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Hey guys! Hope everyone is well!

I was just wondering..

Does anyone ever feel as if they are missing something in their photographs? Lately I've been feeling a lot of my images are lacking in terms of personal value? I look at images taken by others and it still seems as if I'm a mile away from producing something that I am entirely satisfied with. Just wondering if anyone else has ever had these thoughts processed..I'm sure we have but just wanted to know how you've overcome that barrier.

Artistic endeavour waxes and wanes in most people. Think writers' block, for example.

Some times you are just not in tune with your creative side. It generally returns.

This may make me sound like a silly old fart, but here's a tip I learned playing golf. (Golfers and other sportsmen have this sort of problem too.)

When I felt that my golf was stale, I would just go to the course and play a round by myself. And I would only use one club, say a five iron, and a putter. Limiting yourself to only one club makes you see the course in a different way. All your normal distances from the tee become different, so do all your approach shots to the green. You have to be inventive, using half-swings etc. It puts you back in touch with feel.

I find that if I go out with a camera and one prime lens I can achieve a similar thing. You have to frame differently, you have to position yourself in different places. You start to look for different types of subject, and that makes you think differently from the tired old way you have been thinking.

Anyway, enough evangelising from me! Try it, you may be surprised!

I'm still in the early stages of my photographic development so I'm still at the trying to make the photograph "look beautiful" stage (if you know what I'm getting at - technical perfection if you like). I certainly feel like I'm getting better but I know I've got a long way to go (probably less so on the technical but much moreso on the storytelling, creativity and that certain unique "something").

One thing which I would like to know is - if any of you much more experienced and world wise photographers have gone back over your archives and found new "gems" which you had at the time completely excluded (because they weren't technically perfect or whatever was the driving force in your development at the time)?

Creativity is not an inherent ability.

For example, 2 people with identical cameras standing within 6ft of each other with a 360° field of view. Each will view what they see quite differently, they will even use their cameras with totally different settings. When told to take a photograph they will each take a different photo. Now, the question is, who is the more creative and the answer is neither or perhaps both!

As an example I will refer to a recent post by a well known forum member and, in my opinion an excellent photographer, who posted a series of photos that again in my opinion were absolute rubbish. The general consensus was that they were brilliant. From this we can form two points of view - one, the photographer, being well known, was being applauded not for his photos but for who he was. Secondly, the people who applauded these photos actually believed that what they saw was great photography. Who is correct, the answer is no one.

Creativity cannot be defined by words as it is something that can only be defined by the individual on an individual basis.

So, in the end screw creativity, just take photographs view them yourself and either love em or hate em and then post them up for critique and let others either lubricate your ego with praise or fire it up with critique.

Completely agree with Trevor, some good advice there.
As far as finding old gems, not really but I do find that going back to old photos and applying new processing after upgrading software such as photoshop or lightroom certainly helps.

photomarcs wrote:Hey guys! Hope everyone is well!

I was just wondering..

Does anyone ever feel as if they are missing something in their photographs?

yes

photomarcs wrote:I look at images taken by others and it still seems as if I'm a mile away from producing something that I am entirely satisfied with. Just wondering if anyone else has ever had these thoughts processed..I'm sure we have but just wanted to know how you've overcome that barrier.

I think sometimes it is destructive to compare yourself to others, whilst its essential to learn and appreciate others works sometimes looking introspective and what you want from your photography can indeed help get over this barrier (note i dunno whether I have, or for that matter even have that barrier ) Everyone is at different points in their journey as a photographer, comparing yourself to someone in a different genre or who has been doing it for yonks is not particularly helpful.

I personally enjoy looking at others work but do not do it too often I always try and approach a location or a image with my own take on it without being jaded or trying to replicate another persons image, i do try and process and portray images that I like not necessarily what I think others will like. Most importantly I go and take pictures 'cause I enjoy doing just that, its a different experience every time.

check this out from teh othe rthread might be useful to you

http://guytal.com/wordpress/2011/12/the-value-and-futility-of-critique/

photomarcs wrote:Hey guys! Hope everyone is well!

I was just wondering..

Does anyone ever feel as if they are missing something in their photographs? Lately I've been feeling a lot of my images are lacking in terms of personal value? I look at images taken by others and it still seems as if I'm a mile away from producing something that I am entirely satisfied with. Just wondering if anyone else has ever had these thoughts processed..I'm sure we have but just wanted to know how you've overcome that barrier.

Yes! I am constantly missing something in my photos!

Personal value, yes definitely missing, almost always...but never the missing element previously mentioned.

Yes and no, I look at others work, but at the same time it doesnt always inspire

Yes. I feel like that often. I'd be surprised if even the most well regarded photographers didn't feel like that, too. Not that I'm putting myself in the league of "well regarded photographers" but rather saying that it is part of human nature to have personal doubts.

the foto fanatic wrote:...I would just go to the course and play a round by myself....

Gee, you could get arrested in NSW for doing that..

ATJ wrote:Gee, you could get arrested in NSW for doing that..

Yep - we are a lot more liberal up here!