Should photographers hibernate?

[Cannon Man]

I know what you mean. I live in Finland and we do have snow but its friggin' cold here! Now its -26c (-14f) and i really dont like freezing my butt out outside. Many winters i have only taken only couple hundred pictures but now i take pictures for a living so i have to use my imagination and mostly shoot studio portraits in the winter.

[Lyra Video Productions]

I've been struggling with the same problem here in Tennessee, although with the Smoky Mountains nearby a decent photograph is only a short drive away. 

Something I decided to try my hand at last week was astrophotography time lapse.  The winter sky is beautiful at night if you can get away from city lights.  Of course, we are somewhat limited if we don't have some kind of tracking set up, but I still had a blast. Just make sure to wear tons of layers--it gets chilly out there.

[MazV-L]

Have you tried Light Art Performance Photography?

[Ryusui]

I wish I had any kind of a winter to shoot - icy, dead or otherwise.

Where I live, it's year-round summer.  No beautiful fall colors, no pastel spring, no winter wonderland.  Just sun, sun, sun and green-brown flora.  Many people consider this place to be a "tropical paradise" but to me it's kind of hell.  I crave architecture, derelict buildings, subways, snow, falling leaves (palm fronds don't count)...

I have none of this here.  So what I do is I make myself work for it.  I go and force myself to look at everything around me and find something I like.  I love setting up abstract concepts, shooting "scenarios" or scripted scenes, models and portraits, and recently discovered how much I enjoy street photography (though really, we only have one street where anything like this is truly possible).

I think that regardless of where you are or what your situation is, there's still things you haven't tried and very likely something out there that you can find enjoyment in at any time of the year.

[MTL-CPS_shooter]

Wait a second here... Your still shooting film... If you do shoot B+W and process it yourself, go nuts, push film beyond its limits and get funky. Ever see an image with iso400 shot at 25000? Imagine life in a reverse nuanced canvas... Use shadows and darkness as your mains and capture glows from lights or from over exposed areas. Play with silouettes...

[scottkinfw]

I live in Texas (DFW) and I feel your pain.  Everything is brown now, and there is a dearth of wildlife- scary really.

I live for the weekends for one thing.  I have been finding new, and rediscovering nature parks and taking pics while hiking off my winter fat.  My passion is wildlife photography, so now, not much to shoot.

Therefore, I try shooting anything.  I go to old towns, shoot grain mills, shoot buildings.  The zoos are good.  Look into photo meetups.  Here we have meetups ranging from kinky people to just about anything you can imagine.  Spring will be here in a few weeks and it will be green and hot again.

sek

[ScottyP]

Cardinals don't fly south for winter like most photogenic birds do.  I am up here in PA and I have been stalking the pair of cardinals we sometimes see at our bird feeder out on the deck.  Terribly elusive, though.  I only managed to get the camera out once while they were in a good position, but I cropped his tail off.  The few bad photos were so close to good, though, that I keep waiting for another chance.  There were snowflakes in the shot and everything.

[Ahven]

I live up here in the northern parts of Finland and the sun doesn't come up at all for some time in the dead of winter. This is not a problem for me though because I enjoy long shutter speed nighttime photography. With a little practice and a good tripod you can take a scene that your naked eye cannot even see, put 5 minutes of shutter speed and every picture is a surprise! I like the feeling when you are waiting for the long exposure and you never know exactly how it'll turn out or what kind of colors it will have. Up here we have the northern lights which are a great subject, but you don't necessarily nee that, because any scene, especially dead trees and nature, will take on an eerie otherwordly appearance with this method. Try it out, its a lot of fun!

Greetings from Lapland!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahven1/6765034613/#

[well_dunno]

I do shoot less during the winter but no hibernation, instead I sit next to the stove and spend time in CR forums   


Ahven, that is a very nice shot!

[NormanBates]

@OP:
You're not alone. This very nice 3-years-old blog post proves it. And it also offers some interesting ideas.
http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2009/02/breaking-photographers-block

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I've been thinking of hibernating untill all the excitement over the 5D MK III dies down.

[wickidwombat]

I've been thinking of hibernating untill all the excitement over the 5D MK III dies down.

I went on holiday for 3 days so missed most of the fallout from the event

I can see no one is getting over the price anytime soon