Loss of vision (not sight) and/or confidence

Have you ever lost your vision or your confidence (not your desire, but your vision and/or confidence) regarding nature photography and then gotten it back again? Did it come back just spontaneously or did you do something to get it back? Thanks for any thoughts.

I don't think you can separate vision, confidence, and desire that easily; I think they are too intimately intertwined. There have been many similar threads here at NPN and I think that almost everyone goes through periods where they aren't happy with the images they are making or have lost interest in dragging the gear out to shoot the same familiar subjects in the same familiar places.

All that is often needed to break such a dry spell is to forget about goals in photography and just get out for personal enjoyment. Visit places that you enjoy, look at subjects that you enjoy, and perhaps take a few photos for your own pleasure. Take just the macro lens instead of the long telephoto, or the wide angle instead of the macro and see what happens. Simplify your kit so you can concentrate on what you see rather than on the gear.

It comes and goes all the time, so for me the trick is getting it back. Shooting is key for me, and best if I do it with a "self assignment." It doesn't have to be anything fancy, and for restoring the flow it's better if it isn't. It also pays to keep it simple. One body and one lens, for example. And the subject doesn't have to be "nature." The key is to shoot, as I said. One of my most recent self assignments was "driveway." I just shot everything I could see from every angle I could think of in my driveway. It could as easily have been flower bed, but in that case it would be seeing if anything had been left by the deer and snowshoe hares!

Somewhere in the process of a self assignment something seems to "click" in my head and the shooting shifts from casual to creative.

The muse is never a full time partner, although I am occasionally surprised at how often and in what ways she visits.

I had a portfolio evaluation done two weeks ago by Sean Kernan, whose specialty is teaching 'creativity'. One of the things he recommends is doing something different - not just different photography , but actually something different. In my case, the different is writing. Changing channels like this gets different things moving in your head and your perceptions and thought processes have to change gears a bit. This can shake all sorts of things loose! Usually I write about photography and the result ends up on my blog (link below). It really does work.

I believe it to be a fact of life Barbara, things be it vision, creativity, the drive desire or need to create is a constant challenge, and it should be. If a person seems to think they have lost their confidence it might be helpful to just consider that time a growing period. The biggest obstacles to overcome, be they in photography or life in general usually come from within. Believe in yourself, your abilities, keep your head up and simply do the next right thing. Patience is truly golden in such times.

I find that I have those problems when life intrudes, when response to my work is down, when I read that some inane image such as the recent Gursky sale hits a record price, exterrnalities that make me question what I'm doing and why. The solution is to take your camera and go out. Don't go expecting to find anything in particular. Don't even go with the expectation of taking any photographs. Just go out and look. Go someplace you've never been before. Look at things you'd normally ignore. Be an open and curious child. Leave everything else at home, all the stuff that is bothering you, worrying you or just cluttering up your mind. The muse will find you.

Margaritas are the key to creative freshness