Photographers, Don't Buy Into This Rubbish

[@stevenmuncy491]

The "boring" is someone's life and history. I went to my 50yer high school reunion, and drove through the streets looking for the landmarks, businesses, watering holes, and the edge of town. All changed. I wish I had taken the time to photograph them 50 yrs ago.

[@hoomaann.kind007]

Agree with that

[@Anon54387]

I'm getting old enough now where I've seen significant changes to my home town, its change from a true small town with no chain stores to just another anonymous suburb filled with Starbucks, McDonalds, Burger King, Carl's Jr, Wing Stop, IHOP, AT&T stores, Wal-Mart etc. How I wish I'd caught images of when it was a small western USA town. I developed about 20 rolls of my old 35 mm film I found in a close and relatively few shots of my hometown. I do have some Instamatic yet, but no one develops that locally so I'll have to mail that off somewhere. There is a guy named Jim Hill who is on Flickr who takes all kinds of neat photos of these tiny little towns in rural Illinois and Iowa. Great stuff. His shots of Chicago aren't bad either.

[@jresin_photo]

I read or heard a great quote the other day (might have been from Arnold Schwarzeneggers book even) "Boring is where life happens."

[@theothertonydutch]

You have undeveloped instamatic film? Or is the film itself developed but not printed onto photographs? You can scan negatives of any kind.@@Anon54387

[@robscovell5951]

Totally agree. This is precisely why I do film photography as a record for the future.

[@rknevt3530]

My favorite photography quote is by Elliot Erwitt who said: “Photography is the art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place. I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”

[@jasonlee8156]

Correct. It's finding beauty in the most simplest of all things. Like a macro shot of a rug or carpet on the ground, a potted plant or a lightbulb. Or some other object.

[@elestudiodebuenavista628]

This is my new favorite photography quote

[@florgill3718]

Thank you for this important video. As an admirer of Ernst Haas, I once read the following statement by him: "I am not interested in shooting new things - I am interested to see things new. This quote has stayed with me ever since.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching

[@martyviehweg4001]

I’m new to photography and I had the same problem. I don’t live in an “exciting” place so I looked for a theme of what is around me and the area. I live in the Chesapeake Bay Area and I decided to photograph working boats. Lots of them here. Also plenty of wet lands and historic buildings. The possibilities are endless

[@Feuerkopf1000]

Since i live in a small village, unable to walk longer than 2 hours and don't own a car, my photography is so much better than ever before. Since years i shoot the same road over and over again, and i learned so much from this restriction. Sometimes my neighbors ask me "Wow, where did you shoot this awesome picture?" and i answer "Over there" and point to a spot 50m away. Their faces are priceless 🙂When i earlier had the possibility to photograph everywhere and everything, i didn't have the eye for details.

[@robscovell5951]

I now live in South East Asia. It's amazing how quickly things like monks in the forest become the new ordinary.

[@apb148]

I hear the same thing in my photography groups; “I have nothing to photograph.” To those people I give this advice, “when you think you are out of subjects, just look closer.” There are always subjects, and new ways to photograph something others have done before.

[@jamestcallahanphotographer]

Right. It was either Alec Soth or JP Caponigro who said, “If your pictures aren’t good enough…get closer.”

[@jamestcallahanphotographer]

Sorry…it was Robert Capa!

[@AliasJimWirth]

We become desensitized to the places we frequent, mostly because we are not there to enjoy them, but on our way to somewhere else in and around them; work, the grocery store, the postal office, our child's school, etc. I think we must make a real effort to see again what is around us in our everyday lives. The 36 image challenge seemed not so difficult at first, but several pics into it, I realized it ain't so easy. Thanks for showing the collection of images you did here and your comments about it all. I wondered about how quickly one is simply taking the same picture with nothing more than some minor change. I put a feather in a vase, then in the spout of a tea kettle, then something else, but asking the question of whether that is really a different pic. I truly appreciate this channel, Alex. Thank you.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you for being here.

[@JeffCreates]

I'm always reminded of the story I read a number of years ago about a professional stock photographer (not sure if it's still viable) who lived in a small village in the middle of nowhere in Wales and sustained his entire career in that one location. I think squeezing something from seemingly nothing is a great way to try to flex our creativity.

[@jafrasar1]

That’s amazing..

[@Rich_Warne]

I love taking photos of everyday normal things!

[@acedia4453]

Those 'boring pictures' are time capsules and worth gold in a few decades. Take pictures of everything around you. Capture those moments at those places special to you.

