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Home is photographic hell?

I can't believe that I'm the only one here that feels this way but in reading back through these posts I haven't seen anyone that's mentioned it. Sometimes the problem with shooting in "your own backyard" is not what you can, or can't see, but what is sitting on your shoulders whispering (or screaming) in your ears. The laundry that's piling up, the lawn that needs mowing, the dogs that REALLY need a bath, the bills that are sitting on your desk to remind you that you need to work, the spouse that's glaring at you while he/she works on on of the never ending supply of household chores or projects. It's the everyday demands that can sometimes suck the creative energy right out of you. I often have this problem when I just want to take a day, or even an afternoon, and shoot. It's also what can keep me from "caving" in the darkroom for the day. The older I get the better I get at not allowing this to happen but it still does from time to time. However, when I am out of town I am able to put all of that away and become one with my camera and surroundings, though it might take me a day to assimilate.
 
Tori8x10 said:
I...the problem with shooting in "your own backyard" is not what you can, or can't see, but what is sitting on your shoulders whispering (or screaming) in your ears.
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Think metaphoricaly. I can only speak for myself, but when I say backyard, I mean your town, neigborhood... the environment in which you live.
 
For myself, I love photographing within my own area. I believe that if someone went to a very beautiful place known for its scenery then it will take a number of trips to begin to adequately document what you have seen...not that nice photos can not be made from a single trip.

The time of the year, the weather, lighting upon the scene, the activities taking place are constantly changing. When you photograph from your own area then you have a wonderful opportunity to revisit and rephotograph things. You will, if you pay attention, develop the skill and the imagination to say to yourself, for example, "Boy that would be striking at night in the winter time" Or "My but I bet that frost in the fall on those benches , plants and statuary just after dawn the park would look terrific". Then all that is lacking is the energy and enthusiasm to go out and do those things. If you lack the energy to do things like that at home will being elsewhere give you the inspiration to actually do something?

For myself, I much prefer to photograph alone and being on vacation or traveling serves as an impediment to being able to concentrate on photographing.
 
I used to think there was a lot to the 'scenic fatique' issue until I took a workshop with Les McLean called Ways of Seeing.

How bloody wrong I was. I wished I did this course a long time ago.
 
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I can ignore all of that. Ask my wife!



Steve.
 
Bill, notice my quotation marks? When I talk about my own "backyard" I mean pretty much anywhere in San Diego County. It isn't that there isn't anything to see or shoot, or even that I'm not inspired, it's that I still feel the tug of all things at home that want or need my attention. If I'm out of town/State/Country, there isn't much I can do about any of the "stuff" so I don't worry about it. Although once, while visiting my sister in Georgia, hubby called me to ask me where our son's boots were (LOL, the men that are reading this probably won't understand why that sentence is so absurd... and I'll probably get flamed for saying that).
 
Well,

I have been giving this some thought and at the same time was looking through Dorothea Lange's "American Photographs"

Subconsciously I must have a thing for "Old".

I think if I was transported to anywhere in the world in 1930 I would find a lot to photograph. I just don't like new houses, modern cloths and shiny new cars.

As so much in my area is new, freshly painted, renovated ... it just does not turn my wheel.

The village I live in is 900 years old. many of the houses are 300 or 400 years old. When you look at them they could have been build yesterday. Much value is placed on "doing things up".

I know, I know... photograph it today and in 50 years time the pictures would show "old"... but that does not help me here and now.

So much of Germany was rebuilt after the war and Germans place a lot of importance in keeping up with the neighbors as far as houses and new cars go.

It is a question of personal taste. There is no right or wrong in what we find aesthetically pleasing. I prefer old and dusty with a touch of the past.

Sure, there are old parts of Germany that are still "old"... but in front of the old building you will probably find a shiny new Mercedes and someone in "hip" clothing. The same old building with a horse and carriage would be so much better IMHO.

Go to Cairo and old is old and will still be in 10 years.

My thought for the morning.

