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The Creative Slump
It happens to baseball players all the time. It is the much feared “slump”. A productive hitter suddenly can’t hit the broad side of a barn. Each day that goes by only increases the pressure to perform. The harder you try, the worse it gets. The worse it gets, the pressure increases even more. It becomes a vicious circle. There is only one way to end it. You have to take a deep breath and go back to the basics.
It is the same for creative people. One day you have so many ideas that you don’t know what to do with them. Then one day, nothing works. You have ideas, but they fall short of your normal standards. The pressure begins for you. You work harder on something that you know in your heart is not your best work. So you stop and start another project that also falls short of your normal standards. So you stop again.
You have to take the example of the baseball player and go back to the basics. Clear out the forced ideas and make room for the ideas that normally come naturally to you. Take time to go back to the basics. How do you do this?
- Give your mind a break. Take a few days off and don’t do anything creative.
- Look at the things that normally inspire you with fresh eyes
- Play what if games to force yourself to change your perspective
- Look at your past work and ask yourself how you would do it differently now.
- If you are right handed, make your left hand dominant for a day. If you are left handed, make your right hand dominant. This will really throw your brain a curve!
- Let your mind be open to the new ideas that begin to come in. Do not edit at this point, just document any idea that comes to mind.
- Try a new approach to the beginning of a project.
- Do not begin a project that you feel is below your standard. Keep working it until you know you are on the right track.
It can be a very frustrating time for creative people who fall into a slump. But like the baseball player, you have to work through it by going back to the basics. Break the habits that got you into the slump. Before you know it, you will be back on track. You may even find your “slump” was a great learning experience that gave you a new way of looking at things.
Posted in General, Photography
Sometimes You Just Have to Make Dew
I was out this morning for my morning walk when I found a beautiful spider web. After my walk I came back to photograph it. As I looked around, everything was covered with dew. Everything was covered, except my spider web! Fortunately, I was prepared with a small spray bottle filled with water. A few sprays later the spider web was glistening with dew drops just as it was before sunrise. Sometimes you just have to make dew!
Posted in General, Photography
Cool Tools for Your Iphone
The Iphone puts technology in your pocket. The great news is that it is technology you can use! There are a number of applications that can help you in your photography. Right now on my phone I have:
- a depth of field calculator,
- a sunrise/sunset application,
- a Golden Light calculator,
- a posing guide
- a weather application.
I can and do use these applications when I go out on a shoot. The great news is, there are lots more applications on the way as enterprising developers put their energy into developing applications for photographers.
Posted in General, Photography, Uncategorized
Tagged depth of field, golden light calculator, iphone apps, posing guide, sunset calculator, weather apps
To Tripod or Not to Tripod
One of the best tools in my kit is my tripod. I have had it for years. And yes, it is a bit heavier than the tripods available today, but it gets the job done.
I use the tripod for about 80% of my shooting. When I am taking landscapes, there is nothing like it. But I must admit there are times when hand held is the only way to go.
I often find myself in a crowded area or physically tight spaces where a tripod will not work. Hand held with vibration reduction can give you acceptable results for those times when a tripod is out of the question.
So the answer whether to tripod or not to tripod really depends on your shooting situation. Use a tripod whenever it is practical to do so. A tripod will give you your best chance for an amazing image.
One more thing, if you have vibration reduction in your camera and lens, turn it off when you mount your camera on the tripod. It will work against you if you leave it turned on.
Posted in General, Photography
The Adventure of Timed Exposures
The timed exposure has been a mainstay in photography since its beginning. The timed exposure is often used for capturing the movement of water. With time standing still, water flows and leaves beautiful, sensual streaks on the sensor. It takes on the sense of flowing silk. Here is an example of water flowing in a 2 second exposure.
Waterfall shot with a 2 second exposure.
Posted in General, Photographs for Sale, Photography
Tagged photography, timed exposure, waterfall
The Graduated Neutral Density Filter
Have you ever been out shooting landscapes and found that the sky was so bright that you could not get a decent exposure? Even taking a reading of the sky and the land separately and splitting the difference in exposure doesn’t help. The results are still the same, you are not satisfied with the end result. So what can you do?
