How often have you 'blanked' (i.e. come back from a trip with no pics)?

Naboo32

Naboo32

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Andy
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Self explanitory, really.

I haven't been at this lark for very long (8 months), but I had a trip out this week where I lugged a fair amount of equipment around the city where I live (Hannover, Germany) for about 4 hours and didn't take one single photograph :eek:!

That's never happened to me before and I usually see lots of photo ops around (especially when I don't have my camera with me :p). Is this an 'occupational hazard' :shrug:? Do any of you have days when nothing inspires you and you really can't see a good shot anywhere?

I ask because I don't know if I'm becoming more discerning :suspect:, or if this is the first step to becoming jaded with photography in general :(.

Reassurance is urgently required :naughty: ....
 
Very occasionally I'll get it if I'm shooting landscapes, sometimes the lighting just wont be right for the scene.
 
Never happened to me ever, well not in the past 37 years that is.
 
Not lately, but then I'd get fired if that happened...lol
 
Shoot wildlife....regularly.......:lol:
 
Arkady said:
Not lately, but then I'd get fired if that happened...lol
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Rightly so...........:D.....Perhaps the word "fired" was ill-advised..............:lol:
 
swanseamale47 said:
Very occasionally I'll get it if I'm shooting landscapes, sometimes the lighting just wont be right for the scene.
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That's a good point. Sometimes it's better to just can it and come back another day, if you're trying to get a certain feel to the shot.

In my case, it was largely because the light was mostly very uninspiring that I couldn't take any of the shots that I had in mind when I left home. But, when the sun was very low and came out from behind the clouds, there was a really wonderful glow on the faces of passers by and it really shone through the hair of the numerous pretty girls who walked between me and the sun :naughty:. As always, I was too shy to try and photograph them, for fear of being labelled 'a pervert' :( (read: 'exposed for the pervert that I am' :naughty:).

But even so, I would have hoped that I could have salvaged something from a 4 hour walk :(. Maybe it's because I never leave the city (no car) and it's beginning to lose it's sparkle ;)!? Note to self: "Get on the train once in a while, or take up wildlife/macro photography".

:D

Anyone else out there who's had a blank day recently :)?
 
Ive had one or two over the last few months.

Not totally sure why but I think it's because I'm wanting or needing to go in a new direction of photography.
 
its common place when you photograph the landscape alot . . .
 
I've been to Hannover a couple of times, but never with my dslr. I'll have to take it next time.

The old ruined church in the middle is quite good. Sitting by the train station would be good for street shots, as would the market. Never been to the zoo but you have one of those as well.
 
Sometimes I go out and take pics I never meant to. I spotted a couple of friends fishing whilst driving past (they were 1m from the road) so had to stop.

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Happens to me quite a bit, take the kit out then find i just can't be bothered, just lack of inspiration i guess, but having said that when i do actually take the camera out of my back pack and start i find i can't stop, i think sometimes it's just making that initial effort, hope that makes sense :shrug:
 
I wouldn't count bad-weather/wrong light as a 'blank' - if the light's not right, it's not right - can't be helped - it's not the same as wandering around town and not finding inspiration...
 
The only time I ever come back with a card/film full of crap is if the light is terrible on a landscape shoot. I'm always inspired and can always see a shot in every medium apart from bloody landscapes, and if the light isn't on my side well then that makes the whole situation worse.
 
Byker28i said:
I've been to Hannover a couple of times, but never with my dslr. I'll have to take it next time.

The old ruined church in the middle is quite good. Sitting by the train station would be good for street shots, as would the market. Never been to the zoo but you have one of those as well.
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True enough :thumbs:, there are all kinds of things to photograph in Hannover (I have a website full of them ;)). I did do some "street" shots outside the train station once, but I wasn't very comfortable with it :( and neither were some of my subjects :D ...

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The zoo is definitley one that I'm saving for a nice day when the kids are all at school - that should be a great day out :)!

Anyway, Byker28i, as your competion winning photo of the guy sitting by the bridge confirms ;), you just need to find the shots where you can - location isn't everything :shrug:!
 
TG. said:
Happens to me quite a bit, take the kit out then find i just can't be bothered, just lack of inspiration i guess, but having said that when i do actually take the camera out of my back pack and start i find i can't stop, i think sometimes it's just making that initial effort, hope that makes sense :shrug:
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Oh, it does :lol:! I know that feeling alright.
 
often when out shooting landscapes the camera doesnt come close to coming out of the bag. if the conditons arent right or, inexplicably, i dont "feel" it I wont take photographs. instead i think of all the reasons why i was right not to take the camera out of the bag and learn from it. i feel i get more out of this approach than just taking a few for the sake of it. Its usually a gut reaction thing and would rather this than sit on the PC and going through lots of pics just deleting them. I may not get all that many photos now but the ones i do get are real keepers

dave
 
Arkady said:
I wouldn't count bad-weather/wrong light as a 'blank' - if the light's not right, it's not right - can't be helped - it's not the same as wandering around town and not finding inspiration...
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Actually, Arkady, you've just highlighted the other problem that I have, which stops me getting the shots I want and your signature quote just backs it up :p! I'm too fearful of taking candid portraits (which is were I frequently see the best opportunites), as I worry about what kind of conflicts it might lead to :(.

I'm very tall and look very English :D, which makes it impossible for me to just blend in and go unnoticed. What's worse is that my German language skills are pretty limited and that makes me reluctant to get into a dialogue with strangers (maybe you know this problem yourself, from your experiences as a Brit in Germany :shrug:?). The icing on the cake is that I'm basically a fairly shy and reserved kind of chap, who would like to take a lot of pictures, which he just doesn't have the confidence to take - catch 22 :shrug:.

Maybe I should go back to stamp collecting :'( ..... (:D joke).
 
I was out today and took heaps of pics and have not even looked at them yet, why?, they are mostly crap and I can't bring myself to wade through it.

To be honest, I am nowhere near good enough to go out, take 10pics and come home with several winners.
 
Hyster said:
I was out today and took heaps of pics and have not even looked at them yet, why?, they are mostly crap and I can't bring myself to wade through it.

To be honest, I am nowhere near good enough to go out, take 10pics and come home with several winners.
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I know what you mean

I took 110 pics today at Chester Zoo and have kept 38 of them. And I suspect 30 of the 38 are pants :(
 
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