The days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer, yada yada… Look, we all know Spring is just a few weeks away – that’s a given. What’s not so easy is breaking out of what can be the remanents of a Winter Rut. Some photographers spent the winter months being blissfully busy, while others may have felt locked away from their favorite destinations and muses. I fall somewhere in the middle in that crowd.
So, just to make sure I knock off any remaining creative frost, I try to do a few simple exercises to keep my brain in the game. The basic premise here is just to get my finger on that shutter button and get some clicks under my belt. The subject matter isn’t super important, rather the ease of the subject matter is. It’s okay in this case to take some photos of the ‘low hanging fruit’ subject matter in your life. Grab some readily available items in your house and take some still life photos. Experiment with color. Get outside and take some bland landscape photography in your own backyard. Take pictures in the morning, and then the same photo again at mid-day and then again at night. Don’t worry if the photos don’t move you or if you never share them with anyone. Instead, just focus on reminding yourself what it feels like to have the drive to take photos.
I’ve been doing all of the above and it’s been a great personal exercise. I’ve even had some luck with a few of the photos and put them up on stock photography websites like Adobe Stock where I’ve already had some bites! That works for me!
But, whatever you do, just grab your camera and take some photos – even if you’re just going to the grocery store. The creative memory mechanisms will slowly start to reactivate and you’ll be back into the swing of things in no time!