What can I say? I like big, broad, sweeping cityscapes. Especially the city I live in, the city I fell in love with. This shot was a bit of a challenge cause I wanted a thirty second take, to get that impossibly smooth river water. Back when I had actually shot it in May, I had a variety of takes that I was looking at for a while, endlessly dissatisfied with them, slammed my laptop shut a few times cause I couldn’t just bring forth anything resembling art. It’s good I sat on it for a bit, cause I like this result.
Also, if you’ve seen a recently-deleted post of mine, that was cause I was posting something from five months ago that I forgot that I already posted. My body of work is getting too much to be contained in my head.
Thanks for seeing my work!
Nice photo as always! What did you approach differently this time around?
Also, if you’ve seen a recently-deleted post of mine, that was cause I was posting something from five months ago that I forgot that I already posted
I have a somewhat similar problem, but in my case the result is simply not posting very often. I’ve mulled around putting together a bot to do the posting for me, but that takes time/effort…
The original that I had captured back in October. I wanted to structure the rear skyline differently, and I had waited until some lights had faded, and the bridge changed lighting profile.
The first take was six seconds, the one in the body of the original post went for thirty which made the water much smoother.
I think this one here, the original, is better.
I like this one more because the lighting from the city adds so much more color.
It is very pretty.
I agree. The framing in this is basically perfect I also really like the clearer reflections off the water.
Was it this photo that had the 6 second exposure, or was the river just a lot calmer?
So I’m considering a trip out to Vegas in the next few months, and a trip to parts of Tokyo, Hakone, and Kyoto is in the works. I’m thinking very carefully about how I’d want to capture these places that hasn’t already been executed by the billions of photos taken of these locations.
Sometimes I’ll sit there and just wonder if my work isn’t inventive enough, if I’m just walking in the footsteps of better artists than me. I think I’m posting original content, but how much of it is, really? Since the introduction of the cell phone camera, there are now more photographers on the planet taking more pictures than ever before, by several orders of magnitude. Many of them are bad photographers, many of them are really good photographers. Hundreds of billions of pictures taken, of every object, every building, every person, every view, from every angle and every time of day and every weather, with every emotion and every vibe.
What am I even contributing?
I will continue to think carefully about how I plan to photograph these saturated places, so that my precious time spent in each one isn’t wasted on banality.
Two replies from me in one post!
Do things because you like doing them. Share them because you want to bring joy, get feedback, and otherwise grow and learn. Don’t be your own worst critic. I greatly enjoy coming across your posts. They’re thoughtful, well written, and offer insight into you as a person.
You’re right that the photography world is saturated. That doesn’t mean you still can’t go out and take interesting photos. On one hand, many people with cameras aren’t good at taking compelling photos - regardless of whether they’re holding a cellphone or a very high end piece of gear. On the other hand, there will always be someone better. They might even be using a cellphone. That’s ok. Even if you find yourself duplicating someone else’s composition that’s totally OK. Odds are your audience won’t have seen the original and even if they have it’s nice to have a good photo of a scene to pop into everyone’s feed.
I’ve fallen into team photographer for kids sports over the past few years. I’ll do photos of 2-3 games a season and share the results for free. I always get some great photos of the kids expressing joy, making plays, etc. That doesn’t stop other parents from also capturing the action with a cellphone, which is totally fine. My actions don’t detract from their photos and their photos don’t detract from mine.
I can always keep capturing work. What I’m planning to post tomorrow is a direct reflection of me thinking on your comment—a scene witnessed lots of times, but this one is mine. :)
I rarely go out to take photos intentionally these days, but I don’t necessarily feel like I have to contribute to anything…
I’m taking pictures because I like doing it, the whole process is intrinsically valuable to me, because I am the one doing it. Might be that I’m not adding anything new for the general audience, but I’m still doing something new to me.
Maybe that’s why I rarely share my pictures…
You’re capturing your perspective, things that you like, find interesting, and/or aesthetically pleasing. Don’t get so caught up on others, just shoot what feels right to you.