[@BarryCarlton]

I fell into this exercise during lockdown, when I did the same walk through my neighborhood (which is definitely not Yosemite) every morning. I took my camera, and to my amazement, the more times I made the walk, the more I saw. I never came back without something interesting. And three years later, when I do the same walk, it's still true.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

👌

[@foxdenham]

Agreed Alex. My studio is situated in an empty 1980's anodyne 3 story UK office block (think photocopier suppliers in Slough etc). I give myself the task of photographing whatever is in the empty building in interesting ways at any particular time. There is no excuse - If you look long enough, there is a cornucopia of possibilities. Supposed 'dullness' and limitations are our friends if we choose to embrace them.

[@cristinaossc2132]

Dear Alex, thank you for the passionate ability to communicate your love for photography and creative observation of each moment. If I may emphasize, the key phrase here: to be in the present After all everything changes continuously : the light, scenery, people, situations and the mood of the observer... If that isn't interesting... 🙏🏻

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for sharing

[@B_Estes_Undegöetz]

Just LOOK at this 0:40. THIS 0:40 is such a terrific portrait. It oozes sexiness, character, substance, in spite of, indeed probably because of the modesty of the surroundings and clothing … and why? No f’n IRONY that’s why. No cynicical self-awareness and culture war symbolism of any kind on the part of the subject; no manipulative self-awareness, irony, satire, or cynicism on the part the photographer, yet ALL the points are made here nevertheless. And indeed the more cultural aspects you share with the photo due to your age and heritage the more it strikes a rich symphony of notes about the manipulative “post-modern” culture-war fracture of the working class in America by the wealthy ruling class. Even if you don’t know how to read all of the contextual clues of this history that this photo is hinting at, it’s clear that we’re looking at someone living her life earnestly and not having been poisoned by the post-modern penchant of self-conscious irony, defensive cynicism, or cultural standard bearing. And in so-doing, meeting your gaze confidently as she does here 0:40 she is undeniably HOT. The insights of the po-mo are clearly important from an analytical point of view, both for historians and for critics, but once these insights transcended the analytical “is versus should” chasm and began to inform people’s actual behavior, their ethics, their actions, their aesthetics and people were constantly winking, nudging, airquoting, and just being generally overly self-conscious all the time and even adopting this attitude of the “empty signifier” as a positive “good”, a morally upright ideal to praise, it forever put all of us would-be cool-kid Fonzies on the wrong side of the social justice shark. Justice has to exist in the real material world and serve the real world of human populations. Stuck within our global-internet battling “cultural” tribes of ever larger number but mostly smaller numerical membership, of swirling inchoate and ever-shifting alliances of intersectionalities based upon less and less that each has in common with the the other until one feels that all that everyone actually agrees upon was … nothing. Nihilism. There is therefore no justice. Which is utter nonsense. And dangerous. Because those that seek INJUSTICE are more than pleased to enjoy the benefits of the division and bickering and … yes … cynicism and eventual apathy. This 0:40 is a great portrait of an incredibly sexy working class American woman. This image SHOULD unite many of us to inspire us not only to agree about her gender and beauty but also her social position and our allieship with her and her community in seeking to remedy the massive inequalities of wealth power and opportunity that have grown across this country over the last half century of neoliberal capitalist ruling class dominance. She should be seen as one of many such unifying images that refers to a time before the cynical USE of the post-modern has not only made everyone frightened of the whole notion of sexiness, but also inclined to divide ourselves within the working class, rather than maintain relationships across shifting cultural divides.

[@Randy_in_Pittsburgh]

Thank you so much for this. Being a paramedic for 32+ years and a police officer for 14+ years pretty much destroyed my body so I've recently taken up photography as a means to earn some income. No formal training, but dozens of books and a couple channels like yours are all I can really afford as far as training goes. Surely can't afford formal classes right now. So THANK YOU so much for this video because I've been struggling with "There's nothing to shoot" lately. I'm looking forward to heeding your advice and also doing that 36 challenge. Thank you, sincerely, for all you do.

[@mikeknapik6746]

Alex, Alex, Alex, damn your videos are great and I have been able to get/obtain a lot of what I had lost from my early years as a photographer! The one thing I miss the most and I have been trying to get back to is the BBC spontaneity. I think you had brought this up one time. I’m a member of one of the local camera clubs here in Arizona that is also affiliated with the Wickenburg Art Club. Three of my photos have been “juried” and accepted for a show in January. For me that is a real ego boost and has lite a fire under me to keep going in the direction I’m headed! A lot is thanks to you! Keep smiling!

