Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

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carstenw
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p.1 #1 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

This got started over in the OM-D thread, and got interesting as quickly as it got out of place, so here we are.

As a bit of background, I switched from a Nikon D3 to a Nikon D800 this year, and at some point I got terribly behind in processing. This, combined with the fact that I had to learn a (similar but) new camera, and lost a lot of my spare time, lost me some of my motivation, and I am now eyeing the spring for a phoenix-like rebirth, but... shooting what? I strongly believe in project-oriented work, and this is probably contributing to making it hard to get going again, since neither of my two big projects (urbex and forests) are enjoyable this time of year, and in any case, I feel the itch for something new again.

When you get stuck in a rut, how do you get the fire in your belly back? For others, how do you find passion if you never had it yet?

Post your tips for maximising the enjoyment of photography and staying focused and motivated. And conversely, what gets you stuck?

Nov 18, 2012 at 10:20 PM

rattymouse
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p.1 #2 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

carstenw wrote:
This got started over in the OM-D thread, and got interesting as quickly as it got out of place, so here we are.

As a bit of background, I switched from a Nikon D3 to a Nikon D800 this year, and at some point I got terribly behind in processing. This, combined with the fact that I had to learn a (similar but) new camera, and lost a lot of my spare time, lost me some of my motivation, and I am now eyeing the spring for a phoenix-like rebirth, but... shooting what? I strongly believe in project-oriented work, and this is probably contributing to making it hard to get going again, since neither of my two big projects (urbex and forests) are enjoyable this time of year, and in any case, I feel the itch for something new again.

When you get stuck in a rut, how do you get the fire in your belly back? For others, how do you find passion if you never had it yet?

Post your tips for maximising the enjoyment of photography and staying focused and motivated. And conversely, what gets you stuck?

What gave me the BIGGEST re-birth in my photography was to start shooting film again. My god, what an eye opener that was. Absolutely an amazing experience. I got a wonderful medium format camera and a bunch of film and had an extraordinarily amazing time re-connecting with photography.

Nov 18, 2012 at 10:24 PM

carstenw
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p.1 #3 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

Haha, yes, I also love shooting film, and what got me stuck there is exactly the same as what got me stuck in digital: I accumulated an impressive backlog of processing I have maybe 20-30 films I need to process and scan.

Furthermore, another big factor in getting stuck for me reared its head: too much choice. I went from shooting mostly with a Contax 645 to adding a Hasselblad 2000FC/M, then 203FE, and then a Rolleiflex 6008i, and then a Linhof Technika. I have now sold the Contax, since I prefer 6x6 to 645, but I miss it and did a bunch of good work with it. I am also still undecided between the Hasselblad and Rolleiflex systems. I think I might pack away the Rolleiflex, but I need to do some testing first (I have both the Zeiss and Schneider 150/4 lenses, and need to sell one), and give the 500-series Hasselblad another chance. I used to have a 500C and really loved it, in spite of it having no built-in metering. Then I need to process my Linhof photos and decide if I want to keep a 4x5 camera.

So, that was two factors which got me stuck:

1) backlog of photos to process
2) too much choice in equipment

Both have obvious, but difficult to execute, solutions.

Nov 18, 2012 at 10:29 PM

carstenw
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p.1 #4 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

Another thing which gets me stuck is to have a backlog of testing I want to do. I want to try various films and decide on 2 or 3 favourites to use. I want to try various papers to decide which I want to print on. I have to experiment with different ways to scan to get the best results. I have to test various lenses against each other to decide which to keep. Etc etc etc etc etc.

Nov 18, 2012 at 10:33 PM

carstenw
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p.1 #5 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

Really, being poorer would help me a lot

All this backlog and testing and choosing and selling is too much like work.

Nov 18, 2012 at 10:33 PM

sputnik
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p.1 #6 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

Dito what rattymouse is saying. Going back to film. Today, for example, I got really temted to buy an old Pentax 645 setup that I saw posted for sale. I sold my Pentax a few years ago because I just couldn't justify another system. But I've since regreted that many times since I really conected with that camera. I know it probably sounds like I am a gear head - but one camera can really pull me into a creative mode where another just doesn't do it for me. And incidentally a personal project is taking form in my head. Based on that camera. Maybe it's just me though...

Nov 18, 2012 at 10:36 PM

briantho
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p.1 #7 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

1. Make sure you don't have a backlog. I process my shots the same day I take them, but then I enjoy PP as much as the actual shooting, so I don't see it as a boring job that needs to be done.

