Hello Gentlemen/Ladies.

I have been using my M3 and M6 for about 3 years. Great street photography tools. Nothing comes close.

Lately, I have been running out of photographic ideas. I have done most of the things I wanted to do in as far as the kinds of images I looked for. Street, portraits, weddings, candids, etc.

My question is, do you people actively look for PRE-CONCEIVED images and shoot it or do you shoot mostly on the fly (that is, whatever comes to you as interesting). And what are your criteria for selecting what to shoot?

I need ideas...I am really running dry.

Any ideas?

-- Greg (Gregkowhim@hotmail.com), May 24, 2002

Answers

I find that I waste a lot of time, energy, and film unless I am working on one or more projects. I highly recommend the little book "On Being A Photographer" by Bill Jay and David Hurn. It is cheap at amazon.com and is very helpful in selecting and pursuing a project.

To respond to your slightly misleading subject title: brains, to be sure, yet, as Jay Maisel said, "the harder I work, the luckier I get." Truly, it takes both. One must work from both the head and the heart, and always be ready to receive the gifts of serendipity.

-- Dave Jenkins (djphoto@vol.com), May 24, 2002.

All my Street Photography is done on the fly, meaning the ideas come as I 'walk the streets', so to speak. As far as running dry--hard to believe, you are surrounded by ideas. My Street Photography is at: http://www.streetphoto.net

-- Steve LeHuray (steve@icommag.com), May 24, 2002.

One must work from both the head and the heart, and always be ready to receive the gifts of serendipity.

In its simplest form, this is how (IMHO) some of the most creative work is accomplished. If I'm not working in a controlled situation, looking for a pre-concieved image limits my ability to recognize other things that may be presented to me:

-- Douglas Herr (telyt@earthlink.net), May 24, 2002.

In the past (and occasionally now as well) I've run into the same problem as Greg. I started years ago to work in series, coming up with an idea, and telling a story through photographs. This has worked for both documentary style (a photo-series on 'cafe culture'), as well as studio nudes (a series depicting gods/goddesses of mythology). I think this is why so many photographers publish books. Most people hanging a piece of art on their walls will buy a painting, but not a photograph - I think there is that perception that it's easy to make photographs so why would they pay good money to buy a single image. But for $50.00 they can buy a well printed book with 100 images. With this in mind photography is an ideal medium for working in series.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), May 24, 2002.

Yes, absolutely get "On Being A Photographer", it is a great book on the thought process behind making images and what it means to be a photographer. I think everyone should read it who is serious about their shooting. If you can't tell, it is one of my favorite photography books (and there's not one photo in it).

David is a wonderful guy. I got to have breakfast with him when I was in London the other week. He gave me some excellent advice and critique. Plus I got to laugh at his funny Welsh sense of humor.

-- Josh Root (rootj@att.net), May 24, 2002.

greg: everyone gets in a rut, aand not just with photography. when i get in a rut, I usually try to to tackle a challenging photo project, which is out of my normal area of expertise. it will be something that will really get me thinking and working, some thing where my expectations are so low that i can't help but exceed them. recent projects have included street shooting at night with available light where the range of lighting makes the phot difficult, and shooting bicycle racing where you can usually get up close to the course and timing is critical and vivid colors are important. other projects have included shooting gardens in black and white, where I am forced to look for patterns and not just colors.

If my ego needs boosting I shoot childrens spoting evetns and hand out the photos to the parents the next week. they are always gratefull and they always exceed the photos they are taking with their point and shoot cameras.

-- greg mason (gmason1661@aol.com), May 24, 2002.

There is no law that says a person needs to make photographs on a regular basis throughout life. If you have run out of ideas, maybe there is no reason to take photographs for awhile. When there is a reason to photograph something, you'll still know how to do it. If new intersts become more meaningful than photography, never taking another photograph is a perfectly healthy option.

-- Jim Lennon (jim@jmlennon.com), May 24, 2002.

Creative drought is a mental weather condition that storms everyone from time to time, Greg. There are various tricks for getting the flow of ideas going again, including self-assigning a project that is out of one's normal comfort zone. For example, if you normally shoot "street", go do some landscapes or shoot some products as if producing an ad for a magazine. A little self-analysis doesn't hurt either. Figure out where your photographic motivation comes from, and give that a swift kick.

Ultimately, I think it all relates to "listening to the wind" - being open to seeing and understanding the essence of a particular type of subject matter, and trying to convey that insight to others. How we go about doing that will vary over time, and we should all expect our journey to be a series of plateaus, with dry spots as we transition from one creative plateau to the next. During those periods, of course, nothing prevents the pro from taking a formula approach to producing acceptable, if not inspired work that wins the daily bread.