[@ThePhotographicEye]

That’s awesome, thanks for watching

[@mrcojocaru]

As someone who lives in a city with a prominent granola aesthetic, thank you. I've been feeling this way a lot

[@LukeFranklin65]

Poignant topic. I find that whenever I feel there is nothing to shoot I just re-edit some of my old photos ….re-shooting them so to speak and create another ‘version’. This makes me look at those images with a fresh perspective and offers immense satisfaction.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Great to hear that - thanks for watching

[@classic.cameras]

If your only lens is say a wide lens, then you are hooped for options in your boring city but if you have just a fast 50mm then just walk down your back alley and capture amazing wild flowers and other things. I did that last summer just to prove a point as my alley is so ugly and boring but when I shot and looked I found beautiful images mostly with just a 50mm.

[@cyrilstheone]

Warming up, I spend 30 minutes or an hour sometimes in a multistorey carpark I use. I find it's best when it's gloomy and raining(nearly every weekend) in Swansea 😂 I love it when you get stopped by someone who passes a place you shoot regularly. What you taking a photo of? You explain and they seem stunned because they pa's the spot all the time but never notice.

[@Dug6666666]

Most photographers start out thinking cameras are for photographing curtain things, landscapes, portraits, wildlife, sport, etc. Many never shift from that, they pick their favourite of the subjects and strive with all the other like minded photographers to get the most perfect example of long established and formulated examples of shots. They measure their ability as a photographer against how their pictures compare to very similar images by other photographers. I used to be the same with landscape, only activating my photographic eye when I saw a pretty scene in good light. It all changed when I joined a small group of photographers for an outing photographing an industrial area down at the port. I felt engage in photography the whole day, the photos felt original and a reflection of how I see things. My new favourite subjects after that day can be found anywhere- form, shapes, colour, symmetry, texture, composition for composition sake, observation.

[@jaughnekow]

I've accepted that my photos are boring. Doesn't mean I'll stop taking photos.

[@freygallery]

Just what I needed this morning. Now and again I get discouraged about my lack of fresh ideas and interesting photos. Then I start dreaming of obtaining some new 48MP camera or traveling to a more exciting place thinking that might be the answer to the winter doldrums that I'm in. What I really need to do is get off my butt and practice the craft and exercise my mind. Thanks for the inspiration. What a unique channel.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you for watching

[@tedmanasa907]

So rarely does a YT video make me do something different with my photography. But yours did. That same day, I looked more deeply at my home town and took photos I was happy with. I wish I could show them to you. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Love that!

[@maksphoto78]

Ha! I never had this problem, Gimme any setting, and I'll turn it into an exciting photoshoot, working every inch and a corner. As a photographer, that is your duty!

[@waynethorn7218]

This is what other photography channels don’t even touch. You can go to your local park on a Sunday morning and take great photos, and there’s a hundred ways to do it. Sometimes I put an old Takumar lens on and it’s fascinating how different it looks from the modern lenses. That Coca Cola one reminds me a bit of a Saul leiter or Ernst Haas photo and I love those two guys. I think Robert Adam’s will agree with you Alex 👍

[@jresin_photo]

8 out of 10 channels would be like "Buy this gear if you're bored with your photography"... 😂

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you

[@jeremymendoza4394]

I live in the most boring state in America...Kansas, where most scenes are too blah to photograph. That said, I've had to think outside the box and shoot something most people wouldn't think about...alleyways. I've been doing it for awhile now and found most of my favorite photos were in alleys. In face it's my project for 2024 and plan to make a zine from it. I just never know what I'll find there whether it's ugly, beautiful, mundane or humorous!

[@uniktbrukernavn]

One of the best photography channels on youtube! A few years ago I started to take "boring" photos of every day scenes. Maybe someday I get to put together a collection online. At the very least to prove to my self that I can do it. It's easy to start projects but not so easy to actually see it through.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you

[@TheAntimon13]

Wow! That again was such a deep insight! I am totally with you on that respect. What you describe, is the way to really become a photographer. Not by being lazy and just snapshooting, what is in front of you, but by opening your eyes and taking a real mental effort to see the world around you. I was in Japan beginning of the year and looked forward so much to all the spectacular views to photograph. Of course there were lots, but after a while I ended up taking pictures of elder people watering single flower pots in front of their houses, or octopus arms in a seafood market stall.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

That’s awesome.

