[rbefly]

A recent post by PPPPPP42 regarding a bad photo day at a wedding ("Ever Have One Of Those Days...?") gave me an idea;
How much does inspiration play in making great photos?
If, for example, you're having an off day, but go shooting anyway, do your photos reflect this?
If you're feeling great, top' o the world, are your photos better?
I've had days where nothing seem to work (photo-wise) and later deleted most of what I shot. Nothing really wrong with the mechanics of focus, aperture, composition, etc. Just "Blah". NaDa.
Other times a much higher % of shots are good-to-very-good, higher than normal. That doesn't happen too often, but it's really special when it does!
Most of my shooting "days" are somewhere in between.
I can't find a direct connection with subject matter, weather or other causes. It comes down to my emotional state or frame of mind.
Anyone else experience this?
Ron

[Canada_Rockies]

This happens to me a lot. God help the camera if it's a migraine day, or the exhausted me the day after. But then comes the day when something just turns me on, and there is no end to the images.

[jatrax]

I definitely do. I have so little creativity that when I do have a creative moment it really shows. Not sure if I'd describe it as feeling good or bad, though. I have had good photography days when I am really feeling lousy and when I feel good. I think for me it comes down to taking the time to be retrospective and really think about a situation rather than just jump in and shoot. And sometimes that happens when I feel lousy and just don't have much motivation. When I'm feeling good I try to get too much done and hurry things too much.

[foto guy]

I think I do better work when I'm in a bad mood, or having a bad day. Not sure why, though. Except that I'm the opposite of most people.

[Na Horuk]

With me it doesn't have much to do with whether I am feeling happy or sad, but definitely on some days the photos just don't come out right. A mixture of everything. But usually I feel better after going on a photo walk, even if the photos aren't good. Of course, it causes me grief when I try to PP those photos and see just how bad they are

[alamo5000]

I struggle with inspiration as related to photography all the time. I am not a professional, I just want to take cool photos.

Here are a couple of thoughts on my introspection as related to this problem...familiarity breeds contempt. I find a lot of the stuff surrounding me to be 'boring' and not 'noteworthy' at all. A HUGE part of photography other than the artistic elements is having a purpose and telling a story. If you are not feeling it then you are not gonna see it and odds are you won't capture that 'golly gee' aspect that people expect from a photograph.

I am finding quickly that photography is the art of capturing the world as the artist sees it. The reception of the photograph depends on who is looking at it.

[JimJohnson]

As the saying goes, the devil is in the details. On a bad photo day I just can't seem to see all the details. On a good photo day, not only do I see the details more clearly, but their relationship to each other. When I am easily distracted, my photos suffer.

[alamo5000]

I would also add it depends on 'what' you are trying to shoot. Some things you could be in a bad mood, sick, not thinking, and come out with great photos. Other photos though require a lot of thought to be put into them to give them more meaning. Some things require less creative work than others...

I am not by nature an artistic person but at times I have felt more inspired than at others....on one 'outing' I went travelling (a lot) for quite a long time... I had no TV no phone, checked email once every couple weeks when I could find an internet connection... and was in some pretty epic places...

No TV, no phone, not much of anything for a couple years...I personally felt extremely more creative and observant to small little things during that time. While I didn't have all the comforts of home mentality wise my brain wasn't dulled. In that time, even my 'off days' were better. I was playing in a whole new league.

They don't call it a boob tube for nothing... Unfortunately now I work so much, have a crazy schedule, don't get to hang out with my friends nearly as much and so on and so forth...and generally I am on the internet and watch tv too much.

My current lifestyle has dulled my wit and I believe has infected not only photography but many other parts of life.

[redrockcoulee]

As an amatueur it does not matter if I have a bad photo day. If things are not turning out but I want to be taking photos I try to simplify what I am doing or move in tight and work slowly outwards. That seems to help. If the problem is just not feeling creative or motivated, a photo walk turns into a walk carrying a camera around just in case. Occassionally during the walk inspiration kicks in. Otherwise I have had an enjoyable walk and get to see things differently. I have gone to places that I have been before and will return and the light was awful. Inside of fighting the light I explored the area leaving the camera behind. What I do not want is to end up with poor shots and being in a poor mood. Sitting at the computer working with poor images from an unsatisfying shoot does not seem to be an inspirational moment.


A good walk or outing without taking pictures to me is perferable to a fair outing with poor photographs. Do not force yourself however at the same time do not be too quick in giving up. There is no law that states that just cause you have your camera with you you must take photographs nor does it state that just cause you are taking photographs they must be good. That sounds more like being at work.

