Friday 19 October 2007

Just go out and DO it!

When the lottery started back in 1997 or thereabouts, people kept saying "you've got to be in it to win it". It was a tad annoying but true, though at odds of over 14,000,000 : 1 I wasn't that fussed and to this day have still never bought a ticket.... I let my mum do that :-)

It's a bit like photography in a way - these last few days have had some supberg sunrises and sunsets, the light's perfect and the trees are getting that autumnal colouring that looks fantastic on any shot.

But I've been dilly dallying, thinking that the light's poor and there won't be a sunset. Then as I'm watching telly in my south east facing living room with my evening meal on my tray, I see a blindingly red sky with herring bone clouds to die for.

Bugger!
Big Bale - Just 10 miles away....

Well tonight I wasn't being beaten and had a quick snack and drove to somewhere close, pontefract race course, and had a go. The light wasn't ideal, the sun was poking through a letter box hole in the clouds for a while and it caught the edge of Xscape nicely painting it a deep orange colour, but there was no light on the trees, foreground or anywhere of interest to be honest.

But it was a still night, the lake was calm and mirror like, there were swans abound, the power stations were producing an amazing cloud, a huge steam triangle in the sky and the sky gradually went through several pastle shades till it was dark.

Keepers - I got a good 15 that I'd hang on my wall. No where near as dramatic as ones I got in the summer, but different - the sun position was behind different trees too.

Eggborough Power station from the A19
- just 20 minutes away

I guess the moral does apply - had I just sat and watched the weakest link, I'd be 15 decent shots down.


But I think it goes deeper than this - if you're not in there taking shots, you can loose inspiration and drive to go out and be creative. You end up with your camera gathering dust for months at a time because you've got out of the habit of getting up and going out. You end up waiting for meets or for someone to organise something to spur you on.

Pontefract Racecourse
15 minutes away - no effort to get to, would
you be bothered if you knew you could
get a shot like this?

I've chatted to mates who have this lull and cure it by buying some new kit. I've done this too - buy a new toy and yes, you go out and use it for a few shoots and it's magical. But once it's become an establised part of your kit bag, the p-zaz has gone and you're back where you started.

I'd say the best course of action if you're in such a lull or if you've found yourself, like I have this last fortnight, thinking the light's not really good enough and making excuses not to go out, just get your kit bag in the car and drive to a location fairly local and just DO it!

You may come back with your first front page of a photography magazine, or you may come back with a bunch of grey, flat shots, but it'll have made you think photographically and hopefully seeded a few ideas for next time.

Wheat Field near Eggborough
You don't need a famous,
well trodden location to
inspire you, you never know
what you'll get!

2 comments:

John Conners said...

You're dead right as usual! There have been some beautiful sunsets the last few evenings - I've been thinking to myself "I wish I was out with my camera"! Of course I would have done if I hadn't had my mate staying with me this week while doing a course in Leeds... Still, next week I'm finally clear!

Anonymous said...

Lovely :)