2. The key is NEW equipment. Sell off the old boring stuff, and buy anything you haven't tried.

Buy an RX1. I bet that's gonna give you a real motivation burst. For a while.

BTW, the Contax works great, but I'm still missing that 35...

Nov 18, 2012 at 10:38 PM

mortyb
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p.1 #8 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

carstenw wrote:
As a bit of background, I switched from a Nikon D3 to a Nikon D800 this year, and at some point I got terribly behind in processing.

I think this is symptomatic. It takes too much work and energy to make the final photograph. It kills the enjoyment at some time. I also think this is part of why photographing with Instagram etc. is so liberating - a few clicks and the photo is ready. It's fun and easy to shoot with the phone. Maybe try to make presets/actions for your Nikons to minimize PP time.

Nov 18, 2012 at 10:41 PM

rsrsrs
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p.1 #9 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

My last motivation warp was the absolut sharp, authentic contax G 45mm on my NEX.
It opend my eyes/mind to a clear very truthful view without any lying softness or unsharp mist. it shows me every detail.
... which is not a common character this days ...
;-)
gruss
reinhard

btw where is Flux?

Nov 18, 2012 at 10:41 PM

carstenw
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p.1 #10 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

I have the 35, if you want. Send me your price imagination. I might come down a bit

I love your answer for point 2)

I would love to try the RX1. I might wait for the first used ones to show up, but first I really need to catch up in some of all these areas. The stupid thing is that I am quite efficient at processing, and also at developing film. It is the small (wrong) reasons which stop me, like being afraid of waking up my unwakeupable daughter with my banging around in the kitchen with development tanks.

Oh, another thing which gets me stuck: I moved from LR2 (which I wasn't fond of), to Aperture 3 (which I loved, but Apple has lost its way and stopped releasing reasonable updates) and back to LR4 (which I still don't love, but which improved), and I need to consolidate all these images into a single library, properly sorted etc. Yuck. Pulling the plug on all those processed images in Aperture 3 is just the hardest decision, but really, it matters not at all. When I go back to old photos, I tend to reprocess them anyway.

Nov 18, 2012 at 10:44 PM

carstenw
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p.1 #11 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

rsrsrs wrote:
btw where is Flux?

Wherever I am

Always in a (the) State of Flux.

Nov 18, 2012 at 10:45 PM

carstenw
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p.1 #12 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

mortyb wrote:
carstenw wrote:
As a bit of background, I switched from a Nikon D3 to a Nikon D800 this year, and at some point I got terribly behind in processing.

I think this is symptomatic. It takes too much work and energy to make the final photograph. It kills the enjoyment at some time. I also think this is part of why photographing with Instagram etc. is so liberating - a few clicks and the photo is ready. It's fun and easy to shoot with the phone. Maybe try to make presets/actions for your Nikons to minimize PP time.

Yes, good point. I used to have a Sinar e54LV 22MP back for my Contax, and it was the same there. I wanted the quality, and loved the process (when the thing wasn't busy crashing or metering too dark), but there is a resistance to getting going when I know it will be hard work and will reveal my every tiny error mercilessly. Once I get going I am fine though.

Nov 18, 2012 at 10:46 PM

carstenw
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p.1 #13 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

But this wasn't meant to be about me only.

Who else is stuck? Why?

Nov 18, 2012 at 10:47 PM

mortyb
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p.1 #14 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

I can't say I'm stuck, but I've spent some time thinking about the essentials of why I enjoy photography. What is it about it I enjoy? What results to I enjoy? What kind of shots do I enjoy? What shots would I put on my wall? A nice Contax 100/2 shot of a tree - or a lo-fi shot of me on a mountain summit? What does techincal excellence give me alone? Do I enjoy photos with myself in the frame better than without? Portraits of family? Etc. Etc. Try to think about the essentials of why and how and what about photography that makes you feel something.

Nov 18, 2012 at 10:55 PM

Ulff
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p.1 #15 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

For me the winter months are intentionally a time where I usually don't go out and take pictures. Instead I'm happy to have a break, sitting in front of my computer and reduce my accumulated backlog. I frame it as "taking photos of my photos". A large backlog demotivates me too in taking new photos. But that's what the winter is for and when the green comes back in April or May the ideas and project ideas come back, too.