[magkelly]

Actually taking photos makes me feel better usually. I don't lack for creativity so much inside, always got dolls and sometimes I have people to photograph, but outside stuff can be a challenge because the surroundings here tend to be so blah. You can only shoot so many pics of the same birds, little lizards, rabbits, and yard foliage that hardly ever changes before you get bored. I'm not really near the beach here or a marina, so no boats, and I don't really have much of a downtown scene to work with. I have to take a day trip somewhere to do anything good and most of the local attractions they're not cheap. A day at the zoo here is $68 plus food and parking. Where I live a trip to the local mall is considered a big thing. 90% of the houses are all made of either cinder block or aluminum siding. I live in a glorified tin can. It's just hot and flat and well, pretty boring. I have to make my fun or forget it. I do though. I pull out the dolls and make scenarios if nothing else. Take pics of the pets. Whatever I have to do to keep me motivated. Lately I'm trying to learn to do more with macro stuff with the DSLR. Taking pics of common objects, working on my macro skills...

[Alliecat]

If, for example, you're having an off day, but go shooting anyway, do your photos reflect this?

Guess I will find out. I had an extremely, extremely bad day on Sunday & still feel physically ill from a really nasty encounter. But photography tends to make me feel better even when everything else is crap; sometimes it just takes a while to kick in. So I went out yesterday. Didn't feel very good as I started my walk, but immediately came upon some nice fall foliage & nice light, so I took that shot, & by the time I'd climbed down into a little ravine & started looking around at the stream, I began to feel I could 'get to work', & I did feel better & got into the groove a little.

If I'm not feeling inspired or "in the mood" I'll probably pay less attention to potentially good material. Or I'll feel less inclined to even bother making the effort to get the camera out & look at something. If I'm not feeling inspired I just take less time over considering "is there a picture here?" But since I shoot film I'm not sure my photos suffer from this sort of mood, because I'm just not likely to take any at all if I'm not inspired. I'm not going to waste film shooting whatever, hoping something might be good. I'm either going to decide I don't feel like it & give it up, or I'm going to see something that does get me going & then I'll look for good pictures.
So I guess I get inspired when I see something that catches my eye, rather than trying to generate an inspired mood in myself first... if that makes sense.
And, I do have a connection with the weather. The colder it gets, the less enthused I am!

[asp1880]

I live in a glorified tin can. It's just hot and flat and well, pretty boring.

That sounds like a good overarching theme for a long running photo project. Maybe you can make a collage that makes the tin can look interesting, thought provoking, dystopian or some other feeling.

Or perhaps shoot at night or in the golden hour. Don't shoot the scenery, shoot the light.

Regards,
--Anders.

[ASa]

For me it's probably a mixture of the available light and the way I've set my mind. The light is pretty self explanatory, when the light is good, there are more photo ops and you get more good photos. Whereas on an overcast day it's difficult to see where the beauty lies.
BUT if I have the right mind setting it doesn't really matter what the light or weather for that matter is. In the right feeling you kinda find yourself in situations or places where it's easy to see the possible photos. I have yet to determine how I exactly can get to that mindset. If I plan a photo walk I can end up taking a lot of uninteresting photos. And sometimes when I'm out just to get some fresh air I end up getting a few great ones, so for me it doesn't make a big difference whther it's a specified photos hooting situation or not. Although usually I get more keepers when on a planned trip.
I do think that when I'm pissed off it's easy to let it out through photos, and I tend to get more creative with my pictures. On the other hand when I'm feeling really good it's easy to show it through some photos. So I guess the bottom line is that it doesn't matter what mood I'm in, as long as it's a strong one, on either end of the scale.

[tlong423]

I've had days where nothing seem to work (photo-wise) and later deleted most of what I shot.

Just a thought -- but maybe the problem isn't with how you felt when you went out and shot, but rather how you felt when you sat down and looked through your stuff. Maybe you shouldn't be so swift at deleting your stuff. Perhaps, instead, come back a day or two later and give your images a second look.

I primarily shoot film, so it's easy for me to return to my images for a second look. And more than once I have ended up being pretty happy with some frame I'd initially ruled out when the negatives first came out of the tank.

Just sayin'

[rbefly]

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply, it sounds like I'm not the only one who has to struggle sometimes.
Tlong423, you're right about the PP, I've found undiscovered "gems" after first dismissing the whole lot of a days' shooting. Luckily I don't delete them right away, usually a few days go by before I thin the herd.
A second look when I'm in an entirely different frame of mind (or not in a hurry, life gets in the way sometimes!), has occasionally made me re-think the merit of a shot or two, but overall I can see my "Ups + Downs" clearly when I review each days' shooting.
Perhaps it's a matter of being my own worst critic; I'm looking for greatness and rarely find it in my shots. Many times I see shots from other photographers and admire the vision that inspired it.
Technique and good equipment are two parts of the puzzle. It's the third part that leaves me scratching my head.
Ron