Get Stuck – Focusing Your Passion
I’m feeling particularly inspired as I’ve had such a beautiful day of shooting in the park and it reminded me of a tip I wanted to share with my fellow photographers – get stuck.
It’s so easy to sometimes feel lethargic or a lack of inspiration and drive. I have a few subjects on which I am ’stuck’. I look for these particular things everywhere I go and when I see them, I am immediately alive and excited to shoot.
One of those things is Converse shoes. High-tops to be exact.
I don’t know what it is about them but when I see them, I just can’t help myself no matter who is wearing them. I really feel challenged when photographing feet because you have to be very creative for photos of feet to tell a story or even say one little word to it’s viewer.
Going back to the subject from last week of photographing out in public (see my post “I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist“) I feel confident when I have a target and I’m not just strolling around snapping photos willy nilly.
When I’m focused in on something, my brain totally zooms in and blocks out the rest of the world and my fear goes away instantly. People might look at me a bit strangely, but most people would agree to you taking a photo of their (or their child’s) shoes.
Another thing I’m stuck on is playground obscenity.
Hmm…don’t think I can post those photos on this site. But basically, I search the playground for the most obscene school-boy marker pen graffiti and from there, my goal is to photograph the contrast between the innocence of the children playing and the harshness of the obscenities all around them.
I am always up for the challenge and will someday release a series of these photos which gives me a further goal to obtain.
Getting stuck on things has added such an exciting factor to my (already very exciting) life. I wonder each morning if I will have the chance to catch a Converse walking by and when it happens, I fall asleep with a little smile on my face at the end of the day.
You can get stuck on anything.
An object (water taps?), emotions (frustration, elation) or concepts (hard labour, relaxation).
Scan the frames of your everyday life for these things and when you find them, don’t hesitate to pull the trigger.




25 Responses to “Get Stuck – Focusing Your Passion” - Add Yours
September 11th, 2009 at 5:23 am
Here a couple of pictures I took some days ago of a pair of friend’s Converse shoes
http://www.flickr.com/photos/symo0/3855823585/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/symo0/3855823769/
September 11th, 2009 at 5:29 am
The playground obscenity idea is golden. I’ve never seen such a photography opportunity here in Daytona Beach, Florida.
I want to take a photo of raindrops falling with a lightning strike in the background, out of focus. I think I’d be better just Photoshopping it. The opportunity will never come up for real.
September 11th, 2009 at 5:35 am
I love this! I’m not sure I have one particular thing, but I do find myself taking photos in parking garages a lot. I love odd textures, and tend to go after those as well.
September 11th, 2009 at 6:26 am
Photographing children on a playground might get you in trouble. Not every parent will be thrilled when a stranger takes photos of their children.
September 11th, 2009 at 6:40 am
haha. i think you’ll like this than.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cavale/2935733713/in/set-72157604841776319/
it’s a shot my boyfriend and i found while we were going through old pictures in his mother’s house. it’s his older sister at a playground, and the shot was taken by their father. when we asked her about it she told us Charles was a chubby african-american boy whom everyone called gay. poor charles.
September 11th, 2009 at 10:36 am
I know personally I have developed a fetish for things that are yellow which you can sit on.
I call these things yellow chairs.
I have decided to form a slowly growing collection of them here http://yellowchairs.com/ .
September 11th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
I like this idea of getting “stuck” on things, it really does help when you have goals.
I have this new thing where I go through http://photography-now.net/international_photography_index/ of all the masters, and “mimic” their styles in one photo whether it’s digging up old ones and psing it, or taking new snapshots, it helps in creativity and learning.
September 11th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
So true. I really enjoy urban decay photography. Not everyone’s cup of tea and not the happiest subject – but something I’ve always found fascinating. And given the abandonment’s around Detroit, there is plenty of opportunity to indulge this subject.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lensartwork/sets/72157617220524223/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lensartwork/sets/72157622123056064/
September 11th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
My “get stuck” is with old broken down barns. I always have to take a picture! I loved this article. Love the sneakers!