One of the most powerful tools you can add to your photography kit is a graduated neutral density filter. They are usually rectangular in shape with the full strength neutral density lightening to clear. They are available in a variety of strengths to meet your needs.
While you can get them in round filters, I highly recommend the rectangular filters even though you will have to have a filter holder. You have much more shooting flexibility with the rectangular version.
The Graduated Neutral Density Filter makes it possible to shoot a landscape even when you have a very bright sky and a darker land mass. If you shoot without the filter, you will either blow out the sky or you will have very dark land. There are simply too many stops between the land and sky. Something has to give.
The way to control the situation is to use the filter putting the full strength neutral density portion at the top and have the land unaffected by the clear portion. The result is you lessen the brightness of the sky so it is more in proportion to the brightness of the land. This gives you an exposure you can live with.
When I shoot landscapes now, I generally have the neutral density filter at hand.
Posted in General, Photography
Tagged exposure, graduated neutral density filter, landscape, photography, tool
The Remote Shutter Release
You know, I didn’t think I really needed a remote shutter release for my camera. It seemed like an expenditure I did not need to make. Then I thought back to my film days. I had a manual remote shutter release then. I used it all the time. I rarely took a photo from my tripod without using it. So why the resistance now?
Maybe it was the expense. Maybe it was that I had gotten used to living without it. I guess I needed a compelling reason to buy one.
That reason arrived when I wanted to shoot star trail photographs. It required a timed exposure. The only way my D90 will take a timed exposure is with a remote shutter release with button lock. If you want to make the photography you have to pay the price.
I ordered my remote shutter release and took my star trail photos. And, then something wonderful happened. I began to use the remote every time I shot from a tripod. I got back into using every advantage I could to make the sharpest photograph possible.
When you shoot from a tripod by pressing your shutter, you introduce one more little vibration that influences the sharpness of your photographs. Using the remote eliminates this vibration from your image. In the long run, you get sharper photographs.
In retrospect, I am not sure how I got along without the remote shutter release. It has become a major part of my shooting routine.
Posted in General, Photography
Tagged advantage, photo tips, remote shutter release, sharp photographs
The Importance of White Balance and Shooting “Raw”
Many photographers set their white balance on “auto” and get on with their lives. While this will give you acceptable photographs, manually setting white balance to the correct setting will instantly improve your photographs.
If you shoot “raw” you get a second chance on the white balance because “raw” lets you correct the white balance of the photograph.
Recently, I took a shot of a woman using natural light. It turned out that I had not checked my white balance since the last time using the camera. The last photo shoot was in florescent light. Therefore, the image I took was really out of white balance. It had an awful cast to it. I opened up the “raw” image and selected white balance. I changed the white balance from “as shot” to “daylight”. The photo was instantly put into the right white balance.
Setting the correct white balance before you shoot can save lots of time and hassle. Since none of us are perfect, it makes great sense to shoot “raw” so you get a second chance.
Posted in General, Photography
Tagged improve, photograph, raw, white balance
Planning Your Photographs
Most of us go out on a shoot with a general idea about what we want to shoot. We go out and scout around to see:
-which angle is best,
-how different perspectives can change the final image
-which lenses give us the best image.
It is something we photographers do all the time.
But, have you ever sat down and planned the shoot in detail, prior to going on the shoot? Oh, sure, you may say, I do it all the time. I guess we all do to a certain extent. But what I am talking about is planning every aspect of the photograph in detail. By that I mean:
-designing the actual image its self
-what time of day to make the photograph
-what weather condition would be best
-who is the ideal viewer of the photograph, in other words, who is the target audience for the image.
-and many more things.
Recently, I had an opportunity to do this. I knew what I wanted to shoot. I knew how I was going to shoot it. I knew what time of day I needed to shot the subject. I knew which lens and so on. It was a great experience to get out in the field so well prepared. I was able to get right down to business and make the image I really wanted.
While I stuck to my plan for the primary image I wanted, I also let serendipity take over and shot many more unplanned images. All in all, it was a great exercise.
Posted in General, Photography
Tagged perspective, photograph, planning, visualize
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