Losing interest. Need inspiration not duplication!

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

11/14/2007 03:07:28 AM · #1

Lately my interest in DPC has been fading partly because it seems to now stand for Duplicate Photography Challenge. When I first came here I was wowed by the photographs. Like today a lot of it was stock-ish and based on prior shots but they were appealing in that the photographer's own the shot. They put their stamp on it. Today, creativity is all but dead and inspiration has been replaced with duplication. What's worse, people don't seem to know the difference or even care. It just seems like the bar has been dropped rather than raised and voters don't seem to mind.

Ok I'm done. My first rant! Maybe I just need to see some real good photographs again. Anybody have some?

goc

Apple iPhone 4

11/14/2007 03:12:18 AM · #2

Originally posted by yanko:

... Today, creativity is all but dead and inspiration has been replaced with duplication. What's worse, people don't seem to know the difference or even care ...

i agree with you totally. as for good photographs try to find someones portfolio (here or anywhere else) which has a big diversity in photo subjects/themes/processing etc. ... it usually helps the down feeling :-)

i know i'm not helpful but at least it try ... the same goes for my photos too :-)

jdannels

Nikon D300s

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM for Nikon

11/14/2007 03:16:20 AM · #3

Its tough my inspiration waxes and wanes. I like to go to //www.onexposure.net/ for inspiration. It has a different format for photo sharing where each photo needs to be approved before it is displayed on the site, decided on by screener's and the members. Most of the photos up there are not there for spectacular technicals but artistic merit. I find it a great break from DPC.

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

11/14/2007 03:51:00 AM · #4

I've got lots of nice snapshots in my portfolio. You could always go check those out... :-)

Simms

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR

11/14/2007 05:23:00 AM · #5

Yanko,
The thing is, you have been here a long time and you will start to see a lot of similar stuff, but to the newcomer, they are probably blown away with some of the shots they are seeing.

Also, remember that people don't like to try anything too new or out of the box, as the majority of us are here to win ribbons. Out-of-the-box and Ribbons are not always the best of friends.

Maybe its time to take a few months out of DPC and try your hand at other disciplines & sites where experimentation will be accepted.

Not that I want you to go or anything you lovable old rouge.

Message edited by author 2007-11-14 05:23:09.

Stagolee

Kodak Easyshare C180

Canon EF 50mm f1.2L

11/14/2007 07:38:43 AM · #6

Yeah.... I get a bit bored from time to time here, so I usually take a break for awhile, but the best way to get inspired again is to buy a new camera.....which I did today.

I hope they bring the DPL back again as that always sparks things up a bit!!

NikonJeb

Nikon D850

11/14/2007 07:51:07 AM · #7

Not that it applies to you, Richard, but it seems to me that every time I get disgusted with the way things are going here, it's something I can fix with a project, or discipline, that puts me outside of my comfort zone, or for that matter, micro-attack something that is comfortable with trying to put a new twist on it.

That seems to change my perspective every time. I certainly haven't been around as long as you, but I can say that I know what you mean to a certain extent. I don't even hardly see auroras and flower bokehs unless there's some twist to them.

But like Mark says, when I first got here, those were awesome to have as a benchmark.

I was getting disgusted with myself not too terribly long ago, and not that I'm in your league or anything, but I have come long way since getting here, and the curve simply has to fall off as we get closer to our level of ability.

So the excitement has to come from what you're doing now instead of the outside stimuli so much.

So what *do* you have on tap?......8>)

Oh, and the new camera idea always works! LOL!!!

scalvert

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

11/14/2007 07:51:49 AM · #8

Originally posted by Simms:

Out-of-the-box and Ribbons are not always the best of friends.

Objection, your Honor.

zxaar

11/14/2007 08:23:45 AM · #9

Originally posted by scalvert:

Originally posted by Simms:
Out-of-the-box and Ribbons are not always the best of friends.

Objection, your Honor.

notice 'not always' in the sentence.

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

11/14/2007 08:47:06 AM · #10

Originally posted by yanko:

Ok I'm done. My first rant! Maybe I just need to see some real good photographs again. Anybody have some?

Give out yanko ribbons. I'm serious. People love to get praise from cranky grouches. It makes them feel like their father loves them after all.

Be part of the solution!

Simms

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

11/14/2007 08:49:44 AM · #11

Originally posted by posthumous:

Give out yanko ribbons. I'm serious. People love to get praise from cranky grouches.

LOL, he knows you far too well..

Yo_Spiff

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

11/14/2007 09:36:55 AM · #12

It does sometimes seem that everything you can think of has already been done. I like to try to find a different view of something familiar. I was in downtown Fort Worth the other day, and I know everyone snaps the mural in sundance square of the cattle drive. (...and the Angel on Bass performace hall, and the courthouse from the south end of main street) I looked a little past it and got this one of Clint Eastwood and John Wayne keeping an eye over the city:

Of course, I'm probably not the first person to do that shot, either.

