jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I do photography for fun. I don't feel an obligation to take pictures. Looking at beautiful photos online can be depressing. If you don't want to go out shooting, don't feel guilty about it. If you want some incentive to start shooting again, buy new gear.

Jcmarino

Try angles of seldom seen details or add a model.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Been there a couple of times, took the tour once, impressive, but I have to agree, you need to look to find photographically intriguing spots, this winter weather probably doesn't help either, I'm in a bit of a shooting lull too.

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

Maybe it is time for a change.

I'm now pretty charged up about photography again, but that is something that I set aside for a few years and took up wood-carving during that time. It was something I'd always been curious about so I spent a few years learning the basics and did some carvings that I have around the house. I'll probably go back to it if and when photography no longer holds enough interest for me.

One interesting similarity between these two activities is that they both produce results that naturally compete for wall-space. Once you run out of wall space you may start to wonder what value there is to continuing to produce more photos/carvings.

My solution to that for photography may be something for you to consider and that is to make slide-shows - videos to view on my television. It's something to do with you best photos and putting the images together into an entertaining video is a new and different challenge.

bkellyusa Loc: Nashville, TN

Love this response.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Yes set the dial to M then you can set the aperture and shutter to whatever you want to. Also take the ISO setting off of auto for the full control. If you want manual focus set your lens switch to manual. Or for the full effect get a FTB put film in it and use the Sunny 16 rule. I believe that the film boxes no longer have the settings printed inside the box as in the past. But Google it print it out and you will have full manual and experiment.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Well right now in the north country it is hard to bundle up android go out. 3 more months or so and perhaps motivation will return.

leftj Loc: Texas

Ahh yes - political correctness. people instead of welfare recipients - undocumented citizens instead of illegal aliens etc etc

Hbuk66 Loc: Oswego, NY

Oswego resident; this upstate weather would wear on the rosiest personality; the last 2 days have been hell for me... I like to do sunrise and sunset and there has not been either; just a wall of clouds with absolutely no personality. I think they call this the "winter doldrums". I've got it bad... lol

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

You are not alone! We all get a "slump" from time to time. If you don't feel like taking pictures, don't! But if you truly want to get "back in the swing", there are a lot of things you can do to help. (Lots of good ideas already presented here.)

It is about point of view, perspective, how you view the world. I am constantly observing things I see with the thought of "Will this make a good picture?". Also, "Is there a different angle of view that would make it better?". Even when out without a camera, I look for future possibilities. And as far as "unique" goes, a great scene is not so great if the light is not great... And that particular intersection of scene and light will NEVER occur again in quite the same way. So if you get a good picture, capturing that instant of time, it IS unique! For example, I like to go to a local apple orchard and take pictures. One morning in the fall I was there, and clouds were moving across the sky. The light was beautiful but kept changing, so I set up my camera on a tripod for the shot I wanted and waited for what I was looking for to occur. I love the picture that resulted! Same thing happens at other times of year. EVERY image I have taken of that same orchard is completely different from all the others!

Sometimes I go back and look at photos taken in the past. As I learn more about editing, this can often result in finding an image that can benefit from being re-edited. Sometimes the new edit is better, sometimes not! But doing this can sometimes inspire me to go out and shoot more.

Someone suggested macro - a good idea! When I first started to take those kinds of pictures, I was amazed at all the things I had never noticed before. A clump of moss on a rock can contain a whole little world we do not normally see. And different types of moss have different kinds of worlds in them!

You state that you like to capture everyday subjects in a special way. This is actually another good place to start again... My thought about finding a subject for a photo is you do not have to go looking far and wide. Stand in one spot and turn around 360 degrees and observe. Within a relatively small radius, you should be able to find at least 10 subjects! I've got one right now outside my window - a squirrel eating from the bird feeder. Sometimes they get quite acrobatic, hanging upside down! Ordinary, everyday occurrence, but unique images are possible...

Hope you find some inspiration! Even now, when the days are overcast and the snow washed away by rain, there are plenty of opportunities to find.

Susan

smiling fox Loc: Baltimore, md

That is so funny, apprepo. (Sp?)too.
I got into photography to express my creativity as a teenager.lost touch with it over the years, but picked up my camera to put my OWN stuff up on the wall. NOW with DSLR I'm hoping to p/U a d5500 and get thru the learning phase a put some new stuff up.

I'm not a great photo. But I have pride for MY OWN work. Other wise I would be downloading tons of beautiful pics from here and all ov er r the Internet.... it gets down to your own personal perspective and creativity. That's sorta why I commented a few weeks ago about PP vs JUST SHOOTING NICE STUFF. It's your expression of what you see in your life. Not what someone else sees.

Hope that helps. Wouldn't be too worried, as we all know many things enter and leave our lives, there is no mandatory menu to follow.
Best of luck.
SF.

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

"Entitlements" rather than "Social Security and Medicare".

ClutchDisk Loc: Fayetteville, NC

The "slump". Take pictures in black in white. Challenge to make it interesting and tell a story at the same time. Sort of going back into time. I restarted taking b&w for the past few months. Just like I did many years ago. Sort of a "wow" factor. Give it a shot.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Shooter's block is not attributable to low class Walmart shoppers having access to good cameras. True elitists are creative despite the artistic pursuits of scumbags.

streetmarty Loc: Brockton, Ma