Refining Photography: Advice needed!

I've been involved with photography since 1982,and although I still consider myself an amateur,I do take this hobby very seriously,and spend 90% of my spare time in attempts in trying to be creative .
Lately however,I've been in a real stagnant stage, and my efforts in producing some descent images have been worthless .
I've decided to start all over again,and try to concentrate in taking a class,or doing some reading on "Seeing".

Recently I was on Paul Capinigro's website and one book he recommends,is "The Way of the Wanderer" by David Yeadon.
Can anyone recommend a series or individual book,that might help me accomplish a more dedicated way of approaching my photography.
Here's a link to some of my images:
http://mike397x.zenfolio.com/

Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

Hello Michael,
There are plenty of "inspirational" books and workshops for sale. Many, perhaps most, are pure air. But one of the best works I can recommend is Brooks Jensen's "Letting Go of the Camera".

Beyond this may I recommend taking a different perspective on photography. Browsing through your online photos suggests that you've followed a very typical amateur/enthusiast path with your camera. That is, you largely take photos of where you are. You concentrate on being technically "accurate" with your camera and your camera-play leads your "creative" thinking.

After 27 years it's time to dump that approach if you want to reach new satisfactions and achieve more than just pretty pictures.

The book I referenced above will give you plenty of ideas along those lines. Here are a few snippits of my own suggestions.

1. Stop buying new cameras and lenses (assuming you already have serviceable gear).

2. Stay away from amateur photo forums (yes, even OPF) at least until you find a new groove. Amateur photo forums are dead zones for creativity.

3. Take a non-photography art class, such as drawing and painting. You have a nice eye but it's in need of refinement. Forcing yourself to spend hours trying to create works from blank space is guaranteed to benefit your photographic eye, even if you suck at drawing and painting. Expose yourself to the art world --not the photo world-- through museums, galleries, books. Learn the language of art (yes, it has its own language).

4. Don't pick up the camera again until you find a reason to use it. That is, identify a personal project for which you can use the camera. I don't mean taking pictures of your vacation or even necessarily trying to document anything. Start out with bite-sized (weekend-sized) little projects. Don't confine yourself to imaging that's "technically" accurate. To hell with the "expose to the right" dogma and all the rest of that limiting drivel. Remember, the camera is not the star of the show; it's just the instrument you're using at the moment. Maybe you'll use a potato peeler for your next project.

And so on. Fundamentally, I'm suggesting that you try taking an art-oriented approach to imaging rather than the usual camera/instrument-oriented approach that 99.9% of amateur photographers exclusively follow.

Good luck and have fun.

Michael G. Spille said:

I've been involved with photography since 1982,and although I still consider myself an amateur,I do take this hobby very seriously,and spend 90% of my spare time in attempts in trying to be creative .
Lately however,I've been in a real stagnant stage, and my efforts in producing some decent images have been worthless .

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Hi Michael,

You are plain wrong! I have spent considerable time studying your pictures from a number of series and found like, the rest of us, you do have some mediocre shots. So what. You still have some very fine images. The secret is selecting your best and then working on them further. for example, there's an interesting dead tree on its side, _IMG_4468. It might be worked on further in Photoshop either in color or in B&W. There's a picture, here, with a cut off tree to the lower left and other bulkier trees cut off too the left, revealing sky. very startling to find this odd presentation and it could be intriguing and work much more effectively if the clouds that are displayed were perfectly rendered. However, the sky seems to be just what the shot delivered.

Other shots are simply wonderful and worthy of being made into great prints such as this perfectly amazing cat,this, , this,,this, this or this. However, one does want to unite groups with a theme if one can. Still, you have such a large collection, it would be relatively easy to make a commendable gallery with just the top 30%.

This, for example is a great motif to capture, but perhaps one needs a ladder to get the all the pattern of the fence and the tree and maybe use a wider angle lens too. This is an example of a worthy project, but not ready to be put to the top of your favorites and shown.

I would have displayed the examples picked, but I can't find the urls for linking them as they must end in .jpg.

Michael G. Spille said:

I've decided to start all over again,and try to concentrate in taking a class,or doing some reading on "Seeing".

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Michael,

You have no problem seeing. You do have some difficulty not choosing to show pictures that are just memories of a wonderful place. Don't buy a book. Are you in a big city? Visit museums. See how a collection is constructed, united by some common essence of the photographer's choice. One advantage of OPF is that people will give you feedback that is often much better than "Wonderful!" and the like, although we do sometimes work in shorthand too.

Photographs have to be made. They are not, IMHO, generally what just comes out of the camera, unless you shoot products, weddings etc and the lab does the rest. You are no different from the rest of us. We all get disappointed by the trash we make and we chide ourselves.

I print a bunch out in B&W, make copies, get a red wax pencil and draw on each copy what I might have done or should do in PS and then go back and try to get it right or else shoot it again.

Ask, "Is this picture able to stand on it's own as something that grabs me to get into it?" If not what's missing. Is too much included or is this not wide enough, the light wrong or I was in the wrong position or maybe the tonalities are not developed as needed.

Unless you do this with your own work, your pictures cannot improve. Certainly, reading some book wont help you much without working on your own ideas first.

So maybe, post the pictures I pointed out and let's see what other photographers think. Wait till the guys tell me I've got it all wrong!

Asher

Great advice here. I, too, have been feeling stale and stagnant.

Ken,

Your advice is always worth paying attention to.

Ken Tanaka said:

Hello Michael,
There are plenty of "inspirational" books and workshops for sale. Many, perhaps most, are pure air. But one of the best works I can recommend is Brooks Jensen's "Letting Go of the Camera".

