TIPS: How to break our from a dry spell?

pemmett

Dave - thank you for the best reason I have for explaining my "mind wandering" - I can now say that I am developing my creative cognitive skills :-)

Thank you for your kind words and encouragement also - I'm actually stating to believe that I may have some small amount of skill and talent in my photography after all :-)

One of the things that I often find about my work is that I do not like it immediately after shooting it, but very often when I come back a few weeks or months later, I really enjoy looking at what I've done.

I wonder if this is the same for others?

Cheers/Peter

dlscott56 wrote:

Peter, this is a fantastic thread you've started here. I don't know you but have looked through some of your stuff. You're a very talented photographer.

I find it interesting that people on such varying levels of skill can share common problems like this. You, an obviously skilled and talented photographer, and me, the obvious amateur.

A friend and I were recently having this same discussion and he sent me an article on a somewhat related subject. They quote a cognitive neuroscientist from the University of Columbia as stating that the "mind wandering is a much more active state than ever imagined, much more active than during reasoning with complex problems". It was part of a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences earlier this year.

I think this would strongly support the idea that we all need to put time aside for goofing off, having fun, and letting our minds wander a little.

And, just so you know, I'm ALL for goofing off and daydreaming!

pemmett

Jenn, I look forward to my visit in November. Although it is a business trip I'll be bringing my camera for fun :-) Hope we can meet up. Cheers/Peter

michswiss wrote:

Peter, all I can say is I'm glad you've gone back to basics. What you've just described is PhD stuff to me! :ivar Now back to giving me some lessons in photography when you visit Shanghai...

Keep it simple and fun, Babe.

divamum

pemmett wrote:

One of the things that I often find about my work is that I do not like it immediately after shooting it, but very often when I come back a few weeks or months later, I really enjoy looking at what I've done.

I wonder if this is the same for others?

Cheers/Peter

Are you sure y ou're not a singer travelling icognito as a photographer?

Seriously, this is EXACTLY what it's like listening back to a recording of a performance - usually I'm pleasantly surprised by what I hear RIGHT afterwards (equivalent of chimping and being excited), then a few hours later all I can hear are the mistakes (=when you start processing), and then a few weeks/months/years later... "Actually, that wasn't so bad after all!"

True artistic sensibility makes us DRIVE ourselves, constantly seeking to achieve more and more and more - that's a good thing, as long as we don't get that pesky devil "perfectionism" get in our way. Perfection is the enemy of excellence.

So glad you're feeling better about things. And again, I have to say how wonderful this thread is for the rest of us - you've really touched and helped a LOT of us by posting it!!

cmurph

Hi Peter,

I can sympathize with being in a funk it can be almost unbearable at times. One thing you may want to consider if you have not done so already is to do some house cleaning...getting the house in order made me think of something that has often help lead me back and that is to go through your old shots do some house cleaning and get rid of the stuff that you have been holding on to and will never really use. Cleaning up can offer some perspective on where you have been and how far you have come. Clearing out some files is almost like letting go but it also allows you to see the bigger picture and possibly along the way you will remember some of the shots that got away and they may trigger you to either re-shoot some, try to get some new ones from different views or remember some of the shots you always wanted to do but didn't have the time.

hang in there
cmurph

pemmett

Thanks - i'd thought about this but the 100,000+ plus images seems a daunting task which always get's put to one side. Though I do believe that you move a mountain one image at a time - so maybe I'll do something about it after all :-)

Cheers/Peter

cmurph wrote:

Hi Peter,

I can sympathize with being in a funk it can be almost unbearable at times. One thing you may want to consider if you have not done so already is to do some house cleaning...getting the house in order made me think of something that has often help lead me back and that is to go through your old shots do some house cleaning and get rid of the stuff that you have been holding on to and will never really use. Cleaning up can offer some perspective on where you have been and how far you have come. Clearing out some files is almost like letting go but it also allows you to see the bigger picture and possibly along the way you will remember some of the shots that got away and they may trigger you to either re-shoot some, try to get some new ones from different views or remember some of the shots you always wanted to do but didn't have the time.

hang in there
cmurph