Finding the spark

blood · Dec 19, 2014

Good evening everyone

As an amateur tog whose missus is a pro tog, I'm often found arranging or inspiring sets for someone else, giving encouragement and ideas for her portraiture business. This works all well and good for her and for work in the studio, but now I want to begin my own journey, out of the four walls and away from the shadow.

problem being, now I have the big wide world to shoot and I'm drawing a blank... Where and how do you find the thread, the little teaser of an idea? A vision?

Bob Carnie · Dec 19, 2014

what is a tog??

blood · Dec 19, 2014

Sorry, it's a term used over here for a pho'tog'rapher.

Photo Engineer · Dec 19, 2014

If you inspire sets for others you must get that inspiration from somewhere. Your inspiration for all of this comes from the same well of inspiration, none other.

PE

blood · Dec 19, 2014

I've thought that but it's like stage fright. I can play all day with the dslr the missus has, but now I've got a 35mm, it's all a blank.
I'm trying to go with the see what pops up mentality, the best type of camera is the one you have with you mindset, but so far, and it's been 3weeks, I've yet to finish a reel

Photo Engineer · Dec 19, 2014

Go to one of the sets you helped with and see if you can take a few photos there. After all, if the set you helped with came from an inspiration, then there should be some sort of lingering desire to preserve it in your own way. This might jump start you.

PE

snapguy · Dec 19, 2014

Whut

What makes your blood run hot or cold? Homeless people, nekked wimmin, great architecture, faces in the crowd, exotic locations, dugout canoes, high tech gizmos, rural scenes, urban sprawl, high fashion? Whatever it is, start there. And start small. A safari to Timbuctu isn't necessary, a trip to the zoo will be okay. A Rolleiflex would be good. Great images and only a dozen shots before you have to reload. You might find you actually think before snapping the shutter. A notion gone out of style, I know.

blood · Dec 19, 2014

That's something for sure....
simple solution I guess is to hijack the next shoot the missus has lol, though newborns aren't my thing. For a guy with four boys, I sure don't like kids haha

blood · Dec 19, 2014

Snapguy, that's exactly why I have put the digi down. To easy and instant gratification.

I want the challenge and be forced to slow down, to see it before I snap it.
The homeless idea is one I have, to spend a day, at their level, always looking up, to see those faces in the crowd.

Conflict is something I want to record to, but with a family to keep and having seen the real side with my own eyes, it would be selfish of me to return to troubled lands again

blood · Dec 19, 2014

And I would LOVE a rolleicord! It's gonna be my Xmas treat to me, after the neg developing kit comes

TheFlyingCamera · Dec 19, 2014

Get the Rollei, without doubt. Shooting with only one possible lens, through the waist level finder will make you experience the process of photographing in an entirely new way.

pbromaghin · Dec 19, 2014

Start on your porch, front or back. See something to shoot there. Walk 10 feet and find something else. Next time walk around the neighborhood. There is ALWAYS something interesting.

Christopher Walrath · Dec 19, 2014

This above all to thine own self be true.

Be true to your vision. However, in order to be true to that vision you need to recognize it for what it is. Do you see in colors or differences in luminance? Do you see lines and shapes or are you attracted to vibrant hues? People, places, things, ideas? Find yourself and you will have found your motivation. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

And hi, all.

Arklatexian · Dec 20, 2014

pbromaghin said:
Start on your porch, front or back. See something to shoot there. Walk 10 feet and find something else. Next time walk around the neighborhood. There is ALWAYS something interesting.

Good advice. I am a backyard person myself. Walking and looking, I usually find something that interests me. The way light shines on the leaves of a vine, closeups of moss, etc. Mostly nature type subjects but paint peeling off of old wood can get the juices flowing also. Most of all, let your imagination run wild......Regards

blansky · Dec 20, 2014

I find it kind of odd that you want to be a photographer but have no idea or burning desire about what to shoot. I guess you could follow some of the advice here and go shoot a bunch of stuff and see what moves you but that seems sort of strange.

Are you sure you want to be a photographer at all? Or are you glamorizing the wish to be seen with a camera and be like your wife.

My advise, I guess, is go to a library or gain access to dozens of photographers work and see what interests you. Then try and head out in that direction.

The question seems like "what kind of car should I buy?"

Joe VanCleave · Dec 20, 2014

What kind of photographs do you truly enjoy? What genre? Who are your favorite photographers? Let that be a starting point. Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, and all that.

~Joe

blansky · Dec 20, 2014

No offense but this thread reminds me of people I met in LA who decided they wanted to be actors.

They didn't train to be an actor. They never acted in plays or community theater. They never took acting classes. They moved to LA because someone in their home town told them they were pretty/handsome and should be an actor.

If you asked them why they liked acting they had no answer.

It turns out they didn't really want to be an actor. They wanted to be rich and famous. OR so they thought.

IF you don't know why you want to do something, you need to sit down and think about it.

Because maybe it's not what you really want to do at all.

David Brown · Dec 20, 2014

blansky said:
I find it kind of odd that you want to be a photographer but have no idea ... about what to shoot.

So do I. :confused:

Vaughn · Dec 20, 2014

I have three boys (all going away next Fall to uni) and they have become part (not all) of my photography. Your missus might have OD'ed them as being subjects, but your boys also could become part of your photographic work. Or not. Depends a lot on your family dynamics.

