ok, yesterday i try to make silly image. light was horrible. i can't place cam where i want. i unable to adjust tripod with 1 arm. i can't get filter off cam with 1 arm. i play with shutter speed. i try to adjust light in postwork & apply brush to give a painted look. *sigh*.... well....i tried....i spent 1 hour making photos & this is best i did. *shaking head* i needed to express sillies in me. this is awful & boring!!!!

today i want to go to park. we have sleet. too dangerous for me to risk falling. very slick out. plus too cold. i can't wear coat with cast. so...i try to take pics thru window. kemal not here to help. he doing laundry. my new cam on tripod. i can't use it. i take old cam. make one-handed shot. i couldn't get shutter speed changed by myself. with new cam i can do with one hand. this is final result. *bangs head against table* i can't think straight. only 2 hours sleep last night....itchies keep me up all night. my brain fried...

and i took this image of myself after work...i'm verrrrrrrry frustrated & mad as He_l that i cannot make one stinking decent pic!!!!!!!!! red light added to show my anger & pain!!!

You make loads of really great images - perhaps not right now but most of the time. So I hope your anger and pain goes quickly :)

I dont see anything wrong with #2 it really is quite nice. #1 is fine for what it is, not really my thing but its ok. #3 I dont like the red, but it is quite a nice and expressive image. I know you like my tell it how it is attitude so I will continue. Of course 1 handed photography is hard and frustrating, unfortunately there isnt much you can do about it. Sometimes Shelia IMO you try too hard to do something, and if it doesnt work out how you have expected you get frustrated, much of what I do doesnt work out how I expect either. But really your photography and art is already inside you, and if you try too hard it sometimes doesnt work out. But much of what you do does work very well. Let your work flow from you, try not to force it, you come here and ask questions, and sometimes you get the right answers, and use them well, I know I have seen it happening. Get well soon LP

I agree with LP. I don't think art can ever be forced or it looks it. For an image to have "soul" I think it needs to flow from the artist. You can have an image that's technically perfect and just have no life to it.

Let go of your expectations, Sheila. Let go of the frustration and anger. I know it's easier said than done, but try to shoot just for the sake of shooting.

We all know you can make great images. That's still in you. Having use of only one arm doesn't take that away. And you have a tripod to steady your camera so that's not the problem. The world still has the same subjects and lighting you've always used. I just think you are trying too hard to make happen what you ordinarily do naturally.

Hope you feel better soon.

-=>Donald

I have more than one day in my life to take one good picture. Having a new camera did not make me a better photographer. If I go out looking for that 1 great picture it never comes. I know one thing, if you go get yourself better,then one day just go set out on what you like doing best(hike,walk,sitdown in a field),I am sure that the scenes will just appear.

Words of wisdom from these guys.... let yourself get better first Sheila. In the meantime you can still enjoy photography, even if you are not actively taking pictures. Read some magazines on it, or buy a good book on it. Look at beautiful photographs that inspire you and make you dream....

Start a photo journal/diary..... write down ideas, things you'd like to shoot, project ideas.... equipment you'd like to buy, rip photos out of magazines that you like. Paste them in there for inspiration. This is something that I do, and it's fun to go back and look at later.

While your stumbling block right now is a physical one, a creative block can be just as frustrating. To force it is counter-productive, and as already mentioned, usually lackluster. As a result weeks could go by where I don't shoot a single image. Do I get nervous? Yes, sometimes.... But I know that eventually an idea will spring to life and it all just works......

Take care of yourself first..... stressing out over photos that aren't perfect isn't worth the effort. You can't expect to produce phenominal work with a broken arm. Hell it can be impossible even with two good working ones....

Message edited on: 01/22/2005 20:05

Have to agree with them all,they all look good. Just take it slow and be calm. Dont "try" to get a good pic,just take some pics. I know I do that,and can end up with a bit that are blurry, or underexposed or something. Just have to keep doing it, and expect that you will have days you cant get a good pic for nothing.

