I want to take photos!!! But of what??

[EmyB]

I am not one of these people that can come up with inspirational photos in my backyard. I really enjoy portrait and sort of observational street photography. I find I need to be somewhere special or at an event of some kind to have things to photograph.

I have had some great learning and playing sessions recently at a Royal Show/exhibition, a beach holiday with my family, and a weekend with my girlfriends.

But now it feels like I have nothing to photograph and I really need to scratch that itch!! I can't wait until Christmas!! It also makes it hard to do specific photography adventures/outings when I work and have a toddler!

What do you do when you feel this way??

Perhaps I should just take my camera to the local shopping centre or park and start snapping away! Would get in serious trouble methinks....

[Hill Country Hack]

You have a toddler. That should be enough as they are always up to something. Plus the added challenge of a moving target!

Take him/her for a long carraige ride and take the camera. You are bound to run into something. BTW, as a woman, you will not get the same looks as a guy with a camera at a playground.

[mshockley]

I've a few suggestions:
1. Participate in the weekly assignments posted here, it will force you to think outside the box and you will always have a "theme" that you are working towards.
2. Try to plan a "photography day' and just get in the car and go to a new or different location each time out. You will begin to see things to photograph that right now you just might not be noticing.
3. You could try a 365 project! This is quite an undertaking I think--I have never done it--but I would sure think that trying to come up with a creative image each day for one year would be a challenge for anyone.

Just a few things that popped into my head!

[MindyRaeL]

I know just how you feel! I have a toddler at home too. You would think it would be enough, but after a while, all the photos look the same. And I don't know about your little one, but mine is pretty tired of having the camera in his face.
I think Mshockley had some great ideas. I would also recommend checking out the How I took it thread here in the forum. There's some pretty cool ideas there, many that you can do at home while your little one is napping. I'd also recommend the Craft and Vision series of E-books. They're inexpensive and quick reads, and many of them are geared towards the creative side of photography. When I fall into that inspirational 'funk', I flip through one of those books, and it helps me get a new perspective on the things around me.

[SwissJon]

I have a subscription to a few photography magazines. There's usually some How To's or Try This in them that can keep you entertained and learning at the same time.

[mosgood]

Some great suggestions from the posters above. How about making a list of things that interest you? Somewhere in there should be some things that you can photograph.

[Zeke Menuar]

I'm a big fan or landscapes, vistas, waterfalls and lighthouses. There are a lot of those near me.

I make sure I have a camera everywhere I go. You'll never know what you'll find.

I shot this while waiting for my wife to get off work. Nothing fancy.
I thought the colors and the lines were interesting. Makes good computer wallpaper.
For those keeping score this is straight out of the camera save resizing to DPS rules.
Keep a camera within arms reach. There's always an interesting picture out there.

[metallion58]

When I'm stuck like this I simply...pick a word.
Any word will do, really.
If the word is red, get out there and shoot things that are red.
If the word is triangle, shoot triangular things.
You get the idea.
This will train your eyes to see things differently, with a new perspective. You should start to see things with new eyes in no time.

[PixSixSix]

I feel like this a lot, usually in the winter when its too cold to go out for very long and I've run out of inspiration for things to shoot inside my house.

Last year I stopped worrying about making "perfect" photos all the time and started experimenting with making pinhole cameras (I had a little darkroom set up underneath the basement stairs) You can even turn your digital camera into a pinhole - google it. I started shooting the same boring view across the street but with the lens off of my camera instead of on.

Sometimes, when I feel like people are thinking that I'm not crazy enough I'll press the shutter and throw my camera into the air or whirl it around hanging onto the strap and see what happens. Most of the time the image isn't a whole lot to look at but every once in a while I get lucky.

Another one of my favorites is to get a cheap filter and put some vaseline on your lens or pan the camera, see what I can create.

Blurry Album

Question: Can you see it?



If yes: Photograph it.

If no: Don't.


I love low hanging fruit questions like these.

~Eric