I discovered an old railway bridge yesterday... will go there this afternoon to take some photos.... at last something old
 
I've lived in the States just over half my life and in eight other countries the other half -- lots of variety, in other words. But I still find fascinating stuff to photograph in and around the farm where I grew up, in small towns across the American South where I've always lived, and in every exotic locale I visit or where I live. I think what it comes down to is being always curious about the world around you and always trying to look at the world with fresh eyes. It's also useful, I think, to look at the work of a wide range of photographers to see how they see in different places. If I ever got bored with Germany (and after two years in Hamburg I never did!), I would look at August Sander's work and try to see what he saw in his native land. In the American Midwest, I look at Wright Morris's work to see how farm life could keep him fascinated with all the visual possibilities found on a common, working farm. In EVERY region of the world, photographers and painters have been there and done that, so by looking at their world through their eyes, we can learn to see anew and see the world through fresh eyes.

Yes, I can certainly understand how being in the same area could become boring, but I think anyone can train themselves to keep their eyes fresh and curious so they are always seeing new and interesting compositions even in the "same old boring subject matter." Even my students in Egypt used to complain that there was nothing to photograph!! Then I showed them Paul Strand's book on Egypt and a whole new world opened up to them.
 


The inability of a husband to find a child's socks, boots, mittens, whatever... is a universal. Isn't it? (Ducks from the flames... )

And I let all that stuff pile up. Granted... the house is a mess, but if it weren't I wouldn't have the pictures I've made. Some time ago, I saw an interview with JK Rowling about when she first started writing the Harry Potter books. She was a single mom, and would go to a local cafe, and the interviewer asked how did she get her house work done while writing the book. She simply said... I didn't!!

Priorities.
 
Growing up, I lived in California (USA Left Coast) and never grew tired of what was in the desert or mountains with respect to photography. I never ran out of things to shoot.

Now (still in the USA, I think) I live in Oklahoma. Relatively flat land, mostly torn up by mining and oil operations or housing construction. Here, it's like somebody is thinking "This is a pretty place - let's dig it up".
 
Tori8x10 said:
Bill, notice my quotation marks? When I talk about my own "backyard" I mean pretty much anywhere in San Diego County.
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I feel for you there Tori. I too am under the same kinds of demands, get the same kind of calls, etc. The roles are reversed in my house as I am "mom" and I work at home. I have a 4 and a half year old boy running underfoot almost constantly with all the demands that any woman has in that role. Shuttling to and from pre-school, soccer, laundry, etc. Where there is a will, there is a way.
SuzanneR said:
The inability of a husband to find a child's socks, boots, mittens, whatever... is a universal. Isn't it?
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Tori8x10 said:
(LOL, the men that are reading this probably won't understand why that sentence is so absurd... and I'll probably get flamed for saying that).
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My wife can be worse than any man when it comes to these things! I've actually received a call while working in Iceland asking why the TV wouldn't work! It doesn't keep me from my work because it is something that has to be done. It's just the way it is and it has to be dealt with. It can be done.

Good luck!
 
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pesphoto said:
I literally shot some film in my back yard yesterday after the rain came.
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I do that a lot, too. Well, I have a garden that attracts birds and insects, so I literally never tire of taking photos there. Almost all of my best bird shots are done there or in the field beyond, simply because I know the animals and can predict their behaviour, and it's easy to get out there for an hour after work or so.

Antje
 

Housework is overrated anyway. My mom visited last week, and this week she made an appointment with a local company doing window cleaning for us. Or our house, rather. Now she's welcome to visit more often! They'll come tomorrow and wash the windows. Wonderful. I plan on measuring the EV before and after. Ha.

Antje
 
I live in a forest, with a big lake nearby. I'm getting very tired of tree, lake, mountain and "vista" pictures. I found an old logging road a couple of weeks ago that ended up with a great view of the lake and mountains. I dragged my 4x5 up there, took a lot of pictures but in the end they were the same old pictures I take with the 35mm - more mountains, lake, trees.
I'm going to make an effort to think small. Leaves, bark, puddles, smaller plants and the lake edge. Starting about now there will be a recurring background of white in most of these pictures.
The house exchange sounds like a good idea in any case. Anyone want to look after 4 dogs for a while? You would have to want snow and know or learn how to run a tractor (to plough the very long driveway).
 
I live in Berlin, and I am bored out of my mind. But there is help! I'm in the suburbs, and whenever I go into the city, I find loads of stuff to take pictures of. This kinda thing might not work if you live in the midwest, or in Sweden or whereever, but it usually boils down to exploring your own location further.
 
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