My photography challenge struggles
I love photography. This is what I wrote before and why I’m doing a photography challenge. Keeping photography at the forefront, not only when I’m traveling or being at family gatherings.
Today marks day 8 of the challenge, and so far, it’s been going well. I haven’t produced any great shots yet (I feel), but I enjoy thinking about a prompt and seeking opportunities.
And that is what it’s all about. Besides creating a habit, its objective is to start looking at everything with a different perspective and find opportunities that way. And that is what I’m doing.
However, in doing this challenge, also some struggles have started to emerge that could explain my lack of photography focus when at home.
For starters, I’m a generalist. I see this in many things. I know a lot, I can do a lot, yet, I never specialize or hyper-focus on anything specific.
Maybe that’s a good thing, but on the other hand, I envy those who have a passion and dedicate everything to it.
No specialization is also the case with my photography. I take pictures of many things. People, landscape, architecture, street, …
This means I’m looking at everything, not focusing on anything specific.
And when you’re looking at everything, you’re looking at nothing.
Perhaps, this is FOMO. That I don’t want to miss out on any great shot. And this adds some mental strain as my brain needs to look at and process everything, in the end making me feel I can’t find anything.
Secondly, I know my surroundings all too well. I’ve lived in my neighborhood for most of my life, so I know every spot from walking, biking or the regular running I do.
I also more or less have a fixed weekly routine with work, family life, sports, … that does not offer a lot of room for going out and exploring.
As a result, I’ve seen it all before. I’m not in awe anymore when I pass a nice building or see a beautiful landscape. Not like when I'm at a new location.
As I’ve written this down, I believe I need to reflect on what I really like about photography. See which shots I enjoy the most and how I can pursue those more often in daily life.
I’ll continue my challenge, and maybe even start a new one once it’s completed, to keep me going. But I'll also reflect on what I want to do with my photography.
Or perhaps I just need to let go of everything, stop overthinking too much, keep my camera at hand, shoot more and do it when I "feel" it.
