Photography Woes, Not!

For one moment, I thought I was having, as described by PinkFrog, a photographer's block. I was beginning to be unable to spot any interesting subjects around for me to shoot. I've gotten bored with my same old shots of same old flowers at my neighbor's yard - well, hardly any flowers left to shoot nowadays since one of those neighbors with elegant yards filled with blossoming flowers almost everyday fled without any notice, grabbing her pots of daisies with her as she speeds off in her car. Judging by red paint splashed over her windows and doors, I'm thinking she was running away from her debts. Well, that's one lousy excuse for me to get down with my camera again.

Even when there was any subject to shoot, I didn't have the thrill that I usually had anymore when I look at the picture through the viewfinder. You know, the adrenaline rush, the satisfaction, the euphoria of achieving a shot that you want... it didn't come. I guesses I was just too shrouded by rules and the likes - more to the technical side of photography. Couldn't take a decent shot without thinking twice about the composition, the color, the setting of the camera, the lighting and etc.. All I did was blame the elements when I had a bad photoshoot, especially when shooting in low light conditions. It really turned me off and for that, I just decide not to even bring out the camera. It was stuck in my room for about a couple of weeks then.

But who'd ever know, a trip to somewhere, someplace new and fresh could get me over the photographer's block I feared wouldn't go away. Because of this trip, I'm kind of busy now (since Monday) editing the pictures that I got that I've been away from blogging. I mean, this whole trip has gotten me reading all sorts of tutorials and experimenting with all my shots. They're great, I tell you. Err... the tutorials, I mean. I don't usually edit my shots all the way down - only the occasional saturation, brightness, contrast and levels - but I decided to use the photos this time to go further and explore the many wonders of Adobe Photoshop! The shots I got from this trip just looks like they're perfect for further photo manipulation and I'm taking this opportunity to learn.

Don't worry, I haven't swayed from photography to hardcore photo manipulation and I certainly don't plan to do so. The only shots I play with are mostly those cam-whoring shots done with Grace, which really helps me with modeling photography (which I've always admired!). I mean, she's no model but it does help me to know what to expect when shooting portraits and now, I'm giving her a digital cosmetic surgery! I managed to make her face and neck look 50% thinner and removed the blemishes from her face! I have fun experimenting with Photoshop, don't you? That's not all. This whole experimenting-with-photoshop thing just leads me to editing older photos that I neglected over the past couple of weeks.

So now, I'm loaded with tonnes of pictures to edit and play with, which could be very time consuming and tiring to the eyes! Still, I'm not letting the cat out of the bag about this sudden trip (I'll explain all when the shots are ready!). I'm going to finish meddling with the shots before writing about it here. This whole trip wasn't a total waste (filled with a lot of cam-whoring and nothing else) but in fact, I got a very decent photoshoot which managed to sweep me of my feet and give me the feeling I longed for with every look through the viewfinder! And it doesn't end here. Tomorrow (practically 4 hours from now) Grace and I would be going downtown to have another photoshoot. Well, she'll only be driving me around. I'm not telling what it's going to be yet but I hope the shoot will turn out like what I have in mind (something Christmas-sy!). The photos just don't stop coming!

PS: This whole post was just an excuse to explain my absence for the past couple of days. Hey, I'm not lazing around watching re-runs of TRL the whole day! I'm editing my shots, which is equivalent to writing here. At least I can be assured that I don't have photographer's block now! =)