The “bathroom terror” exercise no longer holds enough challenge for me, so I think I’ll take the design elements of line and shape and see what I can do with them. Let\u2019s see if I can invent an assignment and use it to snap me out of my blues.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/aug2004\/Office-overall-7408.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Noella’s “Control Center”<\/strong><\/p>\n First I\u2019ll set up some rules. I\u2019m going to limit myself to my office. Then I\u2019ll limit myself to objects that are in plain sight. No opening files or closets or stuff like that. I could be really nasty and draw a circle on the floor and make myself stay within the circle while I shoot. (A circle is what I use for workshop participants who can\u2019t settle down.) But I think my office is already small enough. One of the reasons I want to limit the area I will shoot in is that I\u2019m forced to find subjects where I am. It defeats the \u201cthis-is-a-great-waterfall-but-the-next-one-will-be-better\u201d syndrome. As photographers, we need to learn to look carefully and see with the \u201cinner eye\u201d–also occasionally known as the imagination. We also need to learn to manipulate ourselves and what we\u2019re shooting, so that our vision will come alive.<\/p>\n I stayed in the office for one hour of shooting time (actually less because I used up all of my thirty-six shots very quickly). However, I began to see so many more possibilities that I probably could have shot five times more film without any trouble. But, alas, I know the rules–one hour and thirty-six exposures.<\/p>\n Shooting in my office was an exercise in discovery for me. First, I decided that my office really, really does need a cleaning. (I\u2019ll get to that one of these days.) Then, I discovered that when you\u2019re as familiar with an area as I am with my office, it\u2019s much more difficult to see design. You tend to look at what an object is or what it does rather than design. Finally, I discovered that I wanted to explore more of my living spaces to see if I can improve my vision. I know that I see well outdoors, but I really need to practice more in areas that I don\u2019t see as well.<\/p>\n My office-shooting exercise wasn\u2019t the most comfortable way for me to break my doldrums, but it did the job. I had my camera in my hands–no excuses. And the exercise did offer a springboard to some valuable lessons for me to work on in the next few weeks. I would be willing to bet that working with my weaknesses and trying projects that I don\u2019t often do or don\u2019t like will be of great benefit to me when I return to photographing my favorite nature subjects. Try out my suggestions. Remember, no matter how bad you think your images are, they aren\u2019t \u201cfailures,\u201d because they got you moving and thinking. And thinking is what it takes to improve.<\/p>\n by Noella Ballenger<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"