| Author | Thread |
|
|
09/26/2006 07:41:42 AM · #1 |
| Well, I have been on DPC for over 4 years now. Started out as a pretty inexperienced and statistically speaking below average photographer. As time has gone by I feel my skills have improved and my results have become consistently better. I used to submit pictures into almost every challenge. Now, I feel as if I have hit a wall. I know my pictures are better than when I started and yet I am less satisfied with many of them knowing what I am capable of. I have become more and more selective with which pictures I submit. Due to my time constraints with job and family it has limited me in my ability to pursue and create the kind of pictures I am proud to display. Therefore, I have come to somewhat of a standstill. This is somewhat frustrating because I am not as active in DPC as I used to be. Hopefully, it is just a phase or has my increased knowledge in photography resulted in me becoming a perfectionist and therfore reducing my enjoyment of photography because of the pressure I put on myself to submit a unique and creative picture each and every time. Has anybody else experienced the same kind of feelings? |
|
|
|
09/26/2006 07:56:45 AM · #2 |
| I think we all have! You are definitely not alone here! I have chunks of time (months) where I haven't entered a challenge, then I will enter five in a row. There is no method to the madness. I have found that if the challenge doesn't interest me, I don't enter it. If my challenge entry isn't my best, I don't enter it. I used to feel guilty about it, and then I said screw it. This is about me and my development as a photographer, not about winning a ribbon. Just go with the flow... |
|
|
|
09/26/2006 08:00:25 AM · #3 |
That's pretty much exactly as I feel, and have felt during the last 2 years. Once in a while I feel a DPC urge, and submit to 4-5 challenges in a row, then I stop submitting due to lack of time.
I think it would have been different if there had been some more changes made to DPChallenge - like elimination challenges, prizes, etc etc. The current format is in my opinion a tad boring at the moment.
Hopefully I'll get the urge again..
|
|
|
|
09/26/2006 08:43:09 AM · #4 |
when i started at dpc, i sometimes had hours and days to devote to chasing a challenge entry. now i don't have as much time. i shoot enough that i could probably shoehorn in a shot into just about every challenge, but i don't enjoy entering just for the sake of entering. it might be more interesting if it wasn't stuck with so much of a one-size-fits-all format...
|
|
|
|
09/26/2006 10:19:07 AM · #5 |
Yep -- when I first started it was the thrill of the up date button. I also had more time to spend of photography for me. But over the last 2 years weddings and portraits have taken over my life so when I do have time for "my" photography I'm much more selective. It's my kids activities or something personal. I use to also have time to drop an occasional email to people like Skip!
|
|
|
|
09/26/2006 10:25:12 AM · #6 |
Am I the only one having a hard time feeling sorry for these multiple ribbon winners?
Just kidding.
Shoot and enter when you want and/or feel motivated, if not move on to something else. DPC is what it is, a chance to shoot an assignment, improve your techniques, and see how you compare against the other members.
The occasional soap opera and voting scandal is a bonus!
|
|
|
|
09/26/2006 11:28:29 AM · #7 |
The good news for me is I think I've finally figured out BEFORE entering a challenge if a shot will score low. I used to upload what I thought was the greatest image ever captured in pixels to a challenge only to find out one day after voting starts that I'm definitely the ONLY one who thinks that. :o)
The bad news is, I think 99% of what I shoot falls into that low-5-point-earning shots. I have no desire to enter a challenge just to get a mediocre score, so consequently I haven't entered a challenge in a while.
But with the stock and portrait photography I've been doing lately, I've been doing a TON of shooting, and my skills are improving all the time. I always scan the contests to see if a shot I've taken recently would fit. If it does, I may enter. If it doesn't, I won't bother. But I haven't set out to take a picture specifically for a challenge in a while. But who knows? That may change next week and I'll be back in the update-button-as-crack mode. :o)
Sorry for the ramble. Just a few bits of my $.02.