[@Gogogordy1]

Stellar advice. Your channel is a far deeper dive into the art of photography than most, and provides advice and ideas that don't require any expense, just mental exercises. TY

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching

[@sara505sings]

Photos that I thought were boring and inconsequential, always look better with the passage of time. Sometimes I think, wow I almost did not take that photo and I’m so glad I did because now I love it.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Love that

[@ToNi-go5pn]

In Germany we say that people become “operationally blind” or in German "Betriebsblind". It means that you no longer consciously notice everyday things and simply ignore repetitive things.I have a good example of this. One day when I was taking my son to school I saw a beautiful sunrise between two buildings on the way back to the car. I had my camera with me because I took a photo of my son in front of school. So I stopped and took photos of the exciting sun. A mother stopped next to me and verbally attacked me about why I would allow myself to take photos of other people's gardens here.I answered her politely that I was photographing the sunrise. The question returns angrily which sunrise do I mean?I pointed my finger at the sun, which was now very high. She stood there with her mouth open and told me in a calm tone that she had never noticed that there before.This is so sad. Because many people miss the life around them, because they are only busy with themselves.

[@TRC_PNW]

Oh man…I have been photographing since the mid-80s and still have this problem and it is two-fold: 1. Not being interested in photographing what I see every day 2. Wanting to have a long-term project that will keep me interested It’s like I see all of these photographers that have found their niche and the subject matter that brings them joy, and I am still searching for it, having tried many different things and then ultimately becoming bored with it. For example, spending many years shooting street but ultimately no longer finding it interesting, or more accurately, finding MY street photos interesting anymore. Maybe going through phases is natural - Frank moved on, Fan Ho as well. Sugimoto had various projects. I honestly don’t know how Gary Stochl did the same thing for 40+ years without becoming bored with it.

[@thinkpadx60]

I have had a resurgence in my interest in photography. I live in HK and I am appreciating everything around me. This is a great video with a strong message.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching

[@MarkyFormula1]

HK is such a wonderful city to photograph. I follow lots of togs from there. I live in London which is also a great place to take photos but i rarely do because of the familiarity of it all.

[@HeathBlythe]

In my line of work, I visit some photogenic locations, some ugly locations, and some boring locations, and above all, I visit the same locations multiple times in a month. Always in the same city, same type of events, same gear, same people. I've always questioned myself if I was a bad photographer, or the locations were really hard to shoot. I now believe it's a bit of both, it takes a good eye to spot that one angle you've never shot, or a moment which in time looked ordinary to you, but to outsiders it's an interesting moment to capture. Pretty sure we all go through this mindset at some point, but I hope I grow it out in the future. Thank you for this video Alex, keep it up!

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching

[@rachellerachelle2931]

Great topic! As someone who grew up in a small town (pop. 512) in the middle of the Canadian countryside, I felt like I lived in the most boring place with nothing to photograph. Now I live in Kyoto, where millions of people come to visit every year, and I find myself bored - how many ways are there to shoot temples, shrines, and cherry blossoms? Yet when I look at other's photographs, I'm always astonished to see how they've captured something I take for granted in a completely different way (the same way I did when I first moved here), which reminds me that we always need to keep looking at the familiar with fresh eyes. And what do I look forward to the most when I go home for a visit? Exploring all the beauty that the Canadian prairies have to offer. ;-)

[@rachellerachelle2931]

I love the idea of the 36 images challenge, I will try to do that myself. I've also found that when I get stuck in a rut (especially for 'want' of interesting things to photograph), that mixing things up can force me to look at the world with new eyes. For everyone out there that might mean shooting film (if you are a digital photographer), or shooting digital (if a film one). Shoot with a Holga. Pinhole. Shoot colour. Infrared. Shoot only with tele (no zoom) lenses, shoot only with wide. There are so many ways to make "boring" a lot more interesting.

[@drpepper998]

Back in photography class in the late 1980's we did a project on "seeing deeper in plain sight". What you do is take pictures of the letters of the alphabet without shooting a picture of the letter. The easiest example is a McDonald's sign with the golden arches making the letter "M". Another example is an exterior set of stairs making the letter "Z". This forces you to look deeper into the scene to find the image. It's serves the same purpose that your excersise serves. Great video btw.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you

[@bobbullethalf]

There are just too many people with too many cameras (iPhone and professional) trying to capture the same image.

[@chesslover8829]

But no one else sees the image the way you do.

