Motivation, where have you gone?

BrianShaw said:
Ha... good idea, but some folks don't recognize "sizzle" even if they burn their fingers on it!
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Great point! It happens so often where I'll do something cool and a little daring and the "Powers that be" just cant see it. So after a while you lose the push to keep trying.
 
pesphoto said:
Frank, you are right. And I try to do that once in a while. And Im even called upon once in a while to "step it up" and create something different, and that does help. But you know what?
Im just not so passionate about it as I used to be. I'd rather be out wandering with my camera than being art directed to death every day.
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Unfortunately the "day rate" for that type of work is VERY low. :)
 
It sounds like maybe what you really need to do is start a new job search?
 
Do the creative sizzle photos at work for yourself, put them in a portfolio, then go looking for a company that values that kind of work.
 
copake_ham said:
It sounds like maybe what you really need to do is start a new job search?
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The thought has crossed my mind many times. But its sort of like this is what i do and I do a good job at it and make a decent living. I like taking pictures and dont know what else I would WANT to do for a living. Maybe its the corporate environment that gets be down. When I can balance it with my personal work it eases the 9-5 boredom.
 
BrianShaw said:
Lower, Frank, lower... think "limbo-low"! But those roving hippie-photographers sure look relaxed.
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Got that right. If I could do it over again knowing what I know now.......
.....I could live on rice and beans and work a night job to have my days free to shoot what i want. Circumstances at this point are such it could never happen......Dont get me wrong I have a lot in my life now I wouldnt trade for anything, but if i went back in time 20 years........
 
pesphoto said:
Dont get me wrong I have a lot in my life now I wouldnt trade for anything, but if i went back in time 20 years........
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Me too... but I only have to go back one decade! Now, wife (with needs), kids (with needs), aging parents (with needs), aging mother-in-law (with needs), private schools (with needs), chuch (with needs)... I'll bet you know what I mean. Like you, no complaints, none at all ... just not many options other than "the grind"!!
 
Take the camera every day, but use your eyes even so and tell yourself that Van Gogh did not paint a picture every day. He enjoyed meeting mates, drinking and hanging out sometimes.
 
I think we've all been there. It's not unusual to hit a dead zone and the posts here have had some great suggestions. Here are some things that (sometimes) work for me when I go totally flat.

1. Switch formats. Shoot MF for awhile instead of 35mm. Or Minox. Or LF.

2. Switch from B&W to Col. Try something new, like Velvia.

3. Shoot some Kodak HIE infrared.

4. Shoot with a Holga.

5. Shoot with a small, carryaround digicam (you needn't even save any of the images, but it allows you to experiment like crazy, which can stir up the creative juices)

6. Document your home town. Nothing fancy, just pictures of streets, buildings (even gas stations and groceries), street lights, landmarks. In 10-15 years it's astonishing how interesting these shots become when things have changed.

Sometimes I don't even try to get out of my rut. I switch to gardening or cooking or reading and just wait until the photo urge returns.

Gene
 
I recently found myself in a real rut, lacking the motivation to shoot. I was able to get past it by giving myself a time limit for shooting an area of my city. I went out walking with my camera and gave myself one hour to shoot a roll of film. The results were amazing. None of the photographs were spectacular but the range of subjects that I captured on one roll surprised me. Somehow, the time pressure forced me out of my usual routines and I found myself trying shots that I never would have tried before. I came away from the exercise with new ideas and newfound enthusiasm for shooting. Hey, it might not work for everyone but it definitely worked for me. I hope you find something that works as well for you. Good luck.
 
I'm still working on getting the money together to buy a scanner. When that day comes, I will finally dip my toes into the digital world (at least far enough to be able to upload photographs). Until then, however, I lack any and all digital capabilities!
 
Wow, I didn't realize they came that cheaply. To be honest, I have not really done much research into scanners. I just assumed that a decent photo-quality scanner would be much more expensive. Are most people out there using scanners in this price range to convert photographs to digital?
 
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