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The editing and image processing for my second book is almost at an end and it should be at the printer within the week (please) and it's time to think about photography again. One of the things I'm going to do is to make sure that I have more than one project in mind. There will be days when any given project isn't practical - wrong conditions, not enough time, lack of inspiration, subject not available, who knows. Further, any project that you involve yourself in intensively tends to come to an end at some point. Certainly that was the situation with Independent Machinery - after about 17 visits, I felt I had done what I could do. Doesn't mean that I might not check back with them a year later to see "what's up" but for all intents and purposes it has wound down. If you don't have some ideas or already a prolonged project on the go, then you could be in trouble.
For example, I'm starting a project on wind - capturing things that move in the wind - whether it be plants or flags or clouds or hair or water, but obviously that requires windy days, so I'll need a minimum of one and far more likely several other short or long term projects to keep me going.
How many projects do you have on the go at one time, both long and short term? Do you ever find yourself frustrated with nothing worth photographing?
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4 comments:
Keep the focus and soon you'll have the book complete, can't wait to hear/see more about it.
When I find myself with nothing to photograph, I force myself to just start photographing what ever is around me. Sometimes this helps to jump start the creative juices. But there are times when the creative battery can't be jump started but just needs to rest. Those days I put the camera down and work on something else entirely.
Both are good points - photographing anything can be better than photographing nothing and just wandering can help you discover your next project.
Days without any inspiration are the days when you should do your backups, test how far you can stop down before diffraction becomes a problem, how slow can you hand hold, etc. - or just read a good book.
Photographing in my hometown is an ongoing project, to a good part because it is always available, offers a great variety of times of the year, light, weather, subjects and so on.
And it is a constant source of annoyance, as I somehow don't manage to see photographically there and get surprised by the most lovely shots taken by others of places I have walked by dozens of times without recognizing the photographic potential. I do try to fight this partial blindness, but without convincing effect up to now
Welcome back to posting! My coffee-drinking in the morning had been severely curtailed by the lack of "attention grabbing posts on Behind the Lens ;-)
Regarding projects, in my case, it is similar to my bulging and growing pile of books by my bed. Meaning, there are starts and spurts all obver the place. I have about 5 or so projects going at any one time, in varying degrees of focus and progress. However (and this may be a lesson to myself!), the "ongoing" projects typically seem to "remain" in their on going state, as they are inevitably overtaken by some unanticipated "you goot do this now" project that surprises me more than anyone. That's how my "Micro Worlds" came about, that's how my "Spirit & Light" came about, that's how my recent "Swirls, Whorls, and Tendrils" came about, and many others. The deeper lesson is perhaps that "planned projects" are to be best used as tools for "keeping me sharp" and attuned to the serenpitious projects that strike from heaven. At least, that's how it seems to be working out on my end more often than not.
Welcome again to blogging, and good luck with the new book! Looking forward to reviewing it when it comes out.
PS. When you get a chance, check out a few (very few) pictures from a planned (!) project, sort of...my wife and I just returned from Scotland. I posted some images on my blog. My pictures may not show it, but "Wow!" is all I can say about Scotland's landscapes!
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