How can I sustain motivation during a long project?

Question

I am working on a year long photo a day project, and after about 8 months I'm beginning to lose motivation. How do you stay motivated and gain new inspiration to continue in long projects?

Asked by chills42

Answer

Good question. Didn't we all at some point feel like all the money spent on the gear is going to waste as it's lying there catching rust. Some of my thoughts:

• One thing that very easily gets me excited about taking pictures is a new piece of equipment. I wouldn't go as far as getting a new camera to reignite my interest (who am I kidding, I would if I could afford it) but anything that allows for experimenting with new kinds of photography or trying new techniques would definitely work for me. Grab a new filter or something like that and try squeezing the most out of it.

• Another rather extreme example - kids, better yet - your own kids, better still - newborns. You are excited about having them and want to keep every moment of their new life for eternity. You have to be quick though, newborns very fast grow into toddlers and although giving just as many opportunities they become very hard, fast moving targets.

• Travelling is another way to put yourself in front of new, exciting photo opportunities. It doesn't have to be a week long trip to tropical islands (although that would be nice) but a simple weekend away from the city should bring some motivation.

• Unusual circumstances - get up before the sunrise and get some blue hour shots. Very rewarding!

• Local events - car races, flower fair, horse riding competition. All full of photographic potential.

• New exciting hobbies - do a scuba diving course and play with underwater photography.

Answered by Piotr Zurek

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Sustaining motivation during a long project

Question

I am working on a year long photo a day project, and after about 8 months I'm beginning to lose motivation. How do you stay motivated and gain new inspiration to continue in long projects?

Asked by chills42

Answer

Good question. Didn't we all at some point feel like all the money spent on the gear is going to waste as it's lying there catching rust. Some of my thoughts:

• One thing that very easily gets me excited about taking pictures is a new piece of equipment. I wouldn't go as far as getting a new camera to reignite my interest (who am I kidding, I would if I could afford it) but anything that allows for experimenting with new kinds of photography or trying new techniques would definitely work for me. Grab a new filter or something like that and try squeezing the most out of it.

• Another rather extreme example - kids, better yet - your own kids, better still - newborns. You are excited about having them and want to keep every moment of their new life for eternity. You have to be quick though, newborns very fast grow into toddlers and although giving just as many opportunities they become very hard, fast moving targets.

• Travelling is another way to put yourself in front of new, exciting photo opportunities. It doesn't have to be a week long trip to tropical islands (although that would be nice) but a simple weekend away from the city should bring some motivation.

• Unusual circumstances - get up before the sunrise and get some blue hour shots. Very rewarding!

• Local events - car races, flower fair, horse riding competition. All full of photographic potential.

• New exciting hobbies - do a scuba diving course and play with underwater photography.

Answered by Piotr Zurek

Check more discussion of this question.

Suggestions for a passport collage

Question

I have a few passport sized photos of a person, spanning his entire childhood. Could someone provide me with some creative ideas to make a collage or arrange these photos in a single image?

I am using Gimp, so I would appreciate if you could give me some pointers on how to accomplish the task.

Asked by Shyam

Answer

When I got married last year my colleges went on Facebook and downloaded loads of photos of me an my wife. They then made one of these http://www.photovisi.com/

They then printed it off and stuck it on my desk - I must say it was one of the coolest things!

Or if you really want a challenge then use Gimp with this tutorial or use these in the tutorial

UPDATE: Photovisi Gallery Page is avalible here - You need to drill past some of the spam to find "the good stuff"

This one is quite good!

Answered by Rob

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How can I use aperture to make my pictures better? [closed]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
What is aperture, and how does it affect my photographs?

I've recently started trying to change the aperture level on my camera to get cool effects, and I would like to know how I can use aperture to my advantage?

Asked by J. Walker

Answer

As you are fairly new and just starting, so I think it's better to go with simple things first. One important thing you should know first is the value you increase or decrease in your camera to control the aperture is called F value and this is inversely proportional to aperture. The less the F value = More the aperture, More the F value, less the aperture.

By playing with aperture

1. You can make your subject look more popped and separate from the subject. More the aperture (decreased the f value), more the background is blurred.

2. You can make your subject sharp by decreasing the aperture (increasing the f value), most lenses have a sweet point but for now just keep in mind that keeping your f value 5.6-9 should do that.

3. Increasing the aperture (decreasing the f value) will help you take photos easily where the light is low.

That's mainly it

Answered by Hasin Hayder

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