I am really struggling right now. I am over 200 days into my project and I am having a hard time staying inspired. I have just over 4 hours left for today and I have not taken the first picture. Help!!!
Tricky 4 hours before the end of the day....but when I'm uninspired I go to the discussions particularly the camera settings challenges or the breaking the rules challenges and get some ideas from there...Also I often fav photos of techniques I wish to try, I go to my favs list and usually find some inspiration there.
My advice, having been doing this projct for about 100 years (ok, ok, 3 years) is to get a shot in early in the day if you can - of anything - then at least the pressure's off and if a better pic comes along, then great... if not, then at least you've got a snap
Never worry if it's a crap pic, cos this isn't a "best pic" competition, but a shot a day test...
Like Monika, I use the challenges for ideas. I also have a box of 'stuff' which I've set aside for macro shots for uninspired days (it contains all sorts of things like coffee beans, pot pourri, straws, pebbles, pine cones etc). I also flick through my favourites on here & on Flickr and see if it triggers any inspiration.
If all else fails, I wander around the house with the nifty fifty and just taking random pics until (hopefully) something clicks.
If it's late, is the moon out? ;)
If you get stuck...look at other peoples photos to get inspiration from...if you find something you like....then try that style...just give the person credit you got inspiration from. :))
Some great ideas here! I often do what Andy suggested. Otherwise sometimes I shoot more on particular days and have a surplus of photos so I might process one on the day I didn't take one. I'm not a purely must-take-and-post-on-the-same-day-every-day gal, though most days I do. I like to mull over images sometimes.
@istacy1011 Stacy just miss a few days thats what I do if I don't have a shot that I like its no big deal, people seem to think that it is life or death when it comes to posting daily. Some people think its better to just post a pick of your poached egg on toast that you have for breakfast :S.
By the look of your album you are trying lots of things already have a look at the themes and breaking the rules posts, try breaking rules :P
I'm doing this to improve my photography techniques in the style that I like, not have 365 pics of eggs on toast :)
go back through your photos, use a filler or two, and give your brain a rest... Or skip days... I am here to learn and improve and stressed about THE shot .. which is NOT why I take photos.. it is my relaxation, just make it fun.. no one will shoot you if you miss a day.. But I agree with @flagged.. no eggs on toast..
This won't help you today, but maybe you just need a change of scenery. Take a walk or drive somewhere you rarely (if ever) go. New surroundings often present undiscovered treasures.
To help avoid this, I try to map out my shots a week in advance. Each Friday I just write down a list of photo ideas for the coming week- of course being somewhat realistic. If you have an idea of what you're going to take (or a goal), it helps making this project less of a task (or chore) and something enjoyable. And of course getting a great shot a day is hard so some will be crap- plain and simple. Also my fallback if all else fails is MACRO. You can do macro anytime of the day - indoors and out. Hope this helps some....
You guys are awesome! Thank you so much! I finally (FINALLY!) came up with an idea for today, but I will be using some of your ideas in days to come, I am quite certain.
@brianl I love the idea of mapping out your shots ahead of time. I'll have to see if I can do that as well. That would definitely help.
I have my "Go To" spots. Just a little bit from my office there is an open graffiti wall which has new painting on it daily. The local Farmers Market. There is almost always a busker or two playing or maybe a shot of the produce. Just down from where I live there is a P-Patch where city folk can have a little garden plot. I can find flowers, insects, live or dead plants. Like others have mentioned wander around your home and click.
Try and find a couple of "Go To" spots and you'll always have somewhere to go.
I ask my children or husband to take the pose or to help me to find an idea... And I have got some shots I keep "in case of emergency", that I can post-process or not before using as filler...
@istacy1011
Hi Stacey! Had a look through some of your recent shots and think they are great! I find that the interaction I get from others on this site is really what keeps me going, for inspiration and new skills to try. In 'low' weeks I've looked back at my previous stuff and thought 'ok, I haven't done a sky /macro /nature shot for a while, how about one of those..' and I have a few things I have wanted to try which I slot in when I get a quiet time. I'm with the 'it doesn't Have to be a photo a day' brigade... if one day I get nothing I look for 2 the next day, or sometimes find I take a whole heap of shots and save them for when I need a break. Keep going, keep enjoying it!
PS And make sure your camera is with you, all the time!!
Another one for banking a shot early - not that you can see, but my first year project was very much a shot a day and fillers only when desperate or working on a challenge. I had a lot of dawns and early morning droplets on my way to work. The other thing I did when stuck was wander down to the fields in summer or round the town, particularly in winter, seeing what I could get - shop windows, panning shots, blue hour or street candids. I also had a mental list of challenges to try, some of which I never did - bubbles, straws, dandelion heads, back-lit daisies, feathers, droplet refractions. I never did do any of the staged crayon shots (they are on a lot of hate lists), but did other staged shots like food colouring in water. I also keep trying out new processing and seeing what I can get there too.