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This is a great start and a Lenswork subscription is one that should follow. Brooks is not only an accomplished photographer, but understands the route to excellence and clarity.

Asher

Idea, Stalk, Imagine, position, frame, sketch, repeat. Reframe, snap, start work.

Michael,

Ken's advice is great for everyone. He addresses my own main concerns succinctly. First let's divide photography into some very rough buckets.


Goals and time Table: A picture that has life beyond a job or memento is not likely to come by happenstance, expensive gear, more pixels or thousands of shots. It requires focus, discipline and self-training. Most of all it demands that you have goals and a timetable or things will simply be put off and it will just be a "hope" and unfulfilled dream. That's what occurs with most of us.

Ken Tanaka said:

Stop buying new cameras and lenses (assuming you already have serviceable gear).

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Keep the gear simple and unchanged for a year: Any camera, from digicam up that can shoot from 28mm to 50mm, even, one fixed focal length is all that's generally needed and 3 MP. More competent cameras, for sure, allow more details for some scenes and low light, but for now, this is unimportant for art fundamentally. Instead, walking around your subject with a cardboard cutout of the framing and exploring what would make your subject compelling and give the richest experience, is a better investment.

To do this "building of a picture", Ken's 3rd point is a pre-requisite. Imagine for each picture, you have a need to create an image which is coming from inside you to fill a blank frame. Expression needs to be combined with what there is to see.

Ken Tanaka said:

Take a non-photography art class, such as drawing and painting. You have a nice eye but it's in need of refinement. Forcing yourself to spend hours trying to create works from blank space is guaranteed to benefit your photographic eye, even if you suck at drawing and painting. Expose yourself to the art world --not the photo world-- through museums, galleries, books. Learn the language of art (yes, it has its own language).

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Still life and figures are a good start since the subjects will be well arranged and you will get guidance and then you can compare what you all do with works in a gallery or on Brooks' Lenswork magazine, with fine photography from so many artists.

Ken Tanaka said:

2. Stay away from amateur photo forums (yes, even OPF) at least until you find a new groove. Amateur photo forums are dead zones for creativity.

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I'd put it differently. Come here for comradeship and moral support. You will get a reasonable array of feedback. However, to use it, you need to develop your own goals, destination and compass. For that, the drawing/sketching classes are a must. Use the ideas from the class, with one lens and one subject for photography, continued as a project to work on for weeks. Use one to support the her. Refrain from other photography. Show selected pictures to the instructor for feedback on composition and what you are trying to achieve. Share your snaps here for fun and selected images for feedback, but don't be a sponge for everyone else's ideas. You have to defend your own vision but still be open to folks' reaction but not be knocked off your own path.

I hope this is helpful,

Asher

Addendum: * I talk of the "delivered picture". If it has not been worked to make the print that meets your compelling idea's needs and you haven't actually printed it, it's unfinished, just a possibility, vaporware! That's what Ken advises, so succinctly below.

Yikes! Asher has laid a lot of grout!

Two addenda.
1. My recommendation to avoid photo forums derives largely from the empty distractions they present. Yes, it's a Monday and you're avoiding work on your day job. But instead of going to a photo forum to follow the latest pointless camera product debate, grab a pencil and paper and sketch. Yes, you can get support and encouragement at a thoughtful place such as OPF. But, again, I highly recommend that you eliminate distractions until you find that new groove.

2. One other important suggestion I offer to boost your creative juices: print much, much more of your work. To bastardize an old lyric, "It don't make me think if ain't made of ink." 72 dpi Web images are chewing gum. Prints are real things. Your work will not become meaningfully real to you or anyone else until it's incarnated into a physical object. Prints are also most likely to be the only form of your work that will survive you.

Ken Tanaka said:

Prints are also most likely to be the only form of your work that will survive you.

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That's a sobering thought.

Still photo.approaching Fine Photography

And I was afraid ,my post wouldn't get answered...ha-ha boy, did you guys prove me wrong!!!
Ken, Asher,

I just want to say a sincere "Thank You!" for the detailed replies and the insight as to what might help me at this stage of my image making.
I think you have given me a lot to think about & I will start to exercise some of the guidelines you suggest.

Ken,

Might I say that yes,I am guilty of buying some of the newer camera and lenses, but lately I've been only using the 50mm lens on a canon 5D,all things being equal though, I do crave good equipment,so, ...guilty as charged..
I live in NYC,and I am within walking distance of the Metropolitan Museum of Art....have I been there lately, no!!, but i will correct that.

Asher,

I'm not sure why you were not able to post some of the images you looked at in my Zenfolio images..possibly user error on my part,but thank you very much for taking the time to look.I really appreciate your input
I would like you, and others to see this image#4468, and give me some honest opinions/suggestions, as to how i might improve it,as it is one of my favorites...I must have printed it a dozen times on various papers,and when I look at the prints..there is something missing.




Any further advice will be greatly appreciated

Mike

90% of my spare time in attempts in trying to be creative .

Michael

maybe you should just take a break - and stop taking photos for a while, doing something different, like listening to good music - noting with pictures.

And only take a cam in your hand, when you feel, that you can tell something different.

Michael,
Thanks for your reply.
Actually ,That's just what I'm going to do,I haven't picked up the camera in a week or two,and luckily ,my daughter has given me permission to use her Ipod.
Now all i have to do,is figure out how to download some of my old Mozart CD's

After re-reading Ken's & Ashers posts ,I think I'll be spendond more of my free time at the MET{Metropolitan Museum of Art},which is right up the block from my apartment in NY

Thanks Again
Mike