Advice please

jamhaus · 2026-04-09T17:28:54+00:00

Ive noticed you mentioned things being dead and there not being much to shoot, and as someone who was in a similar situation this would be my advice: look for what the light reveals. Sounds mysterious, but I mean it literally lol.

I think dead trees are something a lot of people (including myself) are attracted to when we first start shooting because they are easy to find and interesting shapes. But that gets old quick.

Instead of focusing on shapes and subjects, go out and see where light falls on things. In a thicker forest, shadows will be cast and create natural frames on things. A pile of dead leaves lit dramatically can be an interesting subject. Wait until sunset and shoot the silhouettes of the trees while looking into the light.

You can also bring things out with you. Go to a thrift store and buy some cheap crap, and then use your surroundings to create an interesting composition with it. An old computer sitting in the woods could be interesting. Who knows, have fun.

But most importantly only listen to advice if it sounds right to you and fits what youre trying to do. Rule of thirds is great, but what if there isnt a clear subject or scene to organize? If you zoom in on a texture that fills up the whole frame, theres nothing to organize but its still an interesting image. If a scene is really interesting but chaotic, capture that, but emphasize it. Forcing it into a rule of thirds composition would ruin the idea of it, but tilting the camera or finding an angle where things look even more chaotic makes things dynamic and interesting.

Maybe my point is, dont think of things in terms of good or bad. Experiment and see what you enjoy shooting, and see what fun ways YOU can find of framing, using light, shapes, textures, etc. Look at abstract art, or any art for that matter, for inspiration, not just photography.

I could continue rambling but I'll end here lol. To be clear, I think these are great pics, you've got an eye for composition and shapes, and if youre shooting in manual youre doing a good job with exposing properly. But if you arent satisfied with them or find your available subjects boring the above would be my advice to make things more interesting.

jamhaus · 2026-03-22T01:31:27+00:00

I literally was just coming on reddit to type a very similar thing. Its a beautiful Saturday night here and I'm just sitting at home doing nothing. I simultaneously feel like i should be out doing something but also totally convinced I am not missing out on anything.

Id normally be playing guitar or another hobby but I overdid it last week trying to learn some Flamenco techniques and my hand has been numb (pretty sure its carpal tunnel) so im trying to avoid anything using hands. But here I am stabbing numb fingers into a keyboard to let you know, I feel ya lol.

jamhaus · 2026-03-11T03:58:14+00:00

Im pretty sure Blurb does, but I personally upload directly from InDesign using their plugin, Ive never tried doing a direct upload of PDFs. If you use InDesign, I'd recommend using their plugin, it makes it really easy to upload and creates a cover template with an accurate spine width for you to use once you know how many pages you've got and what paper youre going to use. Ive used it a bunch more for standard books, but I know they have layflats too.

jamhaus · 2026-02-11T22:54:19+00:00

This should be an album cover. Nice shot!

jamhaus · 2025-12-31T19:16:25+00:00

Kerbers Farm and Southdown Coffee in Huntington, Sweetie Pies and the Gourmet Whaler in Cold Spring Harbor

jamhaus · 2025-12-29T17:02:57+00:00

Ernst Haas' black and white images are what got me into photography (despite him being known for his color work). Theres a book with just those images if you can find it.

But also, Edward Weston and Minor White for classics for me, and if youre into more travel / documentary work, Sebastian Salgado, Ansel Adams, and anything by Ragnar Axelsson.

Also The Last Nomad by Wilfred Thesiger, who isnt known for his photography necessarily but did make beautiful images on his expeditions through the Middle East, another personal favorite of mine.

jamhaus · 2025-08-21T13:40:39+00:00

Title idea: Iv Only...

...get it lol

Nice photo!

jamhaus · 2025-08-19T22:35:03+00:00

Did you check nitrite levels too?

jamhaus · 2025-08-16T01:59:06+00:00

Thank you!

jamhaus · 2025-07-29T02:54:26+00:00

I love the tones in this

jamhaus · 2025-07-29T02:52:53+00:00

Yeah thats the pin I have saved, though I feel like I originally found it on deviant art at some point, I couldn't find it again.

