooting something that inspires me on my travels. It's only a creative P & S but its ready in seconds.
I'm a newbie and saving for my first DSLR, but I think I will always keep my current camera in the car.

Another tactic I use before the batteries start leaking with old age is to keep a notepad in the car and if I can't get a shot there and then because of time constraints (I'm usually working if I'm driving) I write down potential shots so I can return when I have time. Theres one shot I've been wanting for months at the side of Kincardine Bridge in Scotland but every time I go over the bridge, the tide is in on the Firth of Forth...it's on my list.

I also sometimes sit at home and write down potential shoots, so I have enough on the list to plan a day out.

Photography has opened my eyes to things I didn't 'see' before...skies, geometric shapes, I even took a macro shot of a section of my keyboard when I was bored.

I also scour forums like this one for inspiration and often write down ideas when I see a composition that inspires me.

I try not to let equipment limitations hold me back. Just get the damned shot and keep saving

I am leary of photographing military equipment because I learned the hard way. Many years ago my brother-in-law and I got on to Grifiss AFB in NY state (brother-in-law was recently hired there as a contractor). We were driving around Perimiter Rd. and there were signs that said "No stopping or standing for next 5 miles". Well, my brother-in-law obviously didn't see those signs and when we saw B-52's being loaded with cruise missles, he stopped the car and decided to take pictures because "he thought it was a good idea at the time". Well, a squad of M-16 toting soldiers quickly approached and pointed their loaded weapons at us. Well, I freaked out and almost soiled myself. They simply took the film but made a solid point. From then on, whether posted or not, no pic taking of military stuff for me.

I sneaked into Cuba three years ago and stumbled on the place where Castro addresses the masses. There were thousands of chairs set up, and it struck me as a great photo subject. Here are two perspectives of the same thing:

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THats an interesting story and some very interesting photographs!

I've been to many places where I thought there was nothing to photograph. Usually that means I'm not seeing what's there, but looking for what I was expecting, or hoping, to see. I've found no better way to make myself see better than to try seeing differently--changing my expectations. Now with a change in expectation I figure I can make a good photograph within a few feet of anywhere I find myself.

This was made near where you were in North Dakota:

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Rich,

Yup, that is a picture of where I was except your picture was not the dead of winter. When I was there, there was a dusting of snow and the temperature was about 10 degrees F.

I've been listening to everyone and there has been some good feedback. Maybe simply expanding my imagination, seeing what I don't currently see and artistically making something of what I now see as nothing is what I have to do. Something to work on anyways.

Thanks.

Dan

maybe this way we can make a photographers block history for good with all this advice


so no one can say there wasn't anything to shoot!

I personally think that everything is photographable(<- is that even a word?) and interesting in its own way. It's the photographer that needs to reproduce what they are seeing.

We all have days and sometimes long periods where creative energy is low. It's the same as when someone asks you to write an essay for example on any subject you please. For whatever reason, you sit there and can't think of anything, you just draw blanks.

Pekka made a great suggestion in another thread about reading books that open the mind, creative works. I read quite a bit and have noticed that my creative energy tends to be at it's peak when I am reading something interesting. Right now I am reading Salman Rushdie's book "Satanic Verses", odd but very interesting. BTW, highly recommended, I see how it has its bestseller rating. Definitely a book that is extremely creative and full of ideas.

I think it is a matter of conditioning the mind to see something. Look at street photographers, they photograph the most unusual and usually very bland subjects, but it's the way they express their vision that makes that same bland subject so appealing.