-Don |
|
|
|
09/26/2006 11:59:01 AM · #8 |
| And I thought I was the only one that got that feeling. This is great. I AM NOT ALONE! Well, keep on going, that is what I have to do. I finally had a good streak last night and was up till well aftet midnight working on some photos that I took, and that hasn't happened in a long time. |
|
|
|
09/26/2006 01:29:12 PM · #9 |
| I'm in the same boat too. Like others mentioned here, I find it hard to find the time to shoot for myself anymore let alone for the challenges. Once in a great while I'll get an idea for a challenge and if time allows I'll try it even if I don't end up submitting it. But I still like learning from studying other people's entries/portfolios, reading the forums, and posting some of my own stuff occasionally. There are many fine photographers here that I look up to for inspiration, and this site is a wealth of knowledge and inspiration at our fingertips. There's so much more to this site than an update button. |
|
|
|
09/26/2006 02:00:24 PM · #10 |
This is only my second year on DPC, and I am already feeling some of what you're talking about. I started out entering every challenge that I could get into, and that bled off until now I seem to enter once a month or so, if I'm lucky.
I know that my skills have improved, and that I'm doing better work, but I still feel like I can't reach that "aura" that ribbon winners have, and it frustrates me. So when I do enter now, I'm on average better than last year, but still not getting the scores I would like to see, and because of that, even the Update button has lost its appeal. The last three challenges I've entered, I find that I check my score once or twice and then the week is up, and it takes me two days to remember to even see where I placed overall.
I hope I am able to move past this, but for the moment, I'm just not letting it bother me. It is what it is. But it is nice to hear that we're not alone!
|
|
|
|
09/26/2006 02:46:14 PM · #11 |
| For me what happens is I don't enter anything for a few times, and then I finally get a challenge that inspires me, so I enter. Once I enter that one the creativity starts to flow and I find solutions to several other challenges. Then I miss a couple and I just become a voter for a while. |
|
|
|
09/26/2006 03:07:23 PM · #12 |
i just keep shooting ;)
140 challenges - i don't worry about my score ..
took a month off last Apr - didn't make a damn bit of diff.
i still suck occasionally & occasionally i'm inspired
part of the process is to try diff. things -
i don't know where the next level is .. maybe when i hit that wall i'll look for it ..
|
|
|
|
09/26/2006 03:39:48 PM · #13 |
I don't feel quite like this but I do submit to fewer challenges than I did when I first joined 2 1/2 years ago. Then I entered every challenge - it was so thrilling to see what score you would get! This seems to always be the way when you first start, some kind of innocence of the sort like "fools rush in where angels fear to tread".
What I think is weird, the better my photography skills get the less satisfied I am with my photos! I get so picky with myself, that I take pictures for challenges and then think they suck so don't enter them.
I still usually have one picture in each week but I used to have two and three - one in every challenge going. Part of it, I think, is that after having won some ribbons you don't feel as "driven" to enter as you did at first. Some people never seen to lose the drive to win more ribbons but for many after you've won a few it's kind of nice to rest on your laurels for awhile. In a way, I think of that as a kind of natural "fairness" or equality of life at work.
When someone has won a few ribbons and is feeling pretty satisfied with themselves - they kick into low gear for a while; it lets other people move to the top and win ribbons. Kind of a natural cycle.
Other parts of DPC (besides entering pictures) are very enjoyable to me though, too - I love to vote, it seems like such a pleasure to go through the pictures and really look at them and vote on them. I've voted on over 80,000 pictures in my 2 1/2 years here! It never fails to amaze me how creative and talented people are.
Message edited by author 2006-09-26 15:53:58. |
|
|
|
09/26/2006 03:43:51 PM · #14 |
Golf is the same way ... the better you get, the more likely you are to swear when you mess a birdy putt.
I'm with ya ... no worries.
|
|
|
|
12/12/2006 07:50:56 AM · #15 |
Hi Everybody;
There are, it seems , a lot of things going on here all at once. I'm only going to touch on a few.