[@F70100]

Well well well, blow me down with a ragmans trumpet. There I was, thinking you would be based in the smoke, and I find you're based just up the road from me in the middle of nowhere (I recognised the Tesco car park!!). Now subscribed Alex, keep up the good work.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

That’s awesome

[@creative_cozmic]

Thanks for this video Alex. I have been thinking about this very subject lately. Living in a capital city where it feels like everyone is taking photos of the same subjects, I am planning to go to a couple of spots, away from the touristy over photographed city centre and make repeated visits throughout the year, getting more familiar with these areas each visit. This will stop me thinking I need to visit new places every time I go out but it will definitely encourage me, especially as the seasons change and at different times of the day to seek out something new to photograph and experiment with different settings on my camera. I already use just one camera and one prime lens and never feel having just one focal length is ever holding me back or restricting my creativity and repeat visits to the same place shouldn't hold me back either but it certainly will make the burden of trying to decide where to go with my camera a lot easier.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching

[@sharonleibel]

I remember a “forced” excercise back in March 2020, when the lockdowns started: We were allowed to walk 200 meters around our home. That’s it! And I went out with my camera, wanting to have some air, every day, and trying to photograph things 200m around! Not only something in my town. But 200m around! I miss that constraint.

[@gregkiserphotography]

Bravo!!! Love this take on photography. It's the backbone of what I do. Thank you for putting this secret out.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching! I really appreciate it.

[@MonsterCookieMuncher]

You can travel down a street one way and never see the view from the opposite direction. Changing how you see things within your local area by changing your perspective. Change the focal length of the lens that you use, I bought a second hand D100 cheap from eBay a few years ago and I had a 500mm mirror lens ( don't ask why ), a very short depth of field of course, it forced a very specific view of the world, almost blinkered. I still enjoy using this camera and lens simply to break down how I perceive the surroundings and how much can be missed by not looking and only seeing.

[@GeologyDude]

I live about 2 hours from Boring, Oregon-the source of your picture. The local lava formations are named after this place-called the Boring Lavas. About one million years ago, dozens of small volcanoes erupted near Portland, Oregon-forming the Boring lavas. I assure you, the Boring Lavas created many exciting eruption events in this area at that time.

[@peterlieberzeit3138]

Excellent food for thought again. In fact, my personal experience (augmented by the notorious recent pandemic) tells me that most of my "good" photos are from places nearby my "homebase". However, after causing some frustration about my travel photos (I love travelling!) I realized that this has changed the style of my travel photos. Still some tourist vistas, obviously, but many more details/"feels". Thank you for spelling this out so clear! (And, PS: I had internally burst from smiling, when obeserving a row of equally-looking ladies in their early twenties asking their partners to take the same "individual" image (throwing very similar poses) on a beach with a scenic tree in Sardinia.

[@pujan9775]

Somehow I don't get your videos in my feed anymore despite me having subscribed to your channel. Your channel is the only place I go to get a sound advice on how to learn photography. I wish I knew more channels like yours. Thanks for your efforts and please make more content like you do.

[@MrBeauMonte]

Brilliant. This video and the 36 image project may have just rewoken my desire to pick my camera up again.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

That’s awesome

[@geoffreyhoward7251]

I know exactly what you are saying, I feel the same about my home, visitors say wow, what a fabulous place and get loads of photographs that I don't see. It is where I grew up, where I have always lived, it is called complacency, the normal something I have seen every day, it does not have that wow feeling. There is a perfect example of this in my home town, every day I would go to the town centre and there in the middle of a cross roads was a statue (it was know by a few different names to the local population), then one day some replanning of the junction was made, the statue was taken away to who knew where, the population spoke of its loss a landmark had gone. Many years later is was discovered in a junk yard outside a town some 40 miles or so away, it was recovered and returned home, but not to its proper place, but in a lonely corner of a car park, it might just as well been left in the junk yard, it was no longer the centre piece of the town.

[@spiritwalker6153]

I live in Eastern South Dakota. Believe me when I say it is a challenge to find interesting things to photograph. However, I believe some of my best landscape photos have been from this flat part of the USA.

[@Bethos1247-Arne]

"it is too easy to go somewhere that is stunning". At first it sounds wrong because in practice it is not easy to get to the exciting places. But since some month now I take photos in the office I am. Booooring! Or is it? Over time I discovered ways to use rare lighting situations or other things to share images with my colleague showing the familiar place in a new way.

[@jresin_photo]

Another great video! I live in a (very) small town that I've photographed up, down and sideways during the days of summer, autumn and spring. A couple of days ago I picked up my camera and went out in -15 celsius, snowstorm and darkness to shoot the same thing I've always shoot... Came home with some of my best photographs, 40 degree fever and a new way of photographing my home town. I'm now more excited to go out again as I was going to Stockholm or London last year to do street photography. As soon as I've beaten the cold I'll make a video of that experience. Best regards Jresin

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Great to hear you pushed yourself and it paid off!

