There's Nothing to Shoot!

[theveed]

"There's nothing for me to shoot, there aren't anything interesting around me"

"You're so lucky! You live in an interesting place where there's so much going on!"

"If I only have a better lens, I can shoot nice pictures like him"...

We've all said the same things one time or another, especially when we think we don't have enough camera gear or opportunity to travel, etc. We all know the simple fact that the reasons were telling ourselves are merely excuses, nothing more.

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[Six-GHz]

It's true indeed that the novelty of a gear sometimes runs out... now you made me wanna get a LX3!

[David]

This is an age old discussion. Don't quite agree with the views or that "it's an excuse". It depends on how you look at it.

There's only so much you can take pics of food, find some ordinary knick-knacks at home, and simply fire the shutter away. Or take a trip down town Singapore to snap "over-baked" pictures of the Flyer, Durian, skyline.

If one's argument is that there's so much to shoot, without regard to personal interest in the subject at hand, then it becomes No Argument at all -- From photography's point of view, even a picture of a wall can be something worthy to snap cos of its very existence in our world.

From my understanding, those who complain about having nothing to shoot in Singapore are interested in other forms of photography. Mainly landscapes and subjects with great colors, breath-taking sunsets, etc. Sure, you can get sunsets here too. But only when you are VERY lucky. Unfortunately, it's nothing as great as those overseas.

Another reason for the "Nothing to shoot" mentality is that physically, Singapore is very small and the diversity is very limited compared to what you can get in a much larger country, especially those with 4 seasons and a strong culture.

No flames please. I'm not one of those who complain, but I make no qualms to say that it is no lie that there are A LOT more great stuffs to photograph overseas. Sure, in Singapore, you can. Just get any cam, shoot leaves, food, HDB flats, your hand, furnitures, window grilles, grass, fire hose, etc. But these are simply not everyone's cup of tea when it comes to enjoying photography. And you can't blame/force them!

[waileong]

Photos of keys, fire hydrants, food, etc bore me. So there's really nothing to shoot.

I think the article fails to address fundamental issues. People don't shoot for the sake of shooting. If I have no interest in shooting insects, I can be surrounded by insects and still complain I have nothing to shoot.

I'm not going to waste my film and my time shooting things I've no interest in.

That is fundamental issue #1.

The other issue is that "shooting" is not an end itself, but is just the start of a processing chain that eventually leads to the production of a fine print or final image.

Whether you use darkroom or PS for processing, decisions have to be made about cropping, colour balance, dodging and burning, toning and other effects, etc.

The post processing work takes much more time than the shooting.

Hence I have a large stack of negs I've not even printed. And for those shooting digital, I'm sure they have even more images they haven't even pp-ed.

So my front office has overwhelmed my back office, and I suspect others have this problem too.

In other words, I am not worried about not having enough things to shoot. I need to shoot less and spend more time in the darkroom!

Originally Posted by theveed "There's nothing for me to shoot, there aren't anything interesting around me" "You're so lucky! You live in an interesting place where there's so much going on!" "If I only have a better lens, I can shoot nice pictures like him"... We've all said the same things one time or another, especially when we think we don't have enough camera gear or opportunity to travel, etc. We all know the simple fact that the reasons were telling ourselves are merely excuses, nothing more. Continue Reading

[billycadiz]

I shoot first then complain..
complain then improve...
improve not then erase..
nothing to erase then shoot again.....

[parampita]

Maybe I am lucky, I tend to shoot macros and almost everything and everywhere represents opportunities for shoots. Even a drop of water is an interesting subject

[CYRN]

Originally Posted by waileong Photos of keys, fire hydrants, food, etc bore me. So there's really nothing to shoot. I think the article fails to address fundamental issues. People don't shoot for the sake of shooting. If I have no interest in shooting insects, I can be surrounded by insects and still complain I have nothing to shoot. I'm not going to waste my film and my time shooting things I've no interest in. That is fundamental issue #1.

Ideally, everything we do is exciting... but the reality is that you'd be better off liking what you do, rather than only do what you like.

[waileong]

Originally Posted by CYRN Ideally, everything we do is exciting... but the reality is that you'd be better off liking what you do, rather than only do what you like.

I regard that as a copout.

[PhotoProZero]

For the last few days, i had the same feeling of "There's Nothing To Shoot!!" Perhaps i used to travel quite often and tend to see overseas trips more exciting to shoot. Hence, after shooting so many Night Landscapes, I'm getting less excited and thrilled to see what else I can shoot. Well, not that Im super good or pro here, but i guess everyone needs alittle excitement to churn enthusiasm in shooting ideal photos.

I'm very prone to my moods to shoot. And I think my fellow kakis seemed to realise that as well. i can shoot for an hr and close shop. cos basically, it's not the "champion Shot" i'm looking at, but the overall feel of what I'd have taken. And if after an hr, i dont get my ideal photo, I stop. I shoot with my feel i guess....and maybe that's bad....