Burnout - Time for a Break?

[al_kaplan1]

I've been going everyplace with my 15mm Heliar since the end of 2004,

not a day went by when I didn't make at least a few exposures. The

last time I did a long term project was from about 1973 through 1976

when I spent time on the Miccosukee and Seminole Indian reservations,

including Brighton, Hollywood, and the Tamiami Trail. Some of the

Tiger family stayed at my place from time to time, my kids played

with their kids, and the "project", while amounting to quite a few

photos overall, wasn't looked at as a project by myself at the time.

It was spread out over several years, shot in spurts with weeks,

sometimes mionths in between.

 

I missed a lot of photos because so much of what I was seeing and

living just started to look so commonplace it became boring. A real

shame too because it was the end of an era when some of them still

lived in chikees (thatched roofs with no walls) in the Everglades,

cooked over an open fire, and raised corn, squash and pumpkins while

hunting and fishing for their protein. Now casino money has made

everybody solidly middle class.

 

I just went through my lists of pictures to print that I shot with

the 15mm. On top of the 93 images already in my folder there are

about 75 more still to be printed. I'll probably give myself a break

for a week or so and start carrying my CL with the 40 Summicron. What

I'm wondering is if anyone else has started to feel this way when

working on a long term project? I'm honestly getting to the point

where I'm "starting to see" from the viewpoint of an outstretched

hand. I'm seeing everything with the angular coverage of the 15mm

lens. I need a break!

[jtk]

What about that circumcision?

[ky2]

:) Com'on Al. Give us another week or two!

[aizan_sasayama]

i'm burnt out on my street photography project. the editing will be energizing, so i'm not

exactly bummed out, just wondering what to do next.

[ben z]

Can't really relate. I call myself a serious amateur but I guess I've never taken myself seriously enough to do a "project", long- or short-term, just shoot what strikes my interest at the time. Maybe that's a possible reason why I've never felt burnt out over photography.

[bobtodrick]

I can identify Al. i work primarily in 'series'...setting myself a project, designing paramenters of how I want it to look, then photographing for a length of time...anywhere between 3 months and a year. The long term projects are the worst, in regards to what you describe. When I feel the series is complete I usually put the cameras down for a couple of months and print, read and rent movies. I need that long to get the project out of my head. I've tried to dive right into another series and have found it usually looks exactly like the previous series with different subjects.

[pensacolaphoto]

Al, <br> I have done a multi-year project by driving to the French Quarter in New Orleans from Pensacola, and it can be boring after a while since I would be seeing similar street scenes. On the other hand, being in New Orleans can also be fun so that reduced the "boredom" quite a bit. I sometime stick to B&W for a couple of months and then switch to color and so on. Maybe it is a good idea, Al, to use the 40mm lens for a hwile for a totally different perspectve that is not distorted. Then you can see correctly again!

[gabrielma]

Oh, Al, it means you're at your peak with that "style". Unfortunately it also means that you may miss out on some very excellent shots. Like in music, where playing the same pieces or "style" over and over leads to such refinement in technique, that the "soul" in it could get lost, it may be best if you could play with it, spice it up. Why don't you try color?, there's an idea.<BR><BR>You'll go into withdrawal, and you know it. You'll pick up that Bessa and 15 VC again in no time.

[erudolph]

My girlfriend enjoys your 15mm photo series.

 

Ed

[billsr]

Al, everything in life, including life itself, will burn you out if you don't apply the brakes occasionally. When photography becomes a drag, go fishing. When they both bum you out, there are always dogs, booze and women! (In that order!) Best wishes, Bill

[al_kaplan1]

Thanks, everyone. As I said, there are still about 75 more negatives to print and post, not counting a roll or three as yet undeveloped. If I print them up and Diana posts them at the rate we've been doing it every week or so I won't run out of images before November. You'll still get your weekly "fix". Hopefully I'll get refreshed and maybe take the project off in new directions. Maybe prowl about at night with a Bessa full of ISO 3200 speed film? Perhaps try the frequently emailed suggestion that I should get some nude chicks in the pix? (Nobody ever suggests that I should be nude also.) Stay tuned...