[@heldercosta9514]

Happened to me at the beginning going out with a camera and dont take any picture unless i went to the beach and took some sunset or blue hour seascapes. Now I avoid "instagram worthy" places (and photos), as you said i dont want to take beautiful pictures because what is in front of me is beautiful. Im making 2 projects where a lot of photos were shot in my own backyard, one of the projects gave me entry to a master in artistic photography. I didnt do the 36 one, but i if want to photograph something that has a meaning, i try it until i have something im happy with, never leave (unless its a moment and it ends). Beside this, what worked for me was seeing a lot of books from other photographers and other visual artists, and a project i did in the school, which i had to do a project just in a small street (not street photography), but walking the same tiny space all day long and forcing my self to get something new to show every week for that discipline

[@konosgore]

Its crazy to include Santorini, im from greece and worked next to Santorini at Syros and never been and "never" go ! Thanks a lot for all the knowledge and inspiration !

[@eyewitness4560]

The photos that bring me most joy and am legit proud of are usually the ones that people say 'wow, that's great! what is that?' or 'I've never noticed that before'. Not the sort of landmarkish every-photographer-took-this-shot type of deals.

[@boristahmasian9604]

Thank you Alex. Every time I ask myself, what is he going to cover next. You surprise me with a topic that has been lingering in the back of my mind. An awakening, an epiphany!! Thanks a million times.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching

[@TobyOft]

I was born and raised in Boring, Oregon! Thanks for another amazing video!!

[@PhotoSemi]

This video really makes me wanna go out and photograph the beauty of my boring city and show it to the world. Tnx for being such and inspiration.

[@robertwhitemoto]

I am so guilty of saying, Flat, Boring North Texas has nothing to photography because I've been so spoiled to go to epic places like Colorado, Antarctica, Faroe Islands... it's broke me :)

[@MarkSweeting_]

Thankyou! I'm at the point where I'm learning the technical parts of photography and done some great landscape and street. Then the days come when you think there isn't anything to click away on and capture.....but this has opened my mind to something else. Thank you and best regards. Mark

[@CAYENNEOREZ]

I completely agree with this.

[@asianagribusiness6727]

I feel so lucky to have found your videos. Thank you so much.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Your welcome.

[@yippyskippy2066]

This video is an important tool in my arsenal/kit now. Thank you!

[@nvrumi]

This! Long ago, Wife once said to me "You just see things in a different way," while looking at some of my photographs. I had taught myself to *look* when out and about. There was almost always something interesting that "caught my eye." (She used to tease me about this now and again... winking and acting like her eye was "caught.") I think the 36 image exercise sounds really interesting. The next time I have an itch to get out and go find something to photograph, I think I'll look around the house, pick something, and then try to find 36 images in that thing. One of the reasons I picked up my cameras again was to force myself out of my head while walking The Girl (my dog) every day. I also need something that "nourishes my soul" and photography is one of those things. It is something that is "easy" to do in the sense that I do not have to take time away from other things to do it (on walkies), but that gives me something intangible but valuable. So, your encouragement is timely and thanks, Alex. Now I need to go watch the other video you linked in a card.

[@blackcygnus3177]

Fully agree with your points Alex, having lived in Hong Kong for 15 years, it is often hard to see the new and interesting, in this exotic city...... I found myself getting 'lazy' a trip to London when I had lived for 25 was amazing as London had changed dramatically in the last 12 years Ince my last visit. In London I found my mojo... which continued on my return to Hong Kong. Your points are so well made. Keeping motivated, seeing the world in different interesting is very hard work.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Glad to hear it. Funnily enough I’m on the train right now to London for a photo walk!

[@Tahitianpearl75]

Thank you, Alex, for your unsight. I experienced something else after finding I live in an utterly boring area. It brought me away from street to people/event/concert photography as those motives are "regrowing ressources" :-) Always fresh and different every time. I never would have considered this genre if I had not been so bored with our streets and my frustration not being in Paris all the time :-) Being open to new ways to go can be a cure as well.

[@kathystewart8647]

I spent 2 weeks in a hospital room after an op....brought a small camera and a personal challenge to take a daily creative pic...super distraction 😊

[@innstikk]

The 36 image challenge is hard, but really giving. Excellent video!

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you

[@christiandleyva9064]

Whenever I think that my metropolitan area (Guadalajara, Mexico) is "boring", I remind myself that thousans of people make this their destination every year! I may not be able to travel to London or East Asia, but this place has lots and lots of photo opportunities wating to be captured.