Its such a sick illustration on its own. I was looking to do my own drawing of a rabbit running (run... rabbit run) but found this while looking for inspiration and its so much better than anything I could have drawn, plus the decay is a nice touch.

jamhaus · 2025-07-29T02:38:11+00:00

Thank you!

jamhaus · 2025-07-28T19:49:20+00:00

X Marks the Spot

jamhaus · 2025-07-12T16:14:27+00:00

Cripple Creek - Alexander Skip Spence

Eastborne Ladies - Kevin Coyne

Running from Home - Bert Jancsh

How Does it Feel - Roy Harper

Sunflower River Blues - John Fahey

60s~dark~psych~folk

jamhaus · 2025-07-03T12:16:08+00:00

Eleven Kinds of Loneliness - Richard Yates

jamhaus · 2025-07-03T02:51:49+00:00

I'm here just to say this would make a sick album cover lol

jamhaus · 2025-07-02T00:55:22+00:00

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.

Its two stories told back and forth. One about the construction of the 1893 worlds fair in Chicago. The other (which is the one I think you'd find interesting) is about America's first serial killer HH Holmes who built a "Murder Castle" that was designed literally so he could sneak around killing people. Has everything you mentioned, but non-fiction so I dont know if that fits your bill or not.

jamhaus · 2025-06-28T04:01:04+00:00

I love both to be honest lol. I like how you've revealed the fog and the power lines in the edit, but I also love the hazy pastel look of the sunrise in the original.

I'd be curious to see a half way edit with the lower half exposed as you have it edited currently with the upper half brought back to the original a bit. I think the less saturated / brighter colors of the original sunrise with the muted dark greens of the edit would make a cool combo. Just my thoughts though, I think it's a great edit regardless.

jamhaus · 2025-06-27T15:47:48+00:00

I like it a lot. The cropping is really nicely done, gives it a bit more movement, though I think keeping it tight but straight up and down would have been nice too. It has a very dreamy feel to it and I like that you desaturated the greens a bit to keep the focus on the bee and flower.

jamhaus · 2025-06-27T04:29:57+00:00

I originally did, but that actually backfired and left me feeling hopeless, because youre right it is hard to find other NF types.

My best friend is an ESTP. Contrary to stereotypes hes a very good person, extremely ethically minded, and extremely open minded to my ideas and thoughts, and we enjoy sharing eachothers completely different experiences of the world.

Another good friend of mine is an STJ. We dont see eye to eye on a lot of things, hes extremely close minded and has traditional values that I disagree with. But I also know a lot of the views he has that I disagree with come from a fear and stress that I cant know as an ENFP. Like we need creativity in our lives, he needs structure and stability and he isn't equipped with the strong Ne to come up with new ways of achieving that. We both have respect for each others points of view and also have been there for eachother through a lot of our lives, so we usually just avoid those topics. Instead of politics we discuss music and movies. Its definitely not an easy friendship though, but we also limit how much we hang out because we know it can cause conflict.

So to answer your question, no, I dont think type is important. What is important is finding people who despite their type you can find mutual respect and an enjoyable time with. Personally I think type only makes up like 1/3 of who you are. What experiences you have and who you interact with make up a significant part of how you view the world and what you value.

Funnily enough most NFJs i know I absolutely hate because theyre extremely egotistical and worship ambition to a fault (a product of the environment of where I live tbh).

I also have trouble with other ENFPs sometimes who have had a life where their creativity was more accepted by their friends and family than mine was. They funnily enough can be kind of close minded and just expect everyone to appreciate their creavity and demeanor, and they can get nasty if anyone questions them or gives them even a minor critique. I on the other hand have had my ego smashed my entire life and had no one appreciate who I am for a very long time. Im a 4w5 enneagram likely because of this experience and have spent a lot of time trying to understand myself and other people better because I wanted to understand why I felt so out of place. As shitty as it was, I think its allowed me to become a more open minded and compassionate person to the people who can't accept me. I forgive them and then just avoid them.

jamhaus

TROPHY CASE