The two things that rob my creativity
There are two things that rob my creativity:
trying to come up with ideas for photographs
trying to find things to photograph when I’m out and about with my camera
Coming up with ideas out of the blue
Now you may disagree and say that some of your best images came about when you were just out and about with your camera. Maybe that was the case, but I’m willing to bet that you took the photo in a way that you had already seen in photo taken in the same setting in a similar way.
We seem to be at our most creative when we are on holiday or in a place we’re never (or rarely) visited before.
Do you often wonder why you become instantly more creative once you've left your native environment. It's because you, at last, have the chance to take photos of something new. Imagine roaming the streets of New York City for the first time. You be at your creative best and you'll be seeing something new to take a photo of every five seconds.
The trouble is, you don't live in New York City and traveling to places afar is costly and time consuming.
Do you know what sparks my creativity, even more than plodding around the East Village?
Leafing through other people's images, making notes and then developing photo ideas. I make a list of all the things I need and I can barely wait to start.
I don't exactly copy other people's photos, I just analyse their work and their methods and create my own version. Probably just like they did when they created the original.
I always hope that other people see my work and are so inspired that they try something similar as well. I'd love it if I saw a slightly different version of my own photo.
It’s important to learn how to analyse other photographer's work, so you can create your own versions of their photos.
This is truly the most fun way of creating photographs, honestly so much better than challenges where you just have a single word to go on 😉
It comes down to this:
The more fun you’re having whilst planning, setting everything up for and actually taking the photograph, the more likely the image will not only turn out great, but also help you develop the next idea.
You just need to get the wheel turning and soon you’ll be on a wonderful, creative roll!
I'll be releasing my workshop "Creative Copying" tomorrow at 10 am (CET) - it's on offer for a very short time for only $ 10 until Wednesday 2nd March at midnight.