[@jasonlee8156]

I've taken a lot of photos just around the house. I do tabletop and still life photography with various objects. Also I take pics at the supermarket of various food products and sell them online as stock photos. When I go visit the doctor or dentist I take photos of various medical devices, signs on the wall like a biohazard sign or anatomy chart. I sell these online also as stock photos also. When I visited a local vape shop I took pictures of some of the items I saw there like. Like the mini hookahs or smoking devices. If I'm at a restaurant I take pictures of my food or drink. Again I sell them as stock photos. One bit of advice I follow from a photographer whose book I read is always to bring a camera with you. Whenever you go shopping, eating out, visiting the barber shop, going to see the doctor for your checkup or even at work. Same goes if your going to the gym, the library or the local park. You never know what you can take a picture of. His book was written years before mobile phones were invented. So he literally followed his advice by taking his Nikon with him wherever he went.

[@astroandrius]

Thanks for the video. As a hobbyist photographer, what I noticed that my photos taken around my best photos are taken within an hours or max two hours of drive away from my home. Of course, I bring a lot of photos from holidays from some "exotic" places. I think this is it: I can revisit those places often and find something unique about them (might be some special weather, or some flowers springing up or anything else), but I need to get over myself and try find something new in something I seen a lot of times.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching

[@simonmeeds1886]

People often like images of things outside their experience. I think it's why people tend to prefer images of sunrises to sunsets - more people see sunsets than sunrises. If you go from home in the UK to Japan for example and bring home images, they will impress people. However, if you take images in the UK and look for an audience in Japan, you may find interest. More basically though, by regularly photographing things at home in fresh ways you may find that your neighbour is interested because they have never seen that familiar location in the way you see it.

[@seaeagles6025]

Hi Alex, one thing i learned through Covid was things in my area that i never paid much attention to. There was a nice Church with a Palm tree in the background, i new the Church was there but what i didn't ever notice was the Red door from the Church. It was a beautiful little church but what made it special was that unusual Red coloured door. And other things in my area that i never noticed close up. So i photographed the Church on a cloudy day and a sunny day. There are great compositions everywhere just waiting to be photographed. Thanks for this video. 😊

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thanks for watching

[@seaeagles6025]

@@ThePhotographicEye Your very welcome Alex 😊

[@michaelbesant725]

GREAT message and vid Alex!!

[@thebeardsgarage]

I live just south of Boring, Oregon. I ride 212 plenty on my motorcycle. There’s plenty to see if you’re looking. Wasn’t it Saul Leiter who took 50,000+ photos within 2 miles of his house?

[@KarySchump]

This is such good advice and a good reminder. I feel a bit bored, because I haven't really been out of my town in 2 years, but I realize that there is an infinite number of spots of interest just here, right where I am. I wasn't familiar with the 36 images exercise, so I am excited to try it! Thank you for your videos and channel. I always look forward to your videos.

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Thank you for watching

[@LudwigDesmet]

that Santorini image with hundred people on the same spot had me laughing ... yeah right most photogenic place ever 😂

[@Drew.Joseph]

"The photographer must first have seen his subject, or some aspect of his subject as something transcending the ordinary It is part of the photographer's job to see more intensely than most people do. He must have and keep in him something of the receptiveness of the child who looks at the world for the first time or the traveller who enters a strange country... they carried with them a sense of wonder... I believe this power of seeing the world as fresh and strange lies hidden in every human being. In most of us it is dormant. Yet it is there, even if it is no more that a vague desire, an unsatisfied appetite that cannot discover its own nourishment.....We are too busy ,too worried, too intent on proving ourselves right, too obsessed with ideas, to stand and stare. We look at a thing and believe we have seen it. And yet what we see is often what our prejudices tell us to expect to see, or what our past experiences tell us should be seen, or what our desires want to see. Very rarely are we able to free our minds of thoughts and emotions and just see for the simple pleasure of seeing. And so long as we fail to do this, so long will the essence of things be hidden from us." Bill Brandt

[@matthewdejager9887]

You nailed it!

[@clean.parker]

I love this video. I usually avoid photography in the winter and early spring. I'm inspired, and feel like my off months (and my frequently visited spots) have hope. Thank you!

[@dangilmore9724]

I did a video on my other KZbin account of multiple stills od an angel statue in a cemetery. The teaxmctin i got from it was amazing. I shot images from every angle and muktiple detail shots. Noone would ever think that would become a hit.

[@judeemclaughlin7394]

Someone I can’t remember who said Creativity is looking at the ordinary and seeing the extraordinary. I pledged to shoot once a day even if, and mostly it is, my own home.

[@alexanderpons9246]

Very good topic Alex Kilbee, thanks for the video! Funny how many times one has to leave a place to eventually come back and see what one didn't see there before. But absoloutly one must push one self wherever one is at and as a reality tv show made popular the phrase "make it work".

