I’ve written lately about how I feel like I am in a bit of a slump, photographically. Many readers have made comments along the lines of “gee, I’d love to have a slump like that.” But I’ve recently come to realize what I mean by what I’ve written. What I’ve pretty much decided is that doing the kind of photography I like to do requires an investment of time, energy and dedication that, for a number of reasons, I just haven’t been committing to this year. And this applies not just to the shooting, but to the processing and printing parts of the process as well.
As much as I’d like to think I can, I can’t just show up at a place and take meaningful photographs. I can take photographs for sure, and many of them may be good technically. But to create photographs with meaning requires more time. I need to get to a place, get my mind and my heart tuned in to what is happening, and sometimes just sit for a while until I start hearing the voices. “Being open to the gifts” is what my friend Les Saucier likes to say. I can’t just pull the magic out of my camera bag, toss it out there and expect to take meaningful photographs.
Mostly what this requires is an investment of time. Time partly to allow things to happen, but also time to get to a place in plenty of time for whatever is happening. Sunsets are a good example. I can’t just show up at a spot 10 minutes before sunset, pull out the camera and start taking amazing photos. Sometimes the best photos come well before the actual setting of the sun, sometimes as much as an hour before, such as when the sun is moving behind a low-lying layer of clouds and casting sunbeams, or highlighting ridgelines as they recede into the distance. Often by the time the sun sets all the magic is gone. Occasionally, the magic is just beginning at sunset, as the real color begins to appear after the sun has gone below the horizon. But I need time to “tune in,” to see what is happening, and to figure out what to shoot and how to shoot it.
The other way that my photography requires an investment of time is in having plenty of time to enjoy myself. Kathy & I enjoy good meals at nice restaurants, both at home and when we travel. That generally doesn’t involve sitting at an overlook with cold chicken and potato salad. Sometimes it does, but not usually. So in order to do a little bit of both, it’s often necessary to have more than just 24 hours in a place in order to really do it justice and to find that balance between sunset on the Parkway and dinner in Waynesville (or wherever). One of the ways that this year has differed from previous years is that we have been taking more 2-day weekends and fewer 3 or 4-day weekends. This results in less time in a specific place, and I find that this takes time away from everything. I don’t like to feel like the clock is ticking while I am photographing. And the smaller window of opportunity that is dictated by a shorter weekend makes that clock tick like a parade of Harleys going by! With less time, success is more dependent on luck than creativity, and I don’t work so well when I am depending on luck.
So what does this all mean? Well, it means several things. First and foremost, I think it means that I need to do a better job of managing my time so that I have the freedom and flexibility I need to do the kind of photographic work I find most inspiring while also finding time to do the other things I love. Photography and fine dining aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. Some times of the year they are, so I’ll need to work that out. Sometimes it will mean a nice but late dinner, and sometimes it will mean cold chicken on the Parkway. The other thing it means is possibly traveling less frequently but for longer periods of time. And perhaps staying longer in one place instead of trying to see multiple locations and moving around constantly. I generally shy away from what I refer to as the photographic “death march” and don’t do a lot of good photography while I’m driving down the road. Give me a place to sit and chill for a while and I’m more likely to get inspired.
I’ve done some good work this past year and hope to do some more before it’s done. This year has been a little weird for a lot of reasons, and I’m looking forward to settling back into my usual routine next year. We’ll see where that leads, but I’m hoping it will lead to more fulfilling photography for me, and less of my whining about it to Kathy!
Hi Tom, Thinking back on the photos I’ve seen you post either here or on Facebook this year I think you’ve produced some very nice work this year but I certainly understand what you’re expressing here. The process is often as important as the actual photo’s to provide that level of satisfaction and perhaps fulfillment we as photographer work for. We can certainly work/photograph outside our most comfortable methods but it’s not the way we prefer to work. Once you regain more stability later this year perhaps you’ll see things return to “normal.”
Perhaps it’s this “13” unlucky year. 🙂 I’ve been non-productive photographically this year but I’ve tried to use the time to evaluate my previous efforts or style to determine where I want to go from here. Time will tell if it’s been a productive effort.
Yes, Earl, it would be safe to say that this year hasn’t exactly gone the way I had expected, in a number of ways. But we’re talking photographically here, and I agree that while I’ve taken some good photos, they just haven’t excited my heart like in years past. Perhaps it’s just that I’ve spent less time with the computer and haven’t dug out the “gems” that tend to get me excited. Hard to tell, but I still enjoy it. I just wish it was a little more rewarding.
I hope you and Bonnie are doing well and that we can catch up before the holidays come blowing in!
Well you are not alone in your thoughts here Tom. Creativity is certainly not something that can be turned on like a light switch. I have felt this rut myself, many times – and it sucks. It really saps my motivation to push forward, even though I know logically I will eventually work through it. We seems to place this internal pressure on ourselves based on work we have done before, and expectations keep rising. I guess it is a process we just have to muddle through knowing there is a light on the other side, eventually.
Exactly, Mark. And the key is to just keep at it, and I know that eventually things will return to the state of mind that I am used to being in.
You are certainly not alone Tom. Probably for totally different reasons, this past year has not been conducive to making photos for me either. Though perhaps not as badly as you as there have been a few images that have struck the right chord in me. What’s been missing for me is the time to get into that process, that zone where it becomes easier to see the gifts being offered in terms of photo opportunities. I’m sure they’re there all the time but when everything else feels fast and frantic, it’s not so easy to see them. And for me, that process of making an image is by far more important than actually capturing the image itself. There have been plenty of times when I’ve walked away without pressing the shutter so taken was I by whatever I saw.
Anyway, I hope things change for you soon. There is a big difference between making beautiful photos and making photos that speak to our hearts. Those whispers never go away for good so I’m sure you’ll be hearing them again; maybe when you least expect it.
Well, said, Cedric. I’ve had plenty of time to photograph this year, but have not been able to fully engage in the process. I love your reference to there being “a big difference between making beautiful photos and making photos that speak to our hearts.” That’s it exactly. Thanks!
Life events, moving, health, work, and many others, have a way of interfering in our creativity. My home life changed when my daughter and two grandchildren moved in a year ago. My time, whether photography or reading a book, have been changed. Priorities have shifted between heading out for a morning sunrise and getting them off to school. Even though I do not have as much time to focus on my photography, I put ideas on the list to do. I think those distractions are a major cause of my slump in getting out in nature or on the street, in working at creativity. Earl mentioned “normal” and it causes me to reflect on what I consider normal. What is our normal?