Welcome to the creative arts. Photography, drawing, painting, writing, music etc. There is no on/off switch. That is what is so hard, and what makes it so interesting and inspiring at the same time. Bit of that double edged sword syndrome. We've all gotten so accustom to opening the package, reading the instructions, putting it together and getting perfection everytime. Just like Ikea furniture or that new PC you just bought. (tongue-in-cheek)
If you are new to this discipline (photography), then there is quite a novelty to the whole process. I too experinced this "newness" around 25 years ago, when your results were not so instantaneous. I kinda wonder if the attraction happens easier and more often because of the technology.(Another discussion)
Now, this novelty has begun to wear off. Everybody gets into these disciplines for different reasons, therefore, some may begin to loose that intensity they had at the start, while others will pursue it with renewed vigor. That's just the way it happens. Some folks fall in love more with the techno toys and software than they do with the image making and creative process. The former (techo toys) is dry, calcualting and has limits and is a money pit! The latter (creative process) costs nothing and has no limits.
So, what inspires you, is what makes you move further along to produce, not necessarily something "better" but, something different for you. Entering and winning competitions here, is, but only a sliver of the whole big world of photography. Just because you've won some stuff here doesn't mean you stop. (Unless you've totally lost interest). The interent is a beautiful tool for going out and exploring new possiblilities. I only wish I had this tool back when I was starting out. It is truly remarkable.
I could go on and on about this subject, but I do have other things to do.
I would be more than pleased to discuss this further with anyone.
After all the years I've been in this industry, I am still learning "plenty" and still pursuing that inspiration that you all are.
Cheers
Don
Message edited by author 2006-12-12 07:52:11. |
|
|
|
12/12/2006 11:17:45 AM · #16 |
I just realized that I'm a rotten Challenge photographer. I have less time these days and even the minimum effort the ribbon winners put into their shots, I rarely have to offer.
I know I've gotten better since I've joined which is the most important thing. Lately I started entering again after a long lay-off mostly because I'm taking it all less seriously, I don't care about scores or my average and it keeps my mind occupied on things other than work.
|
|
|
|
12/12/2006 11:26:14 AM · #17 |
I've totally hit a wall. Not only with entering challenges, but everything photo related. I have shot all there is to shoot within a 20 mile radius of me. I am not interested in photography buildings, landscape or cows. I hate walking around downtown because of the solicitors and lack of comfort toting around a big lens and heavy camera bag. I am so out of ideas. There are lots of interesting teens I could shoot, but I don't know how to approach them or where to take them for a shoot even if I had a model. I have exhausted the old abandoned house near me, and I really only want to shoot moody stuff, not always what people want to buy or even look at.
What do we do now? |
|
|
|
12/12/2006 11:31:14 AM · #18 |
Some people devote years to getting to a point of technical excellence in photography then quit, because they realise they've got nothing to say.
For others, that's when they start actually taking pictures.
It is tough sometimes to find the motivation. Challenges, and weekly challenges in particular can blind you to why you actually started taking pictures in the first place.
When you go out with an assignment and a deadline, that introduces pressure, stress and maybe disconnects you from taking the actual shots or being in the moment that you are in. All the focus ends up on the end product - the final photo - not the action of taking them, of looking, of observing, of being creative.
I put my camera down for 6 months this year. Didn't touch it at all. Only recently found myself shooting a lot more again, but quite different subjects and way out of any previous comfort zone. Lots of fun.
|
|
|
|
12/12/2006 11:31:45 AM · #19 |
Originally posted by CalliopeKel:
I've totally hit a wall. Not only with entering challenges, but everything photo related. I have shot all there is to shoot within a 20 mile radius of me. I am not interested in photography buildings, landscape or cows. I hate walking around downtown because of the solicitors and lack of comfort toting around a big lens and heavy camera bag. I am so out of ideas. There are lots of interesting teens I could shoot, but I don't know how to approach them or where to take them for a shoot even if I had a model. I have exhausted the old abandoned house near me, and I really only want to shoot moody stuff, not always what people want to buy or even look at.
