Creative 'mojo'

[chphoto]

I've totally lost it at the moment :shake:

I had today off work, but totally wasted it by getting up at 2pm and just sitting around the house not doing much at all.
I've tomorrow off as well, so I'm going to get up early, have a shower, eat a proper breakfast then go and get a haircut; see if I can feel a bit more 'fresh'.
(My hair is getting ridiculously long, haha)

After that I'll take the camera into town and have a walk along the beach. Hopefully it will start to come back to me!


January was a really good month for me, I did my first 'proper' photoshoot with my best mate and his girlfriend, and I also went to Lydd Raceway with a friend to photograph the kart racing. He's the official photographer there, so he got me track-side!

Best friend & girlfriend set on flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32244379@N02/sets/72157623066692155/

Lydd Raceway set on flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32244379@N02/sets/72157623230695408/


So far, February has been really awful to be honest :thumbsdown:



What do some of you do to get yourself out of these inevitable 'down' moments? Suggestions would be much appreciated

 

[mastertrinity]

ive had the same trouble lately and im off for half term which feels like a waste to me, but ive started to get some abstract stuff done with my 50mm f1.7 and im quite liking the challenge. try out water droplets or smoke photography and you might get your mojo back.

 

[Mike Jackson]

I just dig the receipts out and work out how much the gear has cost me and that gets me shooting again.

 

[Arkady]

It's a 'discipline' thing. Treat your photography like a job (even when it is a job) and you get into the routine of making images - it still comes and goes, but you may find that actually setting-up taskings in your head as if they were destined for a Picture Editor's Desk is good practice.
Think to yourself "If I don't get the shot, I don't get to eat today" - it always helps concentrate the mind.

I find that doing it day-in, day-out means a lot of the hum-drum stuff becomes totally cheesy - like I was on auto-pilot, but that when you do get a decent job, it's like a little treat - we even say that about Plum jobs - 'Treating Ourselves' - making the extra effort for the benefit of a decent opportunity.

 

[Jayst84]

I go out and take pictures. Sounds daft, because that's what the problem is, but it's the only way round it really.

Just walk up to someone in the street and ask if you can take their portrait. I was a bit stuck this month as well, so I went out and did just that.

 

[viewfromthenorth]

I seek inspiration from the work of others, either in books, websites that I like or flickr groups that I'm in.
I've normally also got a list of places to go visit that I regularly update, so I'm rarely short of inspiration or things to do!

 

[itsdavedotnet]

http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2009/archives/3433 pretty much my stock response to threads like this, but yeah...very good video.

shoot loads. doesn't matter what it is. shoot what you love, what interests you, and you'll enjoy it and your pictures will be better. if you have some way of having deadlines or shooting /for/ something, as arkady said, even better