[yeti]

Al, I believe that your 15mm Heliar self-portrait project was very difficult and very succesful.

It is logical that you need a change though. The 40/2 Summicron will be a nice one. Show us

what you can see through it.

[kurt_teerlynck]

Dear Al, I am one so many peolpe I am sure who always read what you write, always look at your pictures...and never say something about it because we think so many already do.Now maybe this is a good moment to thank you for your pictures wcich are very special and have their own signature like only few can do,and your words are very close to poetry,I remember your reply on the quote of HCB...Enjoy your break!<div></div>

[jtk]

Al, look into Rodinal still-processed Tri X at 6400. I'm too lazy.

[matt_chamberlain]

<i>"...Enjoy your break!"</i><br><br>I know I will.

[ronald_moravec1]

No offense, but I KNOW you do better pics than those of your elbow.

 

Mimic some of the older ones. They are super great.

[frederick_muller]

England is my long term project. To really document photographically what I encounter during my time here. Burnout is thoroughly psychological. Have you thought about breaking your long term project into a bunch of mini-projects and spending time on each? I have a folder for my shots of Penzance, another for Cambridge, another for London. Within London, I have a mini-project to photographically document the Thames. And the Tower of London. And Clerkenwell. There is an endless stream of mini-projects to keep one interested. When I start to burn out on London, I take the train to Paris and work on my mini-project on the Seine. And then my mini-project on Montparnasse. Not to mention London at Midnight in the Rain. And so on.

 

The next one I want to work on is Les Filles de France. :-)

[jerry_lehrer]

Al,

 

I can understand why you want to take a break from those 15mm shots of

you, with your head looking like a watermelon.

 

Get someone else to take the shot, and get in the centre!

 

Jerry

[Jerry_]

You may get your wish, Al, if that "K" storm heads just a little south before heading into the Gulf of Mexico. Stay tuned in for your local-area weather situation this weekend!

 

 

 

...we've been visited by Ivan and Denny, so what the heck__one more may be en route.

[johns1]

You've inspired me to try something similar with my 21mm Elmarit. Since my

sleeve length is 38 inches, perhaps I'll achieve a similar look even though I'm

using a narrower angle lens; I'll be able to hold the camera out farther from

my body.

 

But, then how could I approximate that calm, even distracted "presence" that

makes Al's photo breathe so well?

 

I'll give it a whirl anyway and report back with any positive results.

[todd_phillips1]

Al,

 

I'd like to see a "mini-series" shot with the 40 'Cron. Perhaps something around the fishing docks...or maybe North Beach in B&W.

[pensacolaphoto]

I will have my Leica ready for the next hurricane, but I hope it will not come close to Pensacola. Go away Hurricane K!

[scott_mcloughlin]

I find I can tire of wide or tele FL's. Somehow, the world always looks pretty fresh through a 50mm lens. Maybe that's what your looking for with a 40mm lens. For me, with a 50mm lens, the world through the VF looks just about as fresh as it does through my eyes.

 

I get burned out when I encounter difficulties with my gear. Converging verticals with wides, printers that won't print right, problems in processing my own B&W film. I often just don't want to jump over these hurdles, and it tuckers me out psychologically. Often I just "cut the Gordian knot" for a while - use a 50mm lens, get my film processed commercially, use another printer I have that prints ok. Then I eventually get up the "umph" it takes me to jump those hurdles sometime later.

 

Thank got I'm not on deadline or make my living with this stuff :-)

 

Scott

[mikal_grass]

AL

 

Snap some photos of the FIU coeds who frequent the Starbucks on Biscayne near your

home, with the 85/2.0 Nikon. Or, if you want to continue with the Starbucks theme, shoot

the freak show at the Aventura Starbucks, also on Biscayne. Get there early though, so

you can see the freak parade of plastic surgery lining up for the low fat, soy, sugar free

caramel machiatos, before they head off to work.

[albert knapp md]

Al: this is very serious indeed. Take two aspirin and a 135mm

lens and call me in the morning.