Photography of Roy Thoman

I needed some exercise!

For the past few months I’ve been in somewhat of a creative slump. Sort of a photographer’s block. I didn’t feel creative enough to take photos. The photos I did take didn’t end up looking the way I wanted them to. When I take a photo I get a vision in my mind of how I want it to look. My vision and my camera somehow become one. Lately though, my vision and my camera have been disconnected.

Creativity is like a muscle. You need to exercise it or it will get weak. My creative muscle was getting weak. This is the time of year when we get some nice fog in the mornings. I like taking photos on those foggy mornings. There were a couple foggy mornings that snuck up on me and I missed them all together. There was one I was ready for; I woke up early, and it was nice and foggy. I decided to go across the river to the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Big mistake, there was no fog on that side of the river. I took a few photos, but nothing I was real happy with. My creativity and my camera were disconnected still.

I kept my eye on the weather for more fog. The other day there was a chance of fog. I woke up early and looked outside, I didn’t see any fog. I went back to bed, and when I woke again there was fog. I guess I checked too early and the fog hadn’t formed yet. It was too late to get to where I wanted to photograph; I was very discouraged. I expected the next day to be foggy too. I decided to get out early and take some photos, fog or no fog. I needed to exercise my muscle. There was some fog, but it was very spotty. I drove over to the wildlife refuge. The first thing I came across were some black skimmers. They were skimming over the mirror smooth water. The sun was still below the horizon, but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity.  I took a few good images, and LOTS of bad ones. As the skimmers moved on I was treated to a beautiful sunrise. I moved back across the river to the marina. I found a few nice images on the way to the marina. Once at the marina I found another one of my favorite subjects: reflections.

All in all, I think I was able to give my creative muscle a decent workout. My creativity is feeling stronger and I hope that my creative slump is waning!

34 responses

  1. Beautiful series of shots… the second shot really impresses.

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    February 11, 2014 at 3:56 pm

    • Thank you Randall! Your Whooper Swans are beautiful!

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      February 13, 2014 at 6:04 pm

  2. Lovely photos! I feel the same way. I think it is the weather.

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    February 11, 2014 at 5:55 pm

    • Thanks Joylene! Yes I think the weather may have something to do with it. Our weather has not been too bad though.

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      February 13, 2014 at 6:08 pm

  3. Reblogged this on My Choice.

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    February 12, 2014 at 12:14 am

  4. SINCERELY ANDREA:))

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    February 12, 2014 at 1:07 am

  5. Great set of images Roy! Glad you are back!

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    February 12, 2014 at 10:04 pm

    • Thank you Robyn! It felt good to be out in the field making images.

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      February 13, 2014 at 6:15 pm

  6. Beautiful images. I think your creativity has had an excellent work-out.

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    February 13, 2014 at 2:57 am

    • Thank You Gallivanta! Yes my creativity got a pretty good workout. I hope to give it another workout soon!

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      February 13, 2014 at 6:17 pm

      • Excellent. Have missed you on the blogosphere.

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        February 13, 2014 at 7:16 pm

      • I have missed the blogosphere.

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        February 13, 2014 at 7:22 pm

  7. Woww! Beautiful shots!

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    February 14, 2014 at 6:46 pm

  8. Sometimes it takes just jumping in, to get the juices flowing; allowing the moment to surprise us with something we hadn’t even anticipated….seems like you ended up with some nice shots after all 🙂

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    February 16, 2014 at 4:58 pm

    • Oh yes! Most often my best images are not the image that I set out to make. It’s the images that I find along the way that turn out to be the best.

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      February 16, 2014 at 5:24 pm

      • I’ve noticed recently that doing a little bit of writing, some photographing almost on a daily basis, really brings the muse back in very quickly. Rather than waiting for a large batch of time to be “creative”…or being in the right “mood” to do it.

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        February 16, 2014 at 5:27 pm

      • Yes That is so true! I wish I could do a bit of writing and some photography every day. It does help keep the creativity level up for sure. I think taking photos and writing for “fun” with rather than work helps creativity too.

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        February 16, 2014 at 6:00 pm

  9. awesome series…it is difficult to take photos when we aren’t feeling it…

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    February 16, 2014 at 4:59 pm

    • Thank You Heather! I definitely need to be in the right frame of mind t do well.

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      February 16, 2014 at 5:26 pm

  10. These are some beautiful shots!

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    February 16, 2014 at 6:18 pm

  11. Weerrk it. 😉 Why don’t you have any share buttons? I would like to pin some of your work to my Pinterest board ‘Life Through the Lens’.

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    February 17, 2014 at 11:37 am

    • Thanks Jana! I’m flattered that you would like to pin some of my images! I don’t have accounts with Pinterest or the others, so I didn’t use the share buttons. 😦

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      February 20, 2014 at 8:52 pm

  12. LB

    Wonderful series! Your creative muscle is working!

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    February 17, 2014 at 7:17 pm

    • I still need to keep exercising my creative muscle.

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      February 20, 2014 at 9:10 pm

  13. Don

    Wonderful stuff, Roy. The image of that bird across the water is magnificent.

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    February 25, 2014 at 3:36 am

    • Thank you Don! Skimmers are a fun bird to photograph.

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      March 2, 2014 at 5:01 pm

  14. vastlycurious.com

    You are VERY talented. Love the segue in the two lower photos, like an arrow! Just great!

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    March 4, 2014 at 11:19 pm

    • Thank you for your compliment!

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      March 6, 2014 at 3:47 pm

      • vastlycurious.com

        You are quite welcome! : )

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        March 6, 2014 at 4:49 pm

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