Visual Notes
Hi Igor,
I like this a lot. For a variety of reasons, it doesn’t quite engage me as much as the one you shared before this. I think it’s the less defined shape of the biggest rock in the scene, and maybe the leaf having landed instead of being captured between two rocks. The surrounding rocks are not as distinctive (the other image had rocks that looked like shale lined up on its edges or something).
All of that said, it is a nice, quiet image.
Your quote was in some ways more engaging for me than the image. It’s something I feel frequently. Sometimes the processing is creative and I enjoy it, and sometimes I feel like I’m “beating a dead horse” (a metaphor, by the way, that my students had never heard and took literally, no doubt assuming I was having a psychotic break in class when we had discussed a story to death and needed to move on).
In this case, I doubt it’s the image itself that’s leaving you unmotivated. I guess it could be the fact that it’s the second of two that have similarities? Are they too similar? Is this your second favorite and therefore, not as motivating? Do you need a larger purpose for these: a project? a triptych? a calendar for friends or family?
Do you have an online gallery? I have one that I try to update a couple of times a year with a series that I’m working on. Once I have enough images, then I have quotes and titles to think about, which makes that phase interesting and creative for me.
Another possibility: Sometimes when I feel unmotivated to process or improve an image, it’s because the alternative – heading out to shoot more, going for a walk in the autumn glow, watching a football game – just sounds more attractive on a given day. More variety in life, including less time thinking about photography, can offer a creative boost. It’s like solitude: we don’t really crave it when we spend a lot of time alone. Desiring it requires its opposite.
Sometimes for me the lack of motivation is a little darker: Why do I spend so much time doing this? What is my real goal here–not just with the image but with photography? Do I need an additional hobby? I go through phases of this version. Maybe I should take singing lessons, get off the dang computer, do more yoga, go dancing at a club. Sometimes a break of a few weeks and a new location is all I need. Portland Japanese Garden should be lighting up soon, so I’m kind of coasting a bit until then.
And yes, for me, often, the real joy is in the hunt, the seeing, the capturing, and later, deciding which ones are best. The processing is rarely the most enjoyable phase–often something I do when it’s raining cats and dogs or stinking hot outside. In other words, when being inside on the computer is the best use of time.
Anyway, I just thought I would add to your conversation about motivation, processing, the creative life. It’s not always a flow state. Sometimes we’re outta gas; sometimes we have the front end up on blocks. Sometimes we just need to walk to our destination or consume art instead of creating it. Look at the work of a favorite artist. See if it jump starts anything.
ML
[E1] My eye goes from the angular rock down through the larger one to the leaf and then back up to the left corner