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), May 24, 2002.

At a workshop, David Alan Harvey offered the following advice: "Find something you're passionate about, and then photograph it."

HIS overarching 'project' is the Spanish-culture diaspora in the western hemisphere, and so he tailors the assignments he seeks from Geographic, et al. (Cuba, Mexico) to further that larger goal.

The problem, especially for photographic 'amateurs' (in the sense of "those who love" photography) is that we/they are mostly 'passionate' about photography, and not much else.

Which leads to the kind of 'block' you're facing.

You have to figure out what (besides photography) is important to you - and then apply photography to it. It's a battle I've been fighting ever since that workshop. And it's the same problem writers face - you can't just be good with words, you also have to have something to say....

Here are, just off the cuff, some themes that may or may not resonate as things to be passionate about: Gun control (and the larger question of freedom vs. security in these troubled times), Americans and guns, americans and cars, (insert nationality) and cars, immigrant sub- communities, hospice care, the city you live in; where it's been and where it's going.

The problem isn't finding a subject - it's finding a subject YOU, GREG care about passionately. Once you find THAT, you're set for life....

As to pre-conceived images - it isn't quite that simple. Nat. Geo. for example, often has a 'shooting script' of things that need to be covered for a given story. Some of their pictures are clearly 'manufactured' studio-type shots. But often they just need a really good, NEW image of something seen before by millions (Tower of Pisa, e.g.) And at that point it's up to the creativity and awareness of the photographer to 'work' that location, in terms of light, in terms of people, in terms of moments, in terms of viewpoint, until s(he) finally 'gets' an outstanding picture that happens to show the Tower, but in a new and interesting way.

I rarely go out with a pre-conceived picture in mind. I find the real world far more interesting and surprising than what I can invent in my head.

But I DO go out thinking "I want some really great people pictures today, in color. Now where can I find those?" And then go there - with color film - and hope something happens.

I've got a totally unplanned 'theme' going on kids and water, that grew out of just looking for people doing stuff.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), May 24, 2002.

Greg, Everyone is different, and everyone works according to those differences. My personal way of working, is to have a photo project and stay with it to the end. Also, I try and never leave the house without my camera and if I'm working on my project and I see something that interests me while I'm working on a specific project(providing my project is outside a studio), I'll take the time to shoot that other thing that has caught my interest. In other words, stay focused(no pun) on a project, but be open and flexible to the interesting world around you. All the best, Nick

-- Nick kane (nkl111@Yahoo.com), May 24, 2002.

Hello Greg. After three years with Leica M's your street shooting technique should be honed.I'm of the opinion that the elusive Magnum type image cannot always be previsualized. Sometimes you can work around a rough idea however,when that potential image presents itself to you in real life without notice,you will instinctvely know.Don't hesitate,Just bag it!

-- Sheridan Zantis (albada60@hotmail.com), May 24, 2002.

Judging by most of the photo's on this site it is neither.

-- Phill (philkneen@manx.net), May 24, 2002.

Douglas Herr: Nice shot. Crop out the bird on the left and tell me what you think.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), May 24, 2002.

Greg, for most of my adult life I've been an Executive Creative Director for major ad agencies. I've had upwards of 60 writers and art directors reporting to me at any one time. In that mix you can also count hundreds of film directors, photographers, graphic designers, etc. My job is to keep the juices flowing. A prime technique to keep the creativity active is to relax the mind so intuition can have some elbow room. If you surround yourself with interesting people and places (not just like minded people) you become more receptive to new ideas. Or to investigating different thoughts from a fresh perspective. But most of all, the best well to draw from is yourself. From your post I feel you are looking outward for the "next thing". Instead, try looking inward and discover a unique way to make the ordinary extraordinary. There is little that is truely new, only new ways of seeing the familiar. Start with seeing that which is immediate to you. With your eyes, not someone elses'. Try to access the wonder of discovery we all experienced as a child. Once when asked what he thought of some young school children's art work, Picasso replied " When I was their age I could draw like Raphael. It has taken me a lifetime to learn to draw like them". The point of all this? Stop trying so hard to take photographs, and the photographs will come to you naturally. You'll know what to do when the lightening strikes. And it will strike. have no doubt. Happy hunting and the best of luck, ---Marc

-- Marc Williams (mwilliams111313MI@comcast.net), May 25, 2002.