Message edited by author 2007-11-14 09:37:38.

Louis

Nikon D800

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D

11/14/2007 10:12:38 AM · #13

Try this thread. There's lots of inspiration there, and many different styles. If it's too overwhelming, try these:

Bogdan Zwir
Lars Raun
Jan Saudek
Rene Asmussen

yanko

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

11/14/2007 05:24:05 PM · #14

Thanks guys. I'll check out the links.

Canon EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

11/14/2007 05:31:42 PM · #15

Originally posted by yanko:

Thanks guys. I'll check out the links.

Invite them to start entering challenges.

JBHale

Canon EOS-20D

11/16/2007 09:52:10 AM · #16

Well maybe instead of "themes" for challenges, there should be artistic styles (like Bokeh). Maybe DPC needs to encourage users to use photo techniques that are more "artistic," dare I say the word, and more innovative.

It just might spice things up around here.

glad2badad

Apple iPhone 16 Pro

Lensbaby Sweet 35 Optic

11/16/2007 09:58:38 AM · #17

Originally posted by JBHale:

I'd be interested. What would you put on the list?

JBHale

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

11/16/2007 10:25:26 AM · #18

Originally posted by glad2badad:

Originally posted by JBHale:
Well maybe instead of "themes" for challenges, there should be artistic styles (like Bokeh). Maybe DPC needs to encourage users to use photo techniques that are more "artistic," dare I say the word, and more innovative.

It just might spice things up around here.

I'd be interested. What would you put on the list?

Oh geez, I'm not well versed enough in it, but stuff I see in magazines like "Black and White." The really... you know... artistic stuff...

I'll get back to you on that...

11/16/2007 10:26:12 AM · #19

Originally posted by JBHale:

Oh geez, I'm not well versed enough in it, but stuff I see in magazines like "Black and White." The really... you know... artistic stuff...

I'll get back to you on that...

I can tell you from experience if you submit anything along the lines of what you see in B&W you are guaranteed a 5.3.

glad2badad

Apple iPhone 16 Pro

Lensbaby Sweet 35 Optic

11/16/2007 10:44:24 AM · #20

Originally posted by routerguy666:

Originally posted by JBHale:

Oh geez, I'm not well versed enough in it, but stuff I see in magazines like "Black and White." The really... you know... artistic stuff...

I'll get back to you on that...

I can tell you from experience if you submit anything along the lines of what you see in B&W you are guaranteed a 5.3.

Yeah. Those darn B&W shots just don't cut it. :-P

Fujifilm XF 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 R LM OIS

11/16/2007 10:49:59 AM · #21

The leaf shot you might see in b/w, certainly not the pots. A lot of the images in that mag are along the lines of these

Images that appear to make people vote with a cattle prod.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

11/16/2007 10:55:57 AM · #22

Originally posted by yanko:

A lot of the stuff I used to think was original is just ripped off from somewhere else. There aren't a lot of new ideas around and those that are original, people don't like because they haven't seen them before.

glad2badad

Apple iPhone 16 Pro

Lensbaby Sweet 35 Optic

11/16/2007 10:58:39 AM · #23

Originally posted by routerguy666:

The leaf shot you might see in b/w, certainly not the pots. A lot of the images in that mag are along the lines of these

Images that appear to make people vote with a cattle prod.

:-D Ok. Didn't catch the reference to a specific magazine (B&W) and have never read it.

BTW - I loved this photo (gave it a 9) ==>

ursula

Fujifilm X-T2

11/16/2007 11:34:10 AM · #24

Originally posted by yanko:

I'm answering without reading the rest of the thread, so maybe it's going to be a repeat. But .... I think you're wrong :) Creativity is not dead at DPC. There is a lot of duplication, and a lot of "mediocrity," but there's also a lot of creativity. As you spend more time here, you see the same things over and over, yes, but you also see new stuff, things that just blow you away, where you think, "Wow, that's beautiful! I got to try that!"

I think that the two key ingredients to avoid loosing interest at DPC are: (1) to get away from being so focused on the challenges, but to focus instead on what you want to do; challenges are short term, what you want to do is likely something worth exploring over the long term. (2) to not worry about trying to either "please the masses" or to do things according to the popular accepted perception of what's right or wrong in photography, but to pursue what you see in your mind's eyes, to put into pictures what you want to say with your images.

I think one thing that is both a strength and a drawback of DPChallenge is that it provides access and exposure to so many different people with such varied levels of proficiency. It makes for a wider range of pictures to look at. It also makes it look at times like the pictures here aren't "as good" as pictures at other sites, where you only get "the best" on the front page.

Oh well. These are the musings of someone who's thought very much along the same lines, yet keeps coming back here, because it IS an inspiring and encouraging place, more so than most on the net.

----

Added: And then I read the rest of the thread, and think, hmmmm, why did you just write all that stuff? But, contrary to my natural inclination to delete it and replace with "n/m", I'm not going to, this time. :)

Message edited by author 2007-11-16 11:36:10.