Being Picky

Over the last few weeks I have been out on the weekends with the intent to take some pictures. I have ensured my camera equipment is clean, batteries are charged, and campground reservations are in hand. I have gone to my chosen locations. But, my picture taking is very limited. I have lately been experiencing at least two impediments to my productivity.

First, and this one I don't know how to manage, is that lately I have been sleeping more regularly. I rarely wake up in the middle of the night now resulting in less night shots. I don't know what is causing this but I know from experience that it's likely to turn back to waking up naturally in the middle of the night again at some point. I'm torn about whether to set alarms for midnight or 1 AM, because I actually benefit during the work week when I get regular sleep. And, I normally go through these phases over a period of some weeks or possibly months and then I'll go back to waking up in the middle of the night. It's because of this experience, coupled with the fact that landscapes will always be there, that means I allow myself to sleep through the nights and to give up the night photography for now.

Because of the different sleep habits I'm also missing out on the golden- and blue-hour shots. This mainly leaves the "pool light" shots (paraphrasing Brian Peterson - the mid-day hours better spent by the swimming pool rather than shooting pictures). Due to this sleep "disorder" I don't take as many pictures as I was.

Second, I'm just getting picky about the pictures I want to take. This stems from a number of reasons:

1. Locality Saturation

I have been to most of my home state of Arizona a number of times for the purpose of taking pictures in the last couple of years. I feel there are three basic types of scenery in Arizona: a) Canyon / Hills / Cliffs - such as the Grand Canyon, Salt River Canyon, Sedona areas; b) Desert / Cactus - such as Saguaro, Organ Pipe National parks; and c) Pine Forests - such as on the Mogollon Rim, Flagstaff, Prescott areas. There are a few outliers, such as the desert lakes, Indian ruins, Tonto Natural Bridge, Kartchner Caverns, but those are short diversions. I'm just feeling the need to expand my horizons.

Because I feel like I've almost already shot all the pictures available in Arizona, I don't take as many pictures lately.

2. Creatively Stifled

When I look at my pictures I tend to just see travel photographs and not very much "art". I'd rather be shooting "art", whatever that means. For me, it means being able to eliminated the number of subjects in my pictures but I struggle to find or compose pictures that I can create the way I want. I believe it's my inability to find the subject of a picture and then my technical proficiency to isolate or contrast the subject with a very limited set of objects in the same picture.

This has been my fight for a year or so, especially after reading the David duChemin books. But I've also been admiring a number of photos posted on 500px.com, especially under the "Fine Art" group. There are a lot of photographers creating landscape or scenery images like I'd like to produce. I'm just not one of them yet.

Unless I see something that is striking to me in the view finder I don't take many pictures.

3. Post Processing

A result of items 2 and 3 above is that I no longer want to spend much time post processing images that I really don't care for. Consequently I avoid taking as many pictures in order to reduce my post processing activities (including uploading to the computer, reviewing and/or rating, and actual image post processing).

Next Steps

I need to overcome these mindsets somehow. I still enjoy the picture taking process, but have grown to where I don't care for the results as often. I do enjoy the "snapshot" quality pics that I do take and minimally process - they remind me of times and places I've experienced. Usually I can instantly remember the temperature of a place (of some significance here in Arizona), the solitude, the level of noise, etc. I remember certain things my dog might have done or at least how he sits in the seat next to me on the road and stares at me for hours. Those things are valuable.

The difference is that I want to create some art. For me that means better perspectives on better subjects with better isolation and better lighting. I hope that is something I can achieve and that it is not something that has to be innate rather than something that can be worked on and learned.