Have you ever gotten stuck? You know, the can’t-move-on-until-you-make-it-work stuck. Try-just-one-more thing stuck. There-is-so-much-potential stuck.
The last two days I’ve been working on a single image. I thought I had a brilliant idea. I kept trying and trying modifications and it never lived up to its potential.
What to do? At some point, I have to call it good and move on. I abandon ideas all of the time. New things are always worth a try, or two, or ten. But at some point, getting unstuck and moving on is more important than getting this one thing perfectly right. I’m sure all of that effort will come in handy someday.
Here’s the image that had me stuck. It came out ok in the end, but it wasn’t two-days-worth good.
Why is it sometimes things are effortless, while other times they take so much work? If you have an answer, I’d love to hear it!
I was over at Mortal Muses yesterday, writing about my start with mobile photography and how it led to the upcoming exhibition that YOU can submit to! The Call to Artists is still open, you can submit through June 2. All the details can be found here.
if I am working to hard and getting nowhere it means i need to take a break, getting stuck is no fun. Taking a break gives me some room to find another approach, or find enough rest that I am fresh for the challenge of the work that has to be done. It is good to take time, go for a run, make dinner, chat with a friend, then return eager to complete the project rather than continuing to be stuck.
I know this very well and if that happens I walk away
and don’t look at it for one week or so and when I come back looking at it with fresh eyes and still find it worth to spend time with the editing I give it a second chance otherwise I let it go.
Herzliche Grüße, Patricia
Ansel Adams said that the most valuable tool in the darkroom is the trash. Some images in which we have spent inordinate time will never really work. We often learn more from failure than success.