Photography can be a very unpredictable passion, especially when you shoot landscapes or subjects that many times depend on factors outside of your control, such as weather. I will go two months taking shots that just don't have any impact, and then rattle off 10 quality shots in a week.
I discussed this very point this week with other photographers on Google+. When you aren't feeling you are at your best, or your work isn't measuring up, it is easy to lose confidence. The trick is to try and understand that you aren't going to be on all the time. Not only that, but you are going to fail from time to time, sometimes more frequently than you thought was possible.
Those times in life happen, and the best thing you can do is to just fight through it. You have to allow yourself those mistakes and know that they are a part of the process.
I am in one of those times now where I am having a hard time making something interesting, but I am making nonetheless. I know sometime soon that the cycle will reverse itself and I will find myself in front of a scene like this one, camera in hand and ready to shoot. With any luck I will be standing in front of a scene as beautiful as this one.
I keep my eyes on the sky when I leave my office and head for home. Working so close to Willamette Falls allows for more spontaneous stops when the light looks promising. On this evening it was pretty clear to me that is was going to be a special scene.
The evening I shot this photo ended up being one of the high points on the cycle. If the span of 30 minutes I ended up with 8 shots that each would stand on their own, this being the best of them.
With some patience, I will be ready when the next opportunity presents itself.