There are moments in every person’s life when creativity becomes almost non-existent. You feel like you are in a rut. You don’t have that excited push to get you out of bed in the morning. It feels like you are just swimming through life instead of enjoying every second of it. This is just as true for a photographer as it is for someone sitting in a cubical all day long.
Every photo shoot is the same. You have taken countless family pictures in front of the same rustic building. Every engaged couple wants the same three poses. It’s driving you crazy, but how do you find your creativity again?
Tracey Clark Of Shutter Sisters gives nine ideas of how you can challenge yourself and find your creativity again. You can read her full article at http://www.dpmag.com/how-to/point-of-focus/a-creative-push/page-2.
- Take An Opposite Approach – Shoot in a way that you don’t normally shoot and see what you might frame up.
- Shoot A New Subject Matter – Look for a totally different subject than your norm. Never underestimate the power of a new muse.
- Seek Out A New Location – Remove yourself from your usual stomping grounds and discover a new landscape to focus on.
- Check Out Different Gear – Working with new gear can be a huge hurdle or a creative challenge. You never know what you might see through a new (or rented) lens.
- Test Extreme Editing Tricks – Give yourself some playtime in the digital darkroom. Test and try new ways of enhancing your images.
- Seek Inspiration From Others – Got a photographer who inspires you? Study their work and allow what they do to inspire what you’re doing.
- Toss Out Expectations – When you make up your own creative project, there’s no one to please but yourself. Nothing is riding on it; just let yourself experiment.
- Surprise Yourself – Give your new work a shot. Don’t make up your mind about it in one day. Set the work aside, and revisit it later. You may be surprised at how drawn you are to what you created after the passage of time.
- Get Feedback – Share your work and your experience with friends, a photo community or even a client. Who knows what could come of it!
There is so much you can do to get out of your creative rut. Just look around and challenge yourself. If you do that you will find your creativity in no time.
