A Note About Creativity

Nothing deep or philosophical in this evenings post just a few thoughts on creativity and ruts.

First some things that advance or help creativity. No long explanations here, just stuff that has worked for me:

Combine unlikely things into an image

This one is pretty much self explanatory. The act is the important thing here. Just be seeing two or more things juxtaposed that wouldn’t normally be can be enough to get the creative juices flowing.

Avoid getting into a rut

The more stagnant my life feels the more my photography suffers. I try to do a least one new thing every year. Sometimes I take photographs of whatever the new thing may be but that is not the primary benefit. I find that my mind is in the right place for photography is the rest of my life is at least a little bit interesting.

Embrace and learn new software

This one isn’t for everyone and I guess that whether it works for a specific individual comes down to temperament. I enjoy experimenting and trying new things out. If I find a new way of using software that works really well with a type of image that makes me want to go out and shoot similar images to work with. I find seeing what is possible and then working towards it as a major source of creativity.

Know your equipment

Ideally you should not even be aware of the camera that you are using. Or even of the changes that you are making. Thinking about how to work the technology is a huge creative block. I have basic cameras that I love because they feel right and others that are much more capable that I rarely use because they are instinctive. Of course the solution to this one is practice and play around with the camera. On a related note, never use a camera straight out of the box for an important session e.g. a wedding. The photographs with the camera that you are used to will always be better regardless of any difference in specifications. This applies to all cameras in all price brackets - no exceptions.

Belief

This is something that took me a while to really grasp. If I am out and about something may catch my eye. Over the years I have learned to trust this feeling - there is invariably a decent photograph to be had. It may take a while to find it but it is almost always there to be had. This has has happened so often now that I completely trust the process. To put it another way, if my brain says stop there is a photo to be had I trust it, I believe it. The opposite of this is walking into a place or situation with a camera just hoping for the best. In the first scenario I believe there is a photograph to be had in the second I don’t know whether there is or not. The former reuslts in a useable photograph the second rarely does.

Getting out of the comfort zone

This is one that we all hate but it always works. I am fairly shy - not painfully so but making a good impression upon strangers is definitely not my strongest suit. I knew that I wanted to do portrait work and, in the end, there was no easy way around this one. The work that I am most proud of is my portraiture. I have had to develop a way of making people feel comfortable and at ease enough to result in a good relaxed looking likeness. I have a strange ambition to take a photograph from a glass bottomed bridge - because I am terrified of heights. I know that the image will be very different to one taken by someone who is comfortable looking down hundreds of feet.

Don't panic

We all have off days. If you have a day where the photography just isn’t happening put the camera down and do something else. Take the dog for a walk, repair a leaking tap, binge on Netflix - in fact anything apart from taking photographs. I would even avoid reading about photography on days like this. If I were to read or look at anything photography related it would not be articles about how to get out of a creative rut or ones about equipment. I may dip into something related to the philosophy of photography or read a photographer’s biography but that would be about it. As a rule of thumb I don't worry unless a dry spell exceeds two or three weeks. I also have less enthusiasm for photography in the winter (it is a light thing not a dislike of bad weather)

Assignment - getting out of the comfort zone

This one is a bit different as it is very much photographer as opposed to photograph based. Just post anything that is out of your usual range of subject matter. Of course the assignment is completely optional and feel free to post anything at all, images, text, or any combination of the two.

Post stuff here and/or on the Saturday thread which I'll put up at around noon.

Assorted Pics