If you really need new motivation for now, my suggestions are:
- learn some new post-processing skills and re-process some of your older images;
- what I like in Berlin: go out and do some architecture, cityscapes or streetlife photography.
- regarding gear: if you feel paralyzed because of too much gear choices (I know this feeling...), select 3 (or less) favorite lenses and don't touch anything else for the next time. It just feels better to have less gear choices and more ressources to concentrate on actual photography; I wouldn't buy anything new if you have also a "backlog" in getting used to the new camera. Personally I made a big step forward in my photography in the last year and this is at least partly due to getting better used to the gear I already have and buying no new equipment at all.

Nov 18, 2012 at 11:03 PM

carstenw
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p.1 #16 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

Yes, I am beginning to realise how bad my backlog is. The more I think about it, the more I realise that I have backlogs in every aspect of my photography hobby. I just upgraded to CS6 recently, and want to learn that. I am toying with the idea of using either Bridge or PhotoMechanic, combined with one of the more esoteric raw developers, like RPP or C1. I have an accumulation of photo books which I need to pay some attention to. It just goes on and on.

I think you are right. I will use the winter to get rid of my backlog. Fortunately I have two weeks off early in December with about 6 hours free per day, since my girlfriend is concentrating on her exams and moving out, so I need to shop and take care of our daughter. That time I could spend fixing my library and developing films, and maybe even scan. Then there is the Christmas vacation which I can use to read photo books and get ideas.

When I go out, I do take very little. I tend to use only a single lens each time I go out, no matter how many I bring, so I typically choose a set of three, well spaced. Occasionally I make use of one of the other lenses. When I go urbexing I often go a second time and deliberately use a different lens than the first time, to get a different perspective on things. Typically, I will bring the Zeiss 21, Leica 35 and Zeiss 50P or 100MP. This might change soon to Zeiss 21, 35/1.4, 85.

I did just pick up the Thom guide to the D800, which I will read in the U-Bahn while commuting, so that should help me get more acquainted with my D800. It is really an awesome camera and I am very happy I got it, but it does need learning, even if many things are similar to my D3. I guess I was really in a groove with that D3. Maybe I should have waited longer to upgrade. Now I can't go back though.

Nov 18, 2012 at 11:16 PM

briantho
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p.1 #17 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

Stop spending so much time on the forum and work on your backlog.

Joking aside, do you really need everything sorted and organized? I couldn't care less about my organizing. In my short career of a little more than a year, I've taken 1000:s of photos, but aside from the 10-12 keepers I got so far, I wouldn't even be sad if my HD crashed. I have the keepers backed up, and those important to family, but the rest I don't care about.

Nov 18, 2012 at 11:40 PM

carstenw
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p.1 #18 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

I don't need everything sorted and organized, but I would like to have it in one library. I have everything multiply backed up.

Nov 18, 2012 at 11:49 PM

mortyb
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p.1 #19 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

Carsten, you seem too deep into things.

All you need is a good eye, a camera and motivation. You're spending time and energy on things that doesn't matter. Upgrading to CS6, worrying about backlog, thinking of raw converters, learning D800 (seriously?) ... I think you've lost it.

Get back to basics. Forget all the other "noise". Take your D800, mount a 50mm lens, use M mode, shoot jpg. When you get home, review your shots. Delete (for good) all shots that doesn't work for you right there and then. Work quickly on those that do. End. Finito. Session's over.

Nov 18, 2012 at 11:51 PM

Makten
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p.1 #20 · Getting Unstuck - How do you re-motivate yourself?

carstenw wrote:
Who else is stuck? Why?

Me, for the exact same reasons. Except maybe for the backlog, since I just "let go" of any image that isn't processed in a couple of days, and I seldom shoot more than 10 frames per time I'm out.

I'm constantly waiting for THE camera, but it will never come and I have to learn how to deal with that. I think I should try to minimize my gear (again) and just use one lens and one camera for a while. But then I have to sell stuff I bought very recently, with great loss. Some might say "just use one of what you got", but it doesn't work. There need to be restrictions that are real, not just made up in my head.

Film? No, it doesn't work for me if I don't keep a constant flow. I have film in all of my analog cameras and I don't even remember what I shot last time with any of them. So I have no interest in developing, fiddle with scanning and all that, because it really, really sucks. Roll film is terrible for the motivation, not letting you finish when you want to.

Edited on Nov 18, 2012 at 11:58 PM · View previous versions

Nov 18, 2012 at 11:55 PM

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