Boring

[cunim]

Do you ever take a snapshot of some local street, or a family member, or a pet or whatever and there is no reason for taking it. You know it is mundane, boring. But, for some reason, you are drawn to it. No one else will understand and even you don't know why, but there it is. What about a thread for photos like that?
GFX II, 110mm

 

[B L]

I actually like this environmetal image, and yes I have clicked shutter button hundreds of times for no reason and sometimes clicked pointing the lens into dark and image I got was also dark!

 

[dave.gt]

Of course! Quite often I just shoot something, anyone, whenever just to see what it will look like after processing. Perhaps there are many reasons for doing that: learning; for memories: appreciation of composition, colors; textures; lighting; and an endless number of other reasons.

 

[Abstraction]

I try to make something interesting out of the ordinary. It doesn't always work on the first try, so you wind up taking a number of bland images until (hopefully), you get something good

 

[MGrayson]

This just reminded me of Classical Music record album covers from the late 1970's.

Fall foliage ... from a year ago! It must have been one of my first outings with the X2D. XCD 90/3.2 @ f/8



Matt

 

[Pieter 12]

One person's bland, boring, ordinary is another's art.

 

[MGrayson]

Ok. No more fooling around. Boring.

This image is striking as an HDR image, (not to be confused with the egregious tone mappings of the previous decade) but I have no idea how to get an HDR image out of LR and displayed elsewhere. You know how small bright lights are always disappointing in photos? I underexposed so that they wouldn't completely blow out. But in HDR, they look like they do in real life. I hate that!



While no screen can look better than it is , here are two iPhone shots of the image with different HDR settings. This gives only a slight hint. Look at the upper branches.

HDR off


HDR on

 

[cunim]

Seems this is a difficult project - find an image that you think should be boring but which interests you for some reason. Certainly, the pics above fail completely in that they lack boringness (is that a word?). I would be proud to have taken any of them. Come to think of it, though, we have some specialists (like @Abstraction) who take the ordinary and create with it. That's a skill (@lookbook is a great example of how it's done), and I guess this topic means I want to learn more about making the mundane interesting.

For now, here's one more in which absolutely nothing is happening, but I like looking into it. IQ4. 40HR

 

[MGrayson]

Seems this is a difficult project - find an image that you think should be boring but which interests you for some reason. Certainly, the pics above fail completely in that they lack boringness (is that a word?). I would be proud to have taken any of them. Come to think of it, though, we have some specialists (like @Abstraction) who take the ordinary and create with it. That's a skill (@lookbook is a great example of how it's done), and I guess this topic means I want to learn more about making the mundane interesting.

For now, here's one more in which absolutely nothing is happening, but I like looking into it.

View attachment 208988

It's an impossible project. "Looks boring but isn't. And isn't just bad." Reminds me of "Wagner's music is better than it sounds."

Here's a boring picture of a bathroom sink. There's nothing inter.. AAAAAGH!



See? Impossible.

Matt

 

[cunim]

See? Impossible.

You are right. I am learning that truly boring has to also be bad and we don't do bad - at least not here.

 

[Duff photographer]

On the basis that the photo will only mean something to me, here is my entry for the most boring photo taken (only it isn't, if you know ).

I won't go down the line of family protraits and what-have-you, as that's a bit too personal.







Cheers,
Duff

 

[lookbook]

Seems this is a difficult project - find an image that you think should be boring but which interests you for some reason. Certainly, the pics above fail completely in that they lack boringness (is that a word?). I would be proud to have taken any of them. Come to think of it, though, we have some specialists (like @Abstraction) who take the ordinary and create with it. That's a skill (@lookbook is a great example of how it's done), and I guess this topic means I want to learn more about making the mundane interesting.

.. I find your analysis of my photos fascinating!
But I can't say whether it's right!
I myself have never thought about what kind of photos I actually take.
So why don't you give me and the others a few examples based on my photos that might help us get on the right track together!

 

[Pieter 12]

You are right. I am learning that truly boring has to also be bad and we don't do bad - at least not here.

Bad is subjective, as is boring. I've seen plenty of what I would consider both here.

 

[cunim]

@lookbook, here is one that makes me smile. On the surface, it is a very simple subject but only superficially.. I forget about 99% of the photos I see, but not all and this is one I remember. I do not know why I remember it so I am curious. Maybe this photo just happened because intuition told you to "shoot now"- or maybe it is designed. Can you tell us?
Fun with MF Achromatic Digital Backs | Page 17 | The GetDPI Photography Forum

@Duff photographer, you got me. A good clinical picture of a rock. This one is both technically good and boring (to me, just to me) so this is exactly where it belongs. But now I am trapped trying to guess the deeper relevance. Mineral deposit? Are those blasting pits I see? At least tell us what the rock is.

@Pieter 12, you seem interested in this topic as I am. Perhaps you could give us a couple of examples of shots that are (in your opinion) bad / good and boring? Just to be kind, feel free to use my shots as examples but otherwise use stock or your own shots.

 

[MGrayson]

@lookbook, here is one that makes me smile. On the surface, it is a very simple subject but only superficially.. I forget about 99% of the photos I see, but not all and this is one I remember. I do not know why I remember it so I am curious. Maybe this photo just happened because intuition told you to "shoot now"- or maybe it is designed. Can you tell us?
Fun with MF Achromatic Digital Backs | Page 17 | The GetDPI Photography Forum

That is a masterpiece. It gives me chills. The flags, in particular, are very unsettling. They're the only objects in concert. Everything else is disconnected.

 

[Pieter 12]

@Pieter 12, you seem interested in this topic as I am. Perhaps you could give us a couple of examples of shots that are (in your opinion) bad / good and boring? Just to be kind, feel free to use my shots as examples but otherwise use stock or your own shots.

I try not to keep (or print, as I shoot mostly film) the boring shots. But as I said, it is subjective. I would venture to state that the first shot you posted is uninteresting, maybe that would qualify as boring. But for someone who might know the neighborhood, or something to do with the trees or even the people in the distance, there could be a redeeming value to the shot. Also, if it is part of a series or narration, it could have more relevance and by extension be less boring.

 

[lookbook]

... i'm a little embarrassed now : )

i didn't take the photo as you can see it here,
i only discovered the great motif later and realised it with a very large crop factor!

i'm sorry, but the photo doesn't help ...

 

[lookbook]

That is a masterpiece. It gives me chills. The flags, in particular, are very unsettling. They're the only objects in concert. Everything else is disconnected.

imagination is something that some people cannot imagine ...

 

[MGrayson]

On the basis that the photo will only mean something to me, here is my entry for the most boring photo taken (only it isn't, if you know ).

I won't go down the line of family protraits and what-have-you, as that's a bit too personal.


View attachment 208991




Cheers,
Duff

Unless it's the KT boundary, I have no idea why to would be interesting.

Matt

 

[Abstraction]

It's an impossible project. "Looks boring but isn't. And isn't just bad." Reminds me of "Wagner's music is better than it sounds."

Here's a boring picture of a bathroom sink. There's nothing inter.. AAAAAGH!

View attachment 208989

See? Impossible.

Matt

That looks like a marsoupial.