Meh... Nothing special

I must admit, I am struggling with my photography these days. I don’t know if it is that school has started, the lack of energy or the fact that I feel like I am not measuring up to the other great photographers here in Korea and abroad. Whatever it is, I am struggling to get that “feeling” that we all get when you set out to take photos.

This new  ”meh…” feeling is a dangerous time for a lot of photographers as it is a tightrope walk of sorts. I have seen a lot of good photographers hang up or simply sell their cameras because they’ve “lost interest” and got bored. Others felt disillusioned by the whole industry and  moved on to something else.  This has me a little scared but I just have to push on.

With any creative hobby or passion there will come a time when you just feel “tapped” So the big question is “how do you get out of this feeling and get on to taking great photos?” Well I am going to try and work through my problems and explain some of the myths as well. This should be stated that there are no easy answers for this. You just have to push through it.

I will start with two of the biggest myths that I think are important to me right now.

Myth #1: Get Inspired by Other People’s work

Let’s face it there are a lot of great photographs out there. I spend my days combing flickr and 500px to “gain inspiration” However at times it just gets me down. We all want to get a great shot and when you are feeling this, it seems like everyone out there gets great shots… but you. I know this is just BS but it weighs heavy on my mind at times.

The remedy: Stop comparing yourself to others and move on. Stop looking at how many likes or comments or what lists they are on and move on. If you still find yourself looking at photos and wondering why they are so popular, start deconstructing the photo and try using it in a similar situation. What did they use to get that shot? Can you find a place like this? How would you improve this shot it you could?

Myth #2 My Photos Suck because No One Comments on Them

Let’s face it facebook, flickr, 500px and other social media sharing sites have made us addicted to getting feed back. However, when we don’t get responses or not enough, we feel dejected. Especially in places like facebook where someone can upload a shot of an empty beer can and get 26 responses begging that person to “become a photographer” or “shoot for National Geographic”

The Remedy: Stop caring what people say or don’t. The truth of the matter is that there are a lot of people that probably are following your work and you just don’t know it know. As Trey Ratcliff said “The internet will come to you…” You just have to keep producing and not worrying if people comment or not. Also don’t compete with you contact on points, likes, followers, or whatever.

Poisonous/ Competitive Friends

I have a lot of competitive friends that are great if you put out a sub-par effort. After all, it makes them look a lot better, right? So when you start getting better, these guys don’t like it and either stop caring or or start competing by trying to draw focus away from you. The best thing to do in these cases is just surround yourself with friends that support each other. They are hard to find but I am lucky in the fact that I have found a great many awesome friends and photographers in Korea that are great people. Focus on them rather than those people that you’ve known for years and that still try and hold you back.

I bring this up because as you try to gain a reputation, these friends and contacts can greatly affect how others perceive your work. When I first started out there was a group a of great photographers in Ulsan that helped me out a lot. These guys were considered “the elite ” and many of my friends have their work on their walls. Now, many of the people that were around that time still consider them “the best” though most of those photographers haven’t picked up a camera since they left Korea. Sadly, many people still view me as a novice and still “copying those other guys” as someone said to me once.

You simply have to separate yourself from those kinds of people in the professional sense. It may seem hash but their attitudes have a huge impact. Think about the words “veteran” and “amateur”  both have very powerful responses in regards to how people perceive your work. If you have friends that are saying stuff like “Meh… Jason is still trying to be like so-and-so” versus “Jason’s was influenced by so-and-so” Which will get you the job?

If you contrast that with friends that I have met here through photography there is a great difference. The friends that I have met through photography have helped me in so many ways that I can’t even begin to explain it here. Those are the people that you want to surround yourself with, if you want to advance your craft. The ones that will push you to be more creative, who are not competitive, who are fans of your work as much as you are of theirs. These are the healthy friendships that you must cultivate.

My main problem is that most of my more poisonous friends are some of my oldest friends. They are still the ones that think that I am “copying the others” However, for me I just have to take my own advice here and move on.

To stir up some creativity:

These days I can’t dredge up that same creative force that I used to. However, that does not mean that I am going to hang up my canon and start making straw hats or anything. I have started to look for ways to peak my creativity that I have not tried before.

Try new photo styles: This could be using your iPhone instead of your DSLR. This could be attempting to do street photography when you mainly work on landscape. This could also mean contacting and shooting with photographers that you know are experts in this area.

Just Get Out and Shoot: Normally, I have a shot in mind when I go out or I get one when I arrive. Now I am forcing myself to just get out and shoot… anything. Saturday I just walked around the river shooting the ducks or “coots” as Ed pointed out to me. I took a wide range of shots and go a few keepers.

Edit Your Old Photos: I have started re-editing my old shots to see if what I have learned since then can breathe new life in to these photos or give you an idea of how to get a better shot.

Schedule Your Time: Sometimes you just have to make time and put it on your calendar. The more detailed you can be really forces your brain into that mode of “I am here, lets see what I can do” It is the same principle as doing a photowalk or something like that. By giving yourself a place and time you program or dredge up that sense of purpose. Also, nothing should be pressing on your mind. You have given yourself a  chunk of time to get some shots, so get them.

If you are going through the same feeling, I hope these thoughts can help you. Also, I apologize if this is a little too cerebral for some. This is also a way that I am trying to get out of this rut.