I picked up my first camera (Rolleiflex) long before I knew what I wanted to photograph with it, I do not find that odd at all. I photographed what was around me -- I just happened to be working at Grand Canyon National Park, pumping petrol on the rim and they had a free employee darkroom. Actually, I used the camera for a couple years before I had access to a darkroom -- not many rolls, but I took it backpacking, to the beach, and such and slowly learned to see with a camera. Still have those square color prints from the mid-70's in old falling apart albums.

I would not worry about what to photograph -- just photograph. Got to have your camera with you all the time, though! Review your photos regularily -- see what type of images please you the most. But don't stop trying new types of images!

For fun, I have attached: one of my first images (w/shadow -- neither film nor print processed by me), my first print I processed (RC paper...displayed behind glass for 30+ years), and a more recent one of my boys (11x14 neg -- platinum print). And just added another one of the boys many years ago!

RalphLambrecht · Dec 20, 2014

pbromaghin said:
Start on your porch, front or back. See something to shoot there. Walk 10 feet and find something else. Next time walk around the neighborhood. There is ALWAYS something interesting.

...or stop searching for a subject and create a subject on your own,try studio or table -top photography

blood · Dec 21, 2014

Some really encouraging advice and some scalding too, but I'm a glass half full kinda guy.
As a kid I wanted to be a combat journalist/photographer. I ended up being in the forces and serving abroad. Whoops.
i have been learning as a second shooter for the missus at weddings and events, also in the studio. Going back to basics and going solo is the fun part, and that as much as the images is what I want to have. Exploratory fun. Picked up some more films today and the P30 is gonna be stuck to me for the whole of the festive hols.

In response to Blanksy, my answer would be I don't want to be a photographer. I just want to know how and what makes a great image, and the reasons for it. Then I want to make those pleasing images.

Genres that I most enjoy, street and guerrilla, contrast portraiture, stormy landscape in mountainous and remote terrains, essay and documentary. Lots of them, but why not...

Thanks for sharing the images Vaughn, they look great. That tree root is something else with your boys hidden away in there.

Black Dog · Dec 21, 2014

Looking at as many different works as possible by as many different photographers and artists as possible really helps to broaden your visual horizons IME. If you can see the originals so much the better, but building up a good library is definitely helpful. Books such as On Being A Photographer by Bill Jay and David Hurn and Beauty In Photography by Robert Adams have also been really helpful in my own photographic journey.

blansky · Dec 21, 2014

blood said:
Some really encouraging advice and some scalding too, but I'm a glass half full kinda guy.
As a kid I wanted to be a combat journalist/photographer. I ended up being in the forces and serving abroad. Whoops.
i have been learning as a second shooter for the missus at weddings and events, also in the studio. Going back to basics and going solo is the fun part, and that as much as the images is what I want to have. Exploratory fun. Picked up some more films today and the P30 is gonna be stuck to me for the whole of the festive hols.

In response to Blanksy, my answer would be I don't want to be a photographer. I just want to know how and what makes a great image, and the reasons for it. Then I want to make those pleasing images.

Genres that I most enjoy, street and guerrilla, contrast portraiture, stormy landscape in mountainous and remote terrains, essay and documentary. Lots of them, but why not...

Thanks for sharing the images Vaughn, they look great. That tree root is something else with your boys hidden away in there.

I think your thinking may still be far too scattered.

I believe when we wish to accomplish something, we need to take if from the mental world to the physical world. (since the physical world is where the accomplishment usually takes place.)

If we don't do that we just become dreamers.

So I write them down. I define the plan.

I make lists. I write them on a piece of paper. Then I begin to attack them one by one. I concentrate on one until I've achieved something then perhaps move on to number two. And so on.

This creates a focused quantitative response and helps to track progress.

So I guess in your case, I'd list the styles or achievements I wish to accomplish. Then one by one research people who do that style. What I like about what they do. And then start the journey.

Along the line I think you will find your real passion, and that will then define your direction.

Black Dog · Dec 21, 2014

I've found doing the APUG postcard exchange is great because you have that commitment then to get out there and do some new work.

scheimfluger_77 · Dec 21, 2014

blansky said:
I think your thinking may still be far too scattered.

I believe when we wish to accomplish something, we need to take if from the mental world to the physical world. (since the physical world is where the accomplishment usually takes place.)

If we don't do that we just become dreamers.

So I write them down. I define the plan.

I make lists. I write them on a piece of paper. Then I begin to attack them one by one. I concentrate on one until I've achieved something then perhaps move on to number two. And so on.

This creates a focused quantitative response and helps to track progress.

So I guess in your case, I'd list the styles or achievements I wish to accomplish. Then one by one research people who do that style. What I like about what they do. And then start the journey.

Along the line I think you will find your real passion, and that will then define your direction.

Blansky I couldn't agree more. Blood, your comment about just learning what makes a good image and then just going out and making them misses the mark. It doesn't work that way! You have to go out and shoot! Study up on the genre's you like... Then go out and shoot! You will fall flat, a lot! But that's the way inspiration works, I fight the dreaming thing all the time. Unless of course you are a gifted prodigy and do wonderful things right from the start seemingly with no effort. But that's another thread in this forum.

Finding the spark

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