[@ThePhotographicEye]

Yeah, going away a little bit, even if it’s to the next town, can help reset the eyes

[@normapadro420]

Hello. I saw this same thing in many forums. I just don't understand why they can't get over things. As the years have gone by I experimented with many ways to shoot a subject. Many argue about locations. I don't. Being creative is very important.

[@markusbolliger1527]

Awesome thoughts which are so true! The (photographic) beauty of this world is in our mind and eye - regardless of the environment in which we are located.

[@andyxmunoz]

STORY TIME: I remember starting my journey three years ago thinking no one would hire me - fast forward and I have a full-time content creation job and have worked with tv networks, sports leagues, and big influencers! If I can do it, you can too! I share tips and tricks on my youtube channel to! Hope you all the best and I'm here to help answer any questions you may have as well! ❤📸🎥

[@fabscams4136]

Amazing video, this is the therapy I didn't know I needed...

[@photosbyjosef]

I am so grateful for all your work and for this video at the time that I am watching it is perfect. I live in Long Island New York, which has wonderful marinas and seascapes. And i've been feeling like there's nothing to photograph. Thank you again and if you're coming to the states. Either for work or otherwise would love to buy you and your family lunch.

[@pauldickinson1434]

Great advice Alex. As you say we are all tricked into thinking that you have to travel far and wide to get the images. One reason I don't go on Instagram..

[@BenSussmanpro]

I agree- Whenever I go to Europe I take the touristy shots for my wife & later go out on my own for street shooting. BTW I live in Balto - I hope you got to see Greenmount Cemetery - exquisite landscape & great vistas of the city. It’s historic but very few know about it.

[@dennismccowan5375]

This is a very good lesson! I am new to photography and have been training myself to re-look at ordinary things, as I won't be travelling to exotic destinations.

[@myleslenting]

Thanks for the South Africa shoutout!🇿🇦

[@B_Estes_Undegöetz]

I agree with you very much! There’s ALWAYS something to photograph closeby. And you can always find an interesting abstract-ish composition in a nearby landscape or building or whatever and then wait a few minutes for the light to change or the sky to change. I guarantee you there’s outstanding photos everywhere in your daily life if you only choose to be AN ACTIVE VIEWER of your surroundings. And if you’re a little more ambitious and outgoing … check out the contents of your own subconscious and dreams and then take friends and acquaintances and use them to illustrate the abstract ideas of your subconscious mind in an abstract or surreal kind of way in your local physical environment. All it takes is unusual perspectives, croppings compositions, etc. don’t believe me? Check out the work of Guy Bourdin. Just leave out the fashion elements and imagine his work populated with more regular people wearing parts of their regular wardrobe and you’ve got some amazing photos there with just an adventurous friend or two, an afternoon spent together, and a couple of your more interesting local environments. Good luck fellow photographers!

[@einzwei3364]

My South African friends were puzzled why I was obsessed with the Karoo. I just told them it is very easy for me because I come from a very crowded country, Germany 😂😅.

[@djokotriono7787]

I want to be recognized as the guy who took project progress photos unscripted with great composition and picking up the positive energy. still long way to go

[@dasneyknuthllorente5098]

I'm just learning how to use my camera and this kind of content are really important to learn how to think. ❤ thx. Love it.

[@daemon1143]

Although I understand and appreciate all that you say here, this is something that I'm outstandingly bad at. Maybe for a an hour or two, once or twice a year, do I suddenly and inexplicably gain the ability to see things around me with fresh vision, and then it goes away again and I become the dull twat I've always been. And too, when it happens, I never have a camera with me.

[@digeratadesign]

love hurts bro. but thanks for this

[@kakhakheviashvili6365]

Easy fix for people in big cities can be... Walk the other way. Talking from my own experience. In both cities i'm familiar with, everything i need is in the same direction. So for most of my life i would only go that direction. And in that direction i would explore everything. Almost never went the other direction though, and when i did recently, i redicovered the "magic" of those cities. I saw the same architecture, climate zone, cars, paving etc. as for whole my life, but i saw the beauty again. Maybe for people in rural areas or smaller towns it won't work as well (but there you can visit neighboring village or town), but for city dwellers it's very good solution. Even without photography it gives you that excitement and love for your city you had as a child and you thought you lost.

[@jasongold6751]

Trying to show, teach all that's there! I was teaching at a photo school! I gave up! I try to take friends on my walks, it is a no-go! There is no visual ability. None!. One pal bring his Leica-M, film or digital, it's welded to his hip! No images! or at best 1~2.. Hope your video, does it! Bravo.