David Rathbone
@david_rathbone_photo2 Jun
New Things in familiar places
I sometimes (often!) start to run out of ideas for what to photograph in familiar places. I’ve tried a few things to overcome the hurdle, with varying degrees of success. One is using a completely different lens. About 95% of the time I shoot with a fixed lens on a Fuji X100, so changing my focal length can force me to see things differently. Another is focusing on finding just one specific thing. My go-to is Selfridges bags. They don’t always result in great photos, but having a simple subject to look for gets me thinking differently and paying attention to details I might otherwise miss, and seems to kick start my brain Do you have any tips or tricks for seeing new things in familiar places? How do you open your eyes to subjects you’ve walked past hundreds of times before?
Changing focal length is a good thing to try. Definitely agree on that one.
Do a walking tour, get to know people, ask questions. That can lead you down strange and interesting paths and give you a whole new perception of a familiar place.
Set some restrictions. Like for example, only shoot black and white for a month with no cheating.
Thanks for the ideas, restrictions sound good idea no cheatiing will be a challenge
When I can only shoot in my hometown and need to shake things up, I either go out very early in the mooning or during the blue hour after sunset - times I'm not normaly out shooting. Seeing familiar places/things in a different light "lights" me up. Pun intended. ;-)
I'm doing a project with my brother about my local town but because it's not a big city it's harder to become invisible or not bruise the scene so I also look for details, shop fronts, reflections, pools of light and the smaller changes (e.g. a smashed window, or a closed down premises, or a promotional display that's started to fade). Also, your local town is often more quirky than the big cities - my local town is not what you would call beautiful but it's still unique in it's own way! Even visiting the same place over and over but at different times of day changes what you see. We also have one cast iron rule - every Monday no matter what we go for a pint at a 'Spoons and then walk round town to try and capture an image and give ourselves a total time limit of an hour - makes us look harder but also a wee bit more jolly!
I can relate to that. Small towns are definitely a different challenge as it’s much harder to be invisible than it is in a big city. Details is a good idea. I would like to do a project on my local village,I started but I haven’t done much with it since Covid
I also like your Monday routine. Going out regularly in pairs means people get used to seeing you around with a camera, and you can become part of the landscape yourself. And let’s be honest, a pint beforehand probably helps the creativity too!
I usually try different approaches: getting closer, making street portraits, or photographing the same place at different times of the day or week. Taking someone with you can help as well. Seeing the place through their eyes often opens up new perspectives.
I think mixing things up is often the key,whether that’s getting closer, trying portraits, or revisiting the same place at different times.
Going out with someone else can definitely help too. If I’ve arranged to meet another photographer, I’m much more likely to get out and shoot, even when I’m not feeling particularly inspired.
Sometimes, though, I find I just have to work through it. Not every outing is going to produce great images, but simply being out with a camera often leads to ideas eventually.
If I'm ever feeling uninspired I tend to set myself a challenge.
Capture as many reflections as I can in an hour, how many frames within a frame can I capture in this market? Etc
That way I take my mind off only capturing "keepers" and think about quantity over quality. It forces my eye to see more and I take far more photos. It usually ends up in a few good shots
I can relate to that. It’s very similar to my Selfridges bag challenge, having one thing to look for gives me a focus and gets me seeing details I might otherwise miss.
I think taking the pressure off finding keepers is important too. Once you’re concentrating on the challenge rather than the result, you often end up making better photographs anyway.
