I got into photography a few years ago, back in 2017, and by the end of 2018 I had learned enough about my camera to want to expand my horizons and start "dabbling" in different subjects.
While I do love just going for a walk and photographing whatever takes my fancy... I find that this approach can sometimes be unintentionally limiting! I enjoy it, but sometimes I find myself wanting to work outside my comfort zone, and not really knowing where to start.
So, towards the end of 2018, I wrote a "random subject generator" script which generates a number of text files using a few sets of keywords, which are fully customisable.
It's fairly simple in operation: you choose how many files to generate, and it automatically runs the script once for each file, and numbers them sequentially in a dated folder (and the folder itself will be numbered as well, so you can have more than one folder per date).
For each file, the script picks a "subject", a "modifier", and a "genre" from separate lists of keyword, and if chosen, a "challenge" too - everything is chosen randomly.
Because it is a random affair, the subjects picked may not make a lot of sense: I could actually use a technique called "
Markov chaining" to fix that, but I have deliberately left the program stupid in order to get more interesting results.
For instance, it might suggest a subject like "water" and a modifier of "dryness" - at first glance, these might be contradictory - but to me, it encourages me to look at the contrast between these opposing concepts: it reminds me of a fond memory from long ago - two lovers huddled in a doorway from the rain.
It then assembles these random bits and bobs into a file with a simple header, a quick description of what to do, and an optional challenge.
I've included some example files below.
I would usually use this by telling the script to generate 2-3 files, and then I'd pick my favourite - this allows me to pick one that seems interesting - like a "macro landscape" (I'll let you guys figure out how to accomplish that! I succeeded in creating a macro landscape shot; can you?...
). Other times I'll generate a single file that "must" be used, regardless of how weird it is: like "pebbles-weirdness".
For now I'll get a copy of the script put up on github for anybody who might like a copy. It's written in python with a few config text-files sitting at the side, so it's very customisable and easily readable.
At some point in the future, I'd like to look at getting it put up on the interweb as a
single-serving-site - but I'd need to figure out some low-traffic hosting solution for that. I'd also need to program it again!
I hope somebody might have found that interesting - I might start a thread where I post up random files periodically for people to have fun with: I also considered making a "weekly challenge" series based around it, where I generate a whole bunch of them as a batch and make a calendar out of it!
If anybody wants more info, feel free to enquire