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I took a picture of a plum tree that had been severely cut back, but after being cut back was running wild with new growth and flowers:
Not a great picture, but a very evocative subject to me right now. Though, in general, I am not taking pictures outside. When I am out, I am rarely even taking my camera. Below are my reasons why, though let me be clear that none of this is meant as a judgement towards any other photographers. People's situations very by region and other factors.
None of this is a judgement but trust me, I am spending plenty of time being judgey towards other photographers. Lots of idiots out there taking advantage of the situation to photograph parks with no people in them. Just use a composite function like the thousand other people who took the same shot.
I've also posted a discussion post over at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
photographyon for people to talk about what they are doing.
When the lockdown started a lot of photographers rushed out to do tripod shots in the middle of intersections in daylight and get other unusual shots. I shoot Portland a lot, so I viewed all this the same way serious drinkers view New Year's Eve: lots of people out, many acting in dangerous and unethical ways, so I'm going to stay home.
Press Start To Play Again
Part of the problem is that taking risks is very, very normalized among serious photographers. I don't usually have a problem with that, even though I am very tame and safety conscious compared to most. I carry a satellite linked personal locator device when I hike solo out of cell range. Usually the risk is only to the photog, but not in this case.
A local studio that I've had some involvement with decided to do this shoot to promote doing photography outside during Covid:
Yeah, that is some poor taste.
Mostly when I go out, I didn't even bring a camera. I go out to shop, stretch my legs and also for mental health reasons. But for now I am not doing my project to shoot all of Portland and I wont be getting back to walking 5-20 miles a week until we are in a different place with all this. I will be grabbing the occasional quick shot, but only few and far between.
Memorial outside of a local coffee shop for it's owner who died suddenly, cause has not been disclosed by family.
So what is the difference between walking for health and doing a photo walk? Partially, it's a matter of attention. Walking in my area is a puzzle to get around other people, even at 11:00 PM. It's good to be situationally aware in a way that I am just not when doing a shoot. When I took the above shot, I had a guy walking towards me with a hacking cough that would have been alarming even if not in a pandemic. I didn't even notice until the sound was so loud it startled me.
I've talked with someone else who lives in this area. They are not texting or listening to music on walks. Walks good, but it's important to take a different approach to them both for personal safety and also to not be a roadblock for others. My photography is non-essential, people talking home with groceries is.
So, where does this leave me?
I am doing a lot of shooting indoors. It's been great for my technical skills, but I rarely like the results enough to bother posting. Abstracts of kitchen utensils and the beauty of every day objects just isn't my vibe. So I've been doing things like comparing results of various lenses, getting comfortable with swapping certain menu settings on the fly and rereading my books on composition.I am going to watch some videos on freelensing and live composite this week. It's useful, but not productive.
And many poor birds outside my window want to know what the heck I am looking at:
It's hard to keep motivated without being productive. This isn't going to change anytime soon. I am in a FB group of photographers who are 'stuck at home'. I like some of the pictures, but then I see the behind the scenes and I can't imagine doing so much for the shot. It's ironic because I view their shots the way a lot of people view my photography. Sometimes people like my shots, but when I tell them what went into it their reaction is very 'all that for this??'
My new tripod arrived. This is not what I expected to be doing with it:
I will gladly do days of focused work for a single landscape shot, Portlandy shot or train shot. I consider the effort completely worth it. Photography is one of those things where getting your work to be 5% better requires twice the effort, and another 5% improve is twice the effort again. Trying to improve photography hits a serious point point of diminishing returns, so you need to be really, really motivated. And I just can't get that motivation for cheese shredders with colorful lighting effects.
I do like some of my indoor shots, they are just few and far between:
I am pushing myself to do something with photography daily. but it's a slog. But I gotta keep at it so I am ready to hit the ground running when the restrictions are gone.
Not a great picture, but a very evocative subject to me right now. Though, in general, I am not taking pictures outside. When I am out, I am rarely even taking my camera. Below are my reasons why, though let me be clear that none of this is meant as a judgement towards any other photographers. People's situations very by region and other factors.
None of this is a judgement but trust me, I am spending plenty of time being judgey towards other photographers. Lots of idiots out there taking advantage of the situation to photograph parks with no people in them. Just use a composite function like the thousand other people who took the same shot.
I've also posted a discussion post over at
photographyon for people to talk about what they are doing. When the lockdown started a lot of photographers rushed out to do tripod shots in the middle of intersections in daylight and get other unusual shots. I shoot Portland a lot, so I viewed all this the same way serious drinkers view New Year's Eve: lots of people out, many acting in dangerous and unethical ways, so I'm going to stay home.
Press Start To Play Again
Part of the problem is that taking risks is very, very normalized among serious photographers. I don't usually have a problem with that, even though I am very tame and safety conscious compared to most. I carry a satellite linked personal locator device when I hike solo out of cell range. Usually the risk is only to the photog, but not in this case.
A local studio that I've had some involvement with decided to do this shoot to promote doing photography outside during Covid:
Yeah, that is some poor taste.
Mostly when I go out, I didn't even bring a camera. I go out to shop, stretch my legs and also for mental health reasons. But for now I am not doing my project to shoot all of Portland and I wont be getting back to walking 5-20 miles a week until we are in a different place with all this. I will be grabbing the occasional quick shot, but only few and far between.
Memorial outside of a local coffee shop for it's owner who died suddenly, cause has not been disclosed by family.
So what is the difference between walking for health and doing a photo walk? Partially, it's a matter of attention. Walking in my area is a puzzle to get around other people, even at 11:00 PM. It's good to be situationally aware in a way that I am just not when doing a shoot. When I took the above shot, I had a guy walking towards me with a hacking cough that would have been alarming even if not in a pandemic. I didn't even notice until the sound was so loud it startled me.
I've talked with someone else who lives in this area. They are not texting or listening to music on walks. Walks good, but it's important to take a different approach to them both for personal safety and also to not be a roadblock for others. My photography is non-essential, people talking home with groceries is.
So, where does this leave me?
I am doing a lot of shooting indoors. It's been great for my technical skills, but I rarely like the results enough to bother posting. Abstracts of kitchen utensils and the beauty of every day objects just isn't my vibe. So I've been doing things like comparing results of various lenses, getting comfortable with swapping certain menu settings on the fly and rereading my books on composition.I am going to watch some videos on freelensing and live composite this week. It's useful, but not productive.
And many poor birds outside my window want to know what the heck I am looking at:
It's hard to keep motivated without being productive. This isn't going to change anytime soon. I am in a FB group of photographers who are 'stuck at home'. I like some of the pictures, but then I see the behind the scenes and I can't imagine doing so much for the shot. It's ironic because I view their shots the way a lot of people view my photography. Sometimes people like my shots, but when I tell them what went into it their reaction is very 'all that for this??'
My new tripod arrived. This is not what I expected to be doing with it:
I will gladly do days of focused work for a single landscape shot, Portlandy shot or train shot. I consider the effort completely worth it. Photography is one of those things where getting your work to be 5% better requires twice the effort, and another 5% improve is twice the effort again. Trying to improve photography hits a serious point point of diminishing returns, so you need to be really, really motivated. And I just can't get that motivation for cheese shredders with colorful lighting effects.
I do like some of my indoor shots, they are just few and far between:
I am pushing myself to do something with photography daily. but it's a slog. But I gotta keep at it so I am ready to hit the ground running when the restrictions are gone.
