Five year cycle

Paul Robinson | PWR Media said

Far be it from me to offer you any critique as your port is PP's version of the National Portrait Gallery - somewhere I will happily wander and enjoy admiring all the work that's displayed, even if it isn't a style I shoot myself.

But in terms of where you go in the future, I once read an interview where you said you knew you could do much better, and shoot with people who can provide you with images better than you ever imagined. I have no idea who or what you had in mind when you said that, but I wonder if you have fully explored that avenue? 

Paul

I sincerely hope I can do better, else I would sell my gear. Not quite sure which interview you are referring to, but I suspect something got lost in translation. I am always on the look out for a muse and I am sure that would be very helpful to progress. Thank you for your very kind words, even if it piles on the pressure to do better :).

Ken P said

MidgePhoto said

??? take an apprentice????

"You have much to learn, grasshopper" and all that.

Maybe it is time to get out of this small pond and go and play with the other bigger fish.

Your style really works with some of the images, helping to tell a story, and complementing the scene giving them a sense of realism despite not looking 'real'.

With others I find the subject and background are not always perfectly cohesive, which disrupts what the photo is trying to say.

In relation to what you could do to rekindle the 'buzz'... perhaps taking a break, relax and wait for inspiration... it often only comes once you empty your mind a bit.

Or as MidgePhoto said... work on realising what another may want to create, enjoy that process and the relationship you have with them.. it doesn't have to be commercial.
Most models have ideas they would like to realise and some of them are incredible... personally I'm not very good at coming up with ideas unless on location in the moment... can't really plan for those without scouting etc.

Rather than printing your own work... maybe carry a portable printer and shoot pictures for others, literally, by giving them a print... though maybe this is too close to a polaroid type experience you have already had, it's a modern equivalent

Eoghan Hennessy said

Your style really works with some of the images, helping to tell a story, and complementing the scene giving them a sense of realism despite not looking 'real'.

With others I find the subject and background are not always perfectly cohesive, which disrupts what the photo is trying to say.

In relation to what you could do to rekindle the 'buzz'... perhaps taking a break, relax and wait for inspiration... it often only comes once you empty your mind a bit.

Or as MidgePhoto said... work on realising what another may want to create, enjoy that process and the relationship you have with them.. it doesn't have to be commercial.
Most models have ideas they would like to realise and some of them are incredible... personally I'm not very good at coming up with ideas unless on location in the moment... can't really plan for those without scouting etc.

Rather than printing your own work... maybe carry a portable printer and shoot pictures for others, literally, by giving them a print... though maybe this is too close to a polaroid type experience you have already had, it's a modern equivalent

"With others I find the subject and background are not always perfectly cohesive, which disrupts what the photo is trying to say." Welcome to the club, I don't always know what they are meant to say.

Maybe I should have pointed out in the opening paragraph, that I last shot in the beginning of October in Rajasthan. My first shoot in ten months is later this week with a beginner. You may have unwittingly touched onto a sore point regarding models who have their own ideas. I frequently get shoot requests and usually that includes the tempting words '...and I have lots of ideas..". By the time we get round to the shoot, nothing seems forthcoming. Obviously I will have prepared my own ideas and I go out my way not to railroad or overwhelm with my ideas, because I would be happy to use other people's input, but beyond 'have you got angel wings', zilch.

Carry a portable printer and shoot pictures for others? No, I am too much of an introvert for that. Thanks for your input.

GDSandy Photography said

Maybe it is time to get out of this small pond and go and play with the other bigger fish.

I have no problem with the pond or its size. Also this is my hobby, the last thing I want is something that resembles a job.

Ken P said

GDSandy Photography said

Maybe it is time to get out of this small pond and go and play with the other bigger fish.

I have no problem with the pond or its size. Also this is my hobby, the last thing I want is something that resembles a job.

If you are not feeling challenged, then I can see nothing to challenge you here.  You are the best at your style here.  It's a bit like Man Utd must have felt under Fergy.

GDSandy Photography said

Ken P said

GDSandy Photography said

Maybe it is time to get out of this small pond and go and play with the other bigger fish.

I have no problem with the pond or its size. Also this is my hobby, the last thing I want is something that resembles a job.

If you are not feeling challenged, then I can see nothing to challenge you here.  You are the best at your style here.  It's a bit like Man Utd must have felt under Fergy.

A slight misunderstanding I think. I don't look to PP to be challenged (1x.com is a more likely place for challenges). Primarily I look here for suitable models, to see what other people are doing and for a small measure of approval. For me, the challenge comes from within, just a question of identifying something suitably challenging.

penphoto said

Looking at your portfolio, it strikes me that perhaps you really want to be a painter? Lovely portfolio by the way.

I paint (oils) too.

Someone touched on it earlier, but I just had a quick scan to see how many of your images were shot in the UK (other than possible indoors shots), but I couldn't necessarily tell. I haven't shot in as many places as you have, but I do know that the UK offers different challenges to those abroad, perhaps look at trying out some locations in the UK. Also, aside from styling, perhaps trying out something that automatically tells you where the image is, without the viewer having to imagine where it is. Or the complete opposite, try out some iconic UK locations, even Durdle Door or Corfe Castle. As a landscape photographer I used to avoid the locations that have been done to death, but maybe that is the wrong philosophy and the greater challenge is to actually shoot those locations and try to find something new or a new way of doing it. I live half an hour from Glastonbury Tor, yet I don't have any real landscape shots of it, other than some basic shots from the Avalon Marshes or a nearby hill, nothing like some of the effort I have put into largely unknown locations. Perhaps trying to use them as a backdrop to a model could be something you could try as a challenge. Beyond that, your creativity is probably greater than mine and I tend to live in the moment when shooting, which is probably why I much prefer locations shoots over studio, as I can never plan too much on location, without being in danger of disappointment, due to weather or lighting conditions.

Perhaps you should take up painting?

Seriously though the only thing I can think of is to set yourself limitations. Shooting only in black and white for example. Or maybe make your work more contemporary in some way? A great deal of your work strongly references bygone days. Set yourself a 21st century project perhaps.

art65 said

Perhaps you should take up painting?

Ken P said

penphoto said

Looking at your portfolio, it strikes me that perhaps you really want to be a painter? Lovely portfolio by the way.

I paint (oils) too.

Ken P said

art65 said

Perhaps you should take up painting?

Ken P said

penphoto said

Looking at your portfolio, it strikes me that perhaps you really want to be a painter? Lovely portfolio by the way.

I paint (oils) too.

Yes, I spotted that after I had commented. My other points were more serious.

You expressed a desire for a muse, or at least interest in the possibility.

Might a conscious search for one be a vector of interest?

MidgePhoto said

You expressed a desire for a muse, or at least interest in the possibility.

Might a conscious search for one be a vector of interest?

I always have that at the back of my mind and haven't quite given up hope.