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puttin

puttin

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It's time for me to stop buying new gear. I have more than enough stuff but I'm starting to feel disappointed with my photos. I think I need to find another location. I like to photograph people and old houses and buildings. Plenty of old rundown places in Baltimore but you need a gun in your bag to feel safe . I don't like the tourist attractions.

I guess instead of buying more gear I need to start spending more money on gas and start searching more. Winter sucks in the city for photography.
 
You needn't be Robert Capa, but as a photographer, you better be no coward.
 
step back a bit. take a week or two off from photography...

with this little time off, hope your mind will relax and your eyes would start seeing the world in a different way.....a world where your artistic mind would appreciate...
 
I have to agree with your basic idea: Most of us have plenty of gear. If we really want to make better pictures what we need is more time with the camera in our hands.

As to whether travel is the answer, I don't know. Maybe your muse is somewhere outside Baltimore and a few days exploring will reawaken your photography. However, a good many of the greatest artists did their best work areas they knew intimately. Ansel Adams and Yosemite, Atget in Paris, Weegee in New York.

Certainly you sound as if it is time to try something new, if only as a break to refresh your seeing. Good luck.

Gato
--
After 40 years of Canon and Nikon I'm now using a camera named after my toaster.

Silver Mirage Gallery:
http://www.silvermirage.com
 
I went through something similar a few years ago.

Here is what I did. I bought a few books to read on composition and technique. Then I took a look at my workflow for processing, upgraded some software and bought a book to help me there. Then I spent some time re-looking at old(er) images and tried to visualize how I would improve them.

Finally when I fet more confident I got back to shooting and feel that I have improved. Still a work in progress but at least I understand what I need to work on and where I need to improve.

Good luck

--
My Smugmug photos http://www.brianshannonphotography.com/
My photo blog http://brianshannonphotography.blogspot.com/
My 500px photos http://500px.com/brianshannonphotography/

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-Shannon-Photography/157237647635870
 
You may want to hit up some of the small, older towns in Maryland, Delaware or Pennsylvania. Not as run down as Baltimore but charming and much safer than say Druid Hill. Pop down to 50 and pick a few side roads. Not far from you are Emmitsburg, Denton, Easton, and bigger but very photogenic is Annapolis.
 
I see you know Balto, and yes I would not consider Druid Hill Pk safe with a camera. I went through an area in W. Balto a few weeks ago and saw some very old rundown places and wanted to take a few shots but I had some expensive gear with me and decided not to. I may have to go back with some cheaper but good IQ gear or take my .357. I agree about the old towns and that is what I meant about buying more gas instead of gear.
 
I think a lot of us go through what you're experiencing. I live in one of the outer boroughs of NYC. We have a lot to photograph here, but eventually it gets to be same old-same old. I have to get into the city (we call Manhattan the city) more.

Eventually we need a change of scenery.
 
puttin said:
I see you know Balto, and yes I would not consider Druid Hill Pk safe with a camera. I went through an area in W. Balto a few weeks ago and saw some very old rundown places and wanted to take a few shots but I had some expensive gear with me and decided not to. I may have to go back with some cheaper but good IQ gear or take my .357. I agree about the old towns and that is what I meant about buying more gas instead of gear.
Click to expand...
I taught middle school in a part of Brooklyn with a very high crime rate. We walked around the neighborhood without fear because we were known in the area. However, I wouldn't walk around with expensive camera gear.
 
... a world of mystery & adventure awaits you there. Next up, Bolivia, then Tibet or whatever.

Photography is about exploring, not gear. If you can't go to India, go to Boring (20 miles north of Baltimore, MD). There's gotta be some interesting stuff to shoot in Boring.

A fresh location will do wonders for your photography.
puttin said:
It's time for me to stop buying new gear. I think I need to find another location. ...

...Winter sucks in the city for photography.
Click to expand...
There are lots of things to shoot in the winter, especially if you like the dirty run down look. Think about smaller things, detail. Cold people.

--

There is simply too much beauty in the world to photograph it all, but I'm trying.
 
puttin said:
It's time for me to stop buying new gear. I have more than enough stuff but I'm starting to feel disappointed with my photos. I think I need to find another location. I like to photograph people and old houses and buildings. Plenty of old rundown places in Baltimore but you need a gun in your bag to feel safe . I don't like the tourist attractions.

I guess instead of buying more gear I need to start spending more money on gas and start searching more. Winter sucks in the city for photography.
Click to expand...
I have an advantage over you in that I live near country sites and small towns making photography more interesting. I spend a lot of money n gas and don't regret a penny of it. Get out and see what is going on in this country, even in winter. Lots of beauty in winter, too. Hey, I was test flying planes at Glenn Martin near WW11 end and that was a wonderful place back then.

