Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/09/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Henry, anyone can suffer from "overload". Practice is the best medicine. Instead of striving to produce a masterpiece, try concentrating on any one subject and explore it to the fullest: different angles, different lighting, different backgrounds, etc. I believe it was Alfred Stiglietz who photographed a cup 50 times in order to exhaust all possibilities. During a Brooks Institute field trip, a student complained to the instructor, Mr. Boggie, that he could not find anything to photograph. Mr. Boggie fell on his knee and photographed a blade of grass where both were standing. The resulting photograph was entered in a photo show. The moral of the gesture - and a lesson to the student - was to show that a great photo can be made of any subject if treated properly and with imagination. A year or so ago someone on this forum mentioned that a foreign visitor marveled at the "golden" color of California hills. Most of us Californians would think of the grass on the hills as burned by the sun. A fresh outlook can be motivating enough to think and see differently. I have made it my goal to photograph the hills around my area in different seasons (it is a goal that I have yet to realize because of taking on too many other projects). Best wishes, Joseph Codispoti San Luis Obispo, CA - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Henry Ting" <henryting10@yahoo.com> To: "Leica-users" <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Sent: Sunday, September 22, 2002 8:30 AM Subject: [Leica] Mid-life crisis ??? > > They say photography has less to do with technique > (which can be mastered by anyone if the desire is > there) but more to do with form and the ability to see > the world around us. > > Well I remembered when I first took an interest in > photography in my teens, I was able to see all the > possibilities and quite frankly IMHO I was able to be > creative in "sight and form". At the time I lacked the > technique, but my mentors always comment on the > originality and creativity of my pictures. > > Now 40 years later, since I retired recently, I went > back to my old love in photography. Now I have the > time of the world, travelling in different parts of > the world, I found the zest and the creativity of my > pictures are gone. All my pictures lack the snap and > form that I thought I used to have. While the > technical side of my pictures are good, but the form > and the image have nothing behind it. I was delighted > right after retirement when I first thought I could > pursue my love in photography is turning out to be a > disappointment -- to a point that after months and > hundreds of rolls of film, no picture possess the > image that I feel proud enough to even post on the > forum for any feedbacks. I'm indeed a little perplexed > and depressed. It almost seems like a similar feeling > of one reflecting what one could do both in physical > ability as well as perception in life during one's > youth, is now gone as one reaches mid-life. Could it > all be a case of too much of anything being > detrimental and I'm indeed going through a cycle of > photography overload ? > > Any old-timers here ever gone through a similar > situation ? > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! > http://sbc.yahoo.com > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html