Looking for motivation
Michael Wilson
@atikusphoto24 Jul
Looking for motivation
I know this is a well-worn topic, but I’ve been really struggling with motivation recently. I’m still putting in the ground work, getting out the door with camera in hand, but once I'm out on the street, I’m just not feeling that drive to actually make images. I end up walking for miles and barely pressing the shutter. What specific techniques, constraints, or mindset shifts do you use when you're trying to pull yourself out of a rut and get excited to shoot again?
Look at photos taken by great Street Photographers...even on line or browse in bookshops. Also there are many videos of photographers work on YouTube which can be inspirational. Go to a place you do not usually visit for street photography. Find a high place to shoot from a different angle and perspective. e.g.Buses, bridges. You may instead just need a break from photography to 'recharge charge your batteries' Alternatively do other genres of photography for a while. I hope these suggestions help Michael 🙂
hey Michael,
I felt exactly the same yesterday lunch walking around Tower Bridge, everything I looked at I'd already taken a picture of or in a particular style. When I get like this, I change my 'focus', I pick a colour or theme and go for that, or decide to do some slow shutter work, things that are completely random. And if that doesn't get me going, I take myself out into a field and woodlands and shoot pictures in nature, flowers and stuff, just to really mix it up and do something different. And I drop the expectation of getting anything decent, the idea is to free me up again.
Do stuff other than shooting, videos, photobooks, someone critic your work and give feedback. Pick a project and shoot that. If you don't usually go out with people and shoot try that with the focus on shooting and sharing, walk down a road with cameras away and talk through what you would shoot and how then switch to the other person to do the same, to get a different view point and ideas. If you shoot a very specific style do something else for a break. Research your gear and see if there is a setting that might improve your photography and try that out to shift your focus with a different kind of goal. Do something to add an element of hope and different focus e.g. make a zine, enter a competition, book a course, something to look forward to. Just printing your work and sharing it with others or just yourself can let you take a step back. Make photography second, plan a route to shoot were you end up somewhere you wanted to visit e.g. a food place, a gallery, etc.
Hi Michael. Putting photography aside for a mo, what are you passionate about? What's important to you? What do you think could be better in your area of the world?
Have you tried going somewhere new? In my experience, the simple visual stimulus of somewhere new really helps get me out of a rut. Book a day trip somewhere, go to the seaside, or go out of your way to visit a part of the city/town you never usually hit.
Whatever you do, don't buy a new camera. 😅
Like Shane I will go to a place I have never been. Change my routine photography speaking. Last time that happened I turned my camera to black and white and honestly worked for me.
Thanks everyone. All great advice, and a lot of it I've given to other people at times. Good to be reminded of it though.
Currently in Finsbury Park, trying somewhere new to explore
edited
I went to Finsbury Park earlier this year. Managed to capture a photo I'm really chuffed with.
Trouble recently? I have had motivation problems off and on for a decade. it is a battle, and worse if you are just a hobbyist or part-time shooter that doesn't really have "one style or genre".