--



Time, that aged nurse,
rocked me to patience.
 
glasswave said:
... a world of mystery & adventure awaits you there. Next up, Bolivia, then Tibet or whatever.

Photography is about exploring, not gear. If you can't go to India, go to Boring (20 miles north of Baltimore, MD). There's gotta be some interesting stuff to shoot in Boring
Click to expand...
Very boring, better to continue north to Gettysberg
glasswave said:
A fresh location will do wonders for your photography.
puttin said:
It's time for me to stop buying new gear. I think I need to find another location. ...

...Winter sucks in the city for photography.
Click to expand...
There are lots of things to shoot in the winter, especially if you like the dirty run down look. Think about smaller things, detail. Cold people.

--

There is simply too much beauty in the world to photograph it all, but I'm trying.
Click to expand...
 
Puttin is right about too much emphasis on gear. Sometimes I think I have exhausted all of the photo ops in my area. Other times I wake up and see all of the opportunities that I have been blind to. It is hard to come by this realization if you think you have to wait, save $$$, and shoot full frame. Digital capture is superior to film in every way EXCEPT that it can subtly reinforce a gear orientation. I still use my Canon A1, and switch between film and digital to keep my perspective.

JAH
 
rkhndjr said:
puttin said:
It's time for me to stop buying new gear. I have more than enough stuff but I'm starting to feel disappointed with my photos. I think I need to find another location. I like to photograph people and old houses and buildings. Plenty of old rundown places in Baltimore but you need a gun in your bag to feel safe . I don't like the tourist attractions.

I guess instead of buying more gear I need to start spending more money on gas and start searching more. Winter sucks in the city for photography.
Click to expand...
I have an advantage over you in that I live near country sites and small towns making photography more interesting. I spend a lot of money n gas and don't regret a penny of it. Get out and see what is going on in this country, even in winter. Lots of beauty in winter, too. Hey, I was test flying planes at Glenn Martin near WW11 end and that was a wonderful place back then.
Click to expand...
A couple fun waterfront bars over that way in the summer.
rkhndjr said:
--



Time, that aged nurse,
rocked me to patience.
Click to expand...
 
Joseph Heaney said:
Puttin is right about too much emphasis on gear. Sometimes I think I have exhausted all of the photo ops in my area. Other times I wake up and see all of the opportunities that I have been blind to. It is hard to come by this realization if you think you have to wait, save $$$, and shoot full frame. Digital capture is superior to film in every way EXCEPT that it can subtly reinforce a gear orientation. I still use my Canon A1, and switch between film and digital to keep my perspective.
Click to expand...
I still shoot film with my F5 or OM2n for a change of pace, but not as much as digital
Emphyrio2 said:
JAH
Click to expand...
 
puttin said:
brianj said:
I slowed my buying habits long ago, here is my response to a similair problem recently:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1018&message=40100902

Brian
Click to expand...
I find myself doing that.
Click to expand...
I find that the only real solution lies in the advice that others have provided in this thread, that is to travel near and far. I went away last week for only 250km and stayed a few days, and enjoyed the new photo opportunities tremendously.

Here is one shot from that trip, you literally don't know whats around the next corner:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1001&message=40244300

Brian
 
...obviously, or at least I hope so. OTH, a quick google search reveals an interesting post office and church there. Perhaps this is what you need, to go to a boring location (like Boring) and to find an interesting way to look at. If not, it's off to India, then. ;)
puttin said:
glasswave said:
... a world of mystery & adventure awaits you there. Next up, Bolivia, then Tibet or whatever.

Photography is about exploring, not gear. If you can't go to India, go to Boring (20 miles north of Baltimore, MD). There's gotta be some interesting stuff to shoot in Boring
Click to expand...
puttin said:
A fresh location will do wonders for your photography.
puttin said:
It's time for me to stop buying new gear. I think I need to find another location. ...

...Winter sucks in the city for photography.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
glasswave said:
...obviously, or at least I hope so. OTH, a quick google search reveals an interesting post office and church there. Perhaps this is what you need, to go to a boring location (like Boring) and to find an interesting way to look at. If not, it's off to India, then. ;)
Click to expand...
Not a total waste going there, the Colonial Bar on Rte 30 is a good stop.
glasswave said:
puttin said:
glasswave said:
... a world of mystery & adventure awaits you there. Next up, Bolivia, then Tibet or whatever.

Photography is about exploring, not gear. If you can't go to India, go to Boring (20 miles north of Baltimore, MD). There's gotta be some interesting stuff to shoot in Boring
Click to expand...
glasswave said:
A fresh location will do wonders for your photography.
puttin said:
It's time for me to stop buying new gear. I think I need to find another location. ...

...Winter sucks in the city for photography.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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