Try this experiment.
Choose a location and an environmental setting, such as a city center at night or a cloudless mountain peak at sunrise. The choice is yours.
Now go there when you are feeling very good and inspired and take photos.
Also go there when you are feeling down or upset, or even just very tired. Take photos.
For most accuracy, repeat multiple times.
You will get totally different results.
Our feelings have a deep impact on how we interpret and perceive the world around us, and that translates into different photographs – or art works in general.
Some folks create the most in difficult mental conditions, while others, like me, perform best when they also feel the best. If I’m upset or a bit sad, or if I’ve just had a hard day at work, I find it difficult to focus on photography and I usually shoot few images of lesser quality. In short, if I feel blurry, my view of the world is blurry as well.
It also happens that walking around and taking photos lifts my mood, but not always.
You see, it’s fine. There are no rules and I learned to have no expectations.
However, I find it important to know myself and maximize the chances of producing photographs that I’m happy with.