New Challenges

I haven't had nearly the free time to explore new photography ideas and concepts as I used to. And by extension I haven't had to practice anything new and different. So I am pretty much locked in to the 'same old same old.'

I feel motivated by a couple different things, they include but are not limited to:

• Seeing other work
• Travel and associated research
• Chatting with other photographers
• Passing by something and seeing in a different way
• Trying to relay everyday things differently

So my challenge recently is finding time to become motivated and finding time to shoot. I don't always feel motivated, or have the right conditions to do so. Most of my free time is after baby goes to sleep at night, which is limited.

One thing that I found interesting is try to duplicate something like this example. I see that and I want to be able to duplicate the effect. I should go back and watch the Strobist DVD se t to get new examples of things to think about. There are plenty of points of inspiration. I just need to get the resources in place to be ready to shoot that next great photo. 

While I find myself at a point that I am pretty happy with results, I also know I don't want to just stop at this level. (probably more like a plateau) I want to get better... some of that involves research, some of that involves inspiration... and maybe some of those limits are due to the gear I currently have. So now I need to figure out if it is my motivation, vision, or gear that is limiting me. Where do I find the time and inspiration to reach out?

I honestly don't know... but here is to finding out. Wish me luck.

Links

Here is a list of photo related links I have collected in the past week:

- Video: elaborate multi-camera rig elegantly captures giant redwood tree- Engadget; Impressive setup, and SIX Pocket Wizards in use.  The resulting image is damn impressive.

- Breathe Like a Sniper to Take Better Photos in Low Light- LifeHacker; 'Shooting' is a generic term in photography and guns. Stands to reason some of the same physics would apply to each.

- PhotoLapse Makes Time-Lapse Movie Creation a Snap- LifeHacker; I thought about applying this to my horde of U2 Chicago photos... however, it can't handle vertical vs horizontal display of images. Oh well.


- China celebrates 60 years- The Big Picture; I love this site... but the link mention is because my reaction to the images were, "I get it already, they have A LOT of people who can march in step... good grief."

- New SNL title sequence and segments shot using Canon EOS 7D, 5D Mark II- Engadget; Thats a HUGE win for Canon DSLR world. I am still not a fan of the video function on a DSLR, but to get that sort of result from a show like SNL- nicely done Canon! (yes, I am a Canon fan-boy)

One in ten, if I am lucky

Just the other day, someone saw my photos and said, "I really like your camera- it takes such good photos." At first I was miffed because they were bypassing all the work that goes in to a photo. What about complementing me and my hard work? Then I thought back to when I was just using a point and shoot. All my photos were 'ok' enough. As long as they were not blurry, they were pretty darn good. Don't mind the 57 other things that lead up to the photograph and the 52 things that had to happen after the photograph was taken. Point and shoot means, you are happy with what you go because it is automatic and everything is equal.

In this post, I am going to focus on the after part of the image taking- editing.

I equate photography to painting a wall- no one sees all the extra effort it takes to get everything done. They only see the end result- a nicely painted wall. Same with photography- no one sees all the work it took to get that one photo, they only see that one resulting photo.

Locating information

This is a biggie for me.

Photography is a never ending process of learning.

I took a beginners class in photography in college. Digital photography wasn't even out yet, well, in a consumer form at that time. So it was all film, dark room work, and developing your own prints. I was highly interested in the end result, but I hated all the work/time it took. Just hated it. It was costly in money too. But importantly, I learned some basics. I felt a little more intelligent when people talked images, or I saw a print that was interesting to me. But photography as a hobby was too far away because of the dollar and time cost to me.

So moving quickly forward to now- I get my photography information from various sources. I read books, magazines, talk to other photographers, look on websites, read photography forums, and investigate. I honestly feel like I will never come up with an original idea ever. Seriously. It is daunting!

The one marriage of tech and photography that has worked out nicely for me are RSS feeds. I currently have 28 different directly related to photography in my Bloglines account. (I don't count techie sites that post about photography) If you can wade through the muck and find some gems, it is more than worth it to use this form to stay on top of your reading. Think of it as getting mail to your computer and having it keep sorted which information you have read and which ones you haven't.

Some sites updates frequently like Patrick Smith. Some update as an event is coming like Photo Nights for Charity. I also subscribe to my own Flickr account to keep tabs on comments that pop in, and a group conversation in the area. So there is power in that as well.

I encourage each photography to figure out new ways of staying informed and challenged. Of course it doesn't help I am a geek at heart, and now digital photography hits my wheelhouse. If I can't feel challenged with just these three blogs, then I need to get paid for photography.

- Strobist
- Digital Photography School
- Zach Arias

Until then, I have another 25 other blogs or so keep informed with. And if those get boring, I can find a huge load more. Sites that cover just filters, or ones on DIY photography... I could keep going.