sigh. thanks guys. you give me good advice and i feel support. LP, i ALWAYS try hard to do things. whatever i do, i give 150%. i'm like that. u guys say words i need to hear...LP said, "let your work flow from you." Donald... you said: "For an image to have "soul" I think it needs to flow from the artist." i am like that! i go with the flow. that describes me perfectly!!! good advice. thanks!! i think i'm trying to swim upstream. i relax and let go....thank you for saying exactly what i needed to hear!!! Michelle, funny you mention that about magazines!!! that's exactly what i do...cut out pics in magazines. i have about 20 magazines stacked up now. i find this very useful too!! i didn't know anyone else did this!!! it helps me. i can't read now because i can't concentrate. i have ADHD. being so constrained physically makes my inability to concentrate even higher. in order to have high enough concentration to sit down and read, i need to spend energy...and LOTS of it. today i cleaned and organized for about 4 hours i think. i'm bouncing off the walls here. when i go shoot photos it's like tranquilizer. calms me down. i shoot, shoot, shoot. i release energy. i start slowing. relax. plus itching every single second under that cast just makes my inability to concentrate that much higher. i can't be creative because itchies i want to tear at my skin!!!!! plus when i'm under big stress like this, my need to be creative intensifies. and Donald I AM dealing with things i'm not used to. one arm is problem. i can get tripod adjusted in one position only. kemal does it for me before he goes to work. if i need to change tripod position, i'm just shit out of luck!!! i can't do it with one arm. lighting i'm not used to. images i make in the house...i normally make in broad daylight because i work 2nd shift. i have good morning light. but i've had to switch shifts because i can't work at restaurant. so light in my house is virtually nothing. it's dark before i go to work and very little light when i get home. doug and william...you're absolutely right. trying to get perfect pic...well...it can't be forced. it just comes. i need to flow with it. let it happen. it will come. yes, i need to just get out and take pics like i normally do. walk, go to park. scenes will come. i guess i gotta heal first. i think when i get cast off on 31st, i'll be better. i won't be able to lift more than 1 pound with left arm until almost April...but at least not itching every freaking second will help my mind be clearer. Onslow, Donald...i will try to let go of anger and frustration. flow. flow. flow.... i worked on many images today. expressed some creativity. venting helped. THANKS guys for looking at crappy images i take, listening, and for your words of advice and your support. poor kemal. you guys think u have it bad listening to me...OMG...LOL...he's been fantastic though. waits on me hand and foot. he told me to rest ALL day. he's gonna kill me when he sees what i did...couldn't help it. i was too hyper. i made chicken soup today. homemade. one arm. harder than hell to get chicken off bone. LOL. i would post a pic but it's freaking lousy. i'm too ashamed. so just imagine. i feed you all. yummy, soothing chicken soup. good for soul. i go back and reread this 100 times when i get down. u guys are the best!!!!!!!! thank you!!!!!!!! hugest one-arm hugz!!!! sheila p.s. sorry for novel!!

First...You need to focus on HEALING...getting BETTER...both physically and mentally! What happened to you and are now going thru was/is traumatic to say the least! Give yourself time! Photography is just ONE of your MANY artistic talents! It's no secret the you like to WRITE...stories, poetry....these are all outlets for you! You can also experiment with your existing photo collection, thru postwork, collages and such! Just remember to TAKE CARE of YOURSELF! L8r! Joe

thanks, Joe!!! you are absolutely right, of course!!! but i'm not so good at resting. first 2 weeks of Feb, I'll be work 75 hours each week. i'll be on "light duty" of course. also, from Feb 1 until Apr. 1, I will have NO days off. not one day off for 2 months. but i will be on light duty entire time. my ortho doc tells me it will be spring before i can regain use of my arm. i will tell story when i upload image tonight. i did work on existing photo collection tonight. that helped. Thanks!!! About writing...well, i haven't tried much writing these days. hmmmm...maybe i should try. if only itching would stop. ok. maybe i write poem about itchies. good idea!!! :) thanks joe!!

Aww I'm itchy And I don't know where to scratch Come here baby Scratch my back I know you can do it So baby get to it Aww you're workin with it now You got me feelin' so good Just lookin' up to the sun now baby Uuummmmm This little girl sho' knows how'd scratch Now you're doin' the chicken scratch Aww its lookin' good baby Just gettin' scratchy....an Otis Redding Song...scratch

LOL, Brian!!!! I never heard THAT song before!!! Kewl!!!! I love it!!!! "doin' the chicken scratch dance!!!!! THANKS!!!! Ok...well here's my itchy lyrics...dedicated to you nutty, wonderful people who help me during this time of me losin' my mind!! (and no!! it was COMPLETELY intact before i broke my elbow!!!!) I get witchy when I'm itchy; It makes me go insane when i cannot scratch my brain starts to unlatch, and my fury will not be contained!!! I get bitc_y when I'm itchy, and boy do i complain when I cannot scratch my sanity starts to detach, and I need a straight-jacket to be restrained!!! Hey, come on...this is the 21st century where new technology abounds and discoveries are profound, so inventors let me explain... CASTS ARE NOT HUMANE!!! Stop playing with computers; go get yourself a tutor!!!! Find a way to stop my itchies so I won't be so witchy and so freakin' scatterbrained!!!! --t. vernuccio...not quite yet come unglued!!!!

Well, we could start to rap that song, Sheila! LOL! I agree with the others. I'm used to get out, take cam and when I find something I shoot. When not I have enjoyed the stroll anyway. It's that unexplicable mood, to shoot good pictures or not. You can't force it. It is there or it isn't there! Thye best shots I made are usually the unintended ones, the coincidents.... You bear the most important part in you, the artistic side! Technical skills.... Well, sometimes it might be handy to have just some simple rules on a paper you carry with the cam. Initially I did do that with my SLR-cam, and I wrote down what I did to learn the behaviour of the cam. Let go the 'must' and just enjoy the sun! Everything else will come (or not, but you can't make it come anyway). huuuuggggggzzzzz

ok, let's rap!!!! good idea about notes. i will put a few in my camera bag!!!!! Anything with numbers i forget!!! thanks!!! huggggggzzzzzzz