This time I'm planning a week ahead and not worrying about a shot a day. But I'm also aiming to do as many challenges as possible to push myself.
@istacy1011 Make it your diary,you won't regret keeping it to that, I promise. I don't post and never get viewed any more but my photography is the best it has ever been and I love it more each day. I know it's easy for me to say now that my project is done. If nothing else sell stuff you don't need and buy a new photography toy. I do that too :)
Process one of your uninspired shots. Turn it into a small piece of artwork - if nothing else, it's a creativity break that helps you improve your graphic editing skills. Turn it black and white, or crop an interesting detail out of it; play with some filters, colourize it, metallicize it, rotate bits, etc etc - have some fun with it and see what happens.
Seriously, don't worry if you miss a day. It's better to take a short break if you need to rather than post something you know isn't much good and which you're going to wish in retrospect you hadn't posted.
@bobfoto Or comfort tea if you are aging trouble sleeping. @istacy1011 I often stop the car on the way to work and take a photo of the light, or just go for a walk at lunchtime or in the garden. The activity of taking a photo can create the concentration and focus
First of all, I don't worry about it. No one will notice if you are posting late. Mostly people just want to see what's going on.
Any time you have a mental block, do something different. Do a challenge. Learn something new and apply it to your picture. More importantly, stop looking for something that isn't there. Look at what is right in front of you and you will find something, always. Look at the details, the light, the angle.
I love all these ideas!!! The only one I just can't bring myself to do is NOT have a picture a day. I know, I know...sometimes it's better to just step back a little, but I have made it every single day so far this year (including when I've been sick and out of the country). It hasn't always been POSTED the same day, but at least something was taken. I just have to make it, lol!
At least today's photo should be easy. My cousin is in labor and having a c-section this afternoon. She wants pictures of her two oldest meeting the baby for the first time. Sounds like a winner to me :)
macro is always my fallback for when i'm uninspired....
just don't leave it until really late at night when you are too tired to put the effort in to actually take a proper photo.
Some of my 11.45pm shots have been disasters... poor composition, soft focus... and too tired to care. Then feel awful about it the next day because I know that i can do ssoo much better if I wasn't half asleep and hadn't left it to the last minute!
I'm also struggling a bit with being uninspired at the moment.... think it's just life being crazy busy is making it a challenge to get a daily photo in... but i'm hoping it's just a temporary blip and i'll get my mojo back soon!
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Never worry if it's a crap pic, cos this isn't a "best pic" competition, but a shot a day test...
If all else fails, I wander around the house with the nifty fifty and just taking random pics until (hopefully) something clicks.
If it's late, is the moon out? ;)
By the look of your album you are trying lots of things already have a look at the themes and breaking the rules posts, try breaking rules :P
I'm doing this to improve my photography techniques in the style that I like, not have 365 pics of eggs on toast :)
@brianl I love the idea of mapping out your shots ahead of time. I'll have to see if I can do that as well. That would definitely help.
Try and find a couple of "Go To" spots and you'll always have somewhere to go.
Hi Stacey! Had a look through some of your recent shots and think they are great! I find that the interaction I get from others on this site is really what keeps me going, for inspiration and new skills to try. In 'low' weeks I've looked back at my previous stuff and thought 'ok, I haven't done a sky /macro /nature shot for a while, how about one of those..' and I have a few things I have wanted to try which I slot in when I get a quiet time. I'm with the 'it doesn't Have to be a photo a day' brigade... if one day I get nothing I look for 2 the next day, or sometimes find I take a whole heap of shots and save them for when I need a break. Keep going, keep enjoying it!
PS And make sure your camera is with you, all the time!!
This time I'm planning a week ahead and not worrying about a shot a day. But I'm also aiming to do as many challenges as possible to push myself.
Solves most of the world's creative problems....
Seriously, don't worry if you miss a day. It's better to take a short break if you need to rather than post something you know isn't much good and which you're going to wish in retrospect you hadn't posted.
@istacy1011 I often stop the car on the way to work and take a photo of the light, or just go for a walk at lunchtime or in the garden. The activity of taking a photo can create the concentration and focus
Yes, I always find taking a pic early in the day helps immensely!
Any time you have a mental block, do something different. Do a challenge. Learn something new and apply it to your picture. More importantly, stop looking for something that isn't there. Look at what is right in front of you and you will find something, always. Look at the details, the light, the angle.
At least today's photo should be easy. My cousin is in labor and having a c-section this afternoon. She wants pictures of her two oldest meeting the baby for the first time. Sounds like a winner to me :)
just don't leave it until really late at night when you are too tired to put the effort in to actually take a proper photo.
Some of my 11.45pm shots have been disasters... poor composition, soft focus... and too tired to care. Then feel awful about it the next day because I know that i can do ssoo much better if I wasn't half asleep and hadn't left it to the last minute!
I'm also struggling a bit with being uninspired at the moment.... think it's just life being crazy busy is making it a challenge to get a daily photo in... but i'm hoping it's just a temporary blip and i'll get my mojo back soon!