September 11th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
I love this post! Me, I’m stuck on fire hydrants! I just love taking pictures of those things. My wife and kids think I’m nuts.
September 11th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Focusing on one’s passion is what keeps one going.
September 11th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
OK – so maybe not original, but animals. Especially their eyes. I believe they tell a great story. I saw a great exhibit (sorry I forget the photographer’s name) that include stunning images of animals after Katrinia . N.O. One of my favorite shots “passion” shots – http://picasaweb.google.com/mmcole2124/MiscellaneousFavorites#5260879190236889938
September 11th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Converse All Stars are a favorite target of mine also!
September 12th, 2009 at 1:39 am
I am stuck on trees at the moment.
September 12th, 2009 at 1:54 am
There’s a nicer name for “getting stuck”, is called “working projects”, that make you look like a fine art photographer. It’s hard to me to focus in a single thing, because I feel I’m just learning and should try many things and narrow later but maybe I should try three to five projects.
I was reading a Frank Horvat’s interview to Josef Koudelka and he says: “I always photograph the same people, the same situations, because I want to know the limits of those people, of those situations, and also my own limits. It’s not so important that I succeed in making a photo the first time, nor the fifth, nor the tenth….I had a specific circuit, where I found the same type of situation again and again.”
In the book “On Being A Photographer”, David Hurn shows a very practical process to select your photography “subject matters”. This is a very short summary: Carry a notebook with you and compile a list of things that really interests you, withour regar of photography. Then, cut down the list asking four questions:
1. Is it visual? (or could be expressed visually?)
2. Is it practical? (can you really do it?)
3. I know enough about it? (or could research?)
4. Is it interesting to others too?
I will try this process, thanks for rising the subject…
September 13th, 2009 at 11:01 am
I’m totally stuck on the theme, “Nature, Interrupted” and its opposite, “Nature, Interrupting.” I am always seeing possible subjects as I’m driving (which can be dangerous!) or just going anywhere….beautiful scenery with telephone poles and wires running through it, or a gorgeous sunset behind power plants….or, on the flip side, grass making a sidewalk break into crumbles, or vines climbing up and taking over the side of a building.
It’s everywhere, I love it! I’m TOTALLY stuck!
September 15th, 2009 at 12:24 am
I find myself snapping plants all the time. I don’t even really find them that challenging. I just snap, and the pics come out good all the time. Of course I have to give credit to Mother Nature (big shout out).
As of late, I’ve been snapping pictures of instruments.
September 18th, 2009 at 8:42 am
I’m BARNS TOO!!! BARNS, I cannot help it. I have tried to break free, but alas.
September 18th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Check out how funky these Converse shoes are:
- http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3448/3841544194_0c7bcb8bf6.jpg
September 18th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
I am also stuck on trees at the moment. Comparison of leaf colour makes for an interesting composition . Even when a tree has no leaves, it has some beauty about it. There is just something about a tree !!
September 19th, 2009 at 12:18 am
I like how you edit your photos. They look like lomo photos. Do you have some tips in how you edit? Thanks
September 19th, 2009 at 12:35 am
am always excited to shoot children in the park…then show them their images…much happier if I can have them printed and come back to their delight!!!
September 19th, 2009 at 4:03 am
I tend to really like structures that are in decay, falling down, sadly sometimes people are still living in them…maintenance of property is expensive when judged against buying food.
September 21st, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Barns. I really like to shot barns and windmills. I recently got on a water tower kick. I drove 250 miles one way and shot every water tower I came across. Now, what to do with them???
My DH and I just came home from a photography vacation where I photographed waterfalls and lighthouses in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Beautiful place if you have never been there. Tahquamenon Falls is the BEST!
September 23rd, 2009 at 8:10 am
converses are one of my favorite subjects to shoot. they just have a style about them that gives the picture a certain atmosphere. and it can be happy or sad. i love it!
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