What do we do now? |
Sounds like you've gotten really comfortable. What scares you the most, photographically ? What are your biggest fears in terms of subject matter ?
Go shoot that for a month.
|
|
|
|
12/12/2006 11:36:24 AM · #20 |
Yep, very much so.
I was reading something a couple days ago, in Photo Life (a magazine), an article called "Parallel Effects, the Consequences of Conformity" (second article listed - it's not the whole article, just the listing) that sort of talks about this. If I understand it correctly, he argues that competition stiffles creativity, that people who get good at winning competitions often do so at the expense of producing innovative work, and other things.
I am not sure I totally agree, but there is some truth to this. Any sort of group mentality is a damper on individual expression.
I think the attitude mentioned by  pawdrix below is good, take it less seriously. DPChallenge is fun, but it's not the end of all things.
As for photography in general, it's not so bad to take a break, to give yourself the opportunity to sit back and look at things from a different perspective, to not click away for a while. It's fun actually to do so. The hope is that you will always come back and go on with that new vision and be very satisfied (at least for a while) :)
|
|
|
|
12/12/2006 11:39:04 AM · #21 |
what  ralph said! I just keep shooting.
I am drawning in ideas. literally:) because sometimes I have to get under water to take what I want to take.
I am entering every single challenge to practice. I still have time for my own ideas but challenges help me to work under some rules and under time pressure - and I like it!
it's like Lars von Trier's rules for making movies: the more pressure and the less space for "creativity" the more creative you become in choosing the ideas and trying to create inside given rules.
this site is fantastic. I am improving every day (well, at least I think so:)
I am a bad beginner photographer :) that's what I will always tell myself because honores mutant mores. once I say yes, I am so good! I will stop learning. that's the worst thing that can happen to me.
just my theory:)
Svetlana |
|
|
|
12/12/2006 11:41:39 AM · #22 |
Originally posted by CalliopeKel:
I have shot all there is to shoot within a 20 mile radius of me.
What do we do now? |
Drive 30 miles? :))))
Seriously, I don't know what would work for you. A couple suggestions, (1) revisit your old subjects and look at them in a new light; (2) ask people if they would sit for you, maybe at that old house you have close by; (3) try a subject you hate for a couple days, just for the fun of it (like cows); (4) pick up drawing, draw people for a while, it helps a great deal with photography. I don't know. :)
|
|
|
|
12/12/2006 11:41:53 AM · #23 |
<==== suffering from a serious cas of burnout and creative blocks
|
|
|
|
12/12/2006 11:44:31 AM · #24 |
Originally posted by ursula:
If I understand it correctly, he argues that competition stiffles creativity, that people who get good at winning competitions often do so at the expense of producing innovative work, and other things.
I am not sure I totally agree, but there is some truth to this. Any sort of group mentality is a damper on individual expression. |
I do tend to agree with this. If you want to win, you have to shoot to appeal to what people currently like. Not for what they might like in the future, once they've seen it enough to like it.
So I doubt anything really new or creative ever wins a contest, particularly not one with open judging.
Looking back through art history, almost every new ism was greeted with condemnation and outright abuse. Then over time, maybe it becomes a movement and people start to want to imitate or at least become familiar enough to like the style.
So for challenges, there is a continual pressure to conform (with a very immediate and obvious feedback loop to try to squash anything that doesn't)
It is probably an easier path to go off, do something new, work at it, be creative, explore and create a body of work in a style before you show it to anyone - rather than put out each immature piece for critique and hope to be able to sustain the effort.
Not that you can't do that in a challenge environment with open critique, but it takes maybe a stronger internal vision & drive, than doing it more in private at first.
Message edited by author 2006-12-12 11:45:24.
|
|
|
|
12/12/2006 11:45:50 AM · #25 |
Originally posted by CalliopeKel:
What do we do now? |
we can have some kind of a brain storming some day:) it really helps sometimes! or you can do like I always do: have brain storming with yourself. it also helps. |
|
