DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

10 Easy Ways to Jump Start Your Creativity

Apr 1, 2014 by Jeff Guyer 1 Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

boosting-creativity-diyphotography-009
I teach a kids photography class twice a week. In Digital Photo Challenges, my eager group of students range in age from 12-17, and are some of the most creative people I’ve ever met. Since they are kids, I’m not really in a position to require a particular level of camera. My only requirement is that they have some sort of digital camera other than their phones. Having some students with DSLRs and multiple lenses in a class alongside students with very basic point & shoot cameras poses certain challenges for me as a teacher. If I spend too much time teaching to the DSLR group, my p&s kids will quickly lose interest. Similarly, there is only so much detail to be explored with a p&s, which would mean not presenting challenging information to those students with more advanced equipment.

That’s why I try to make it less about the gear and more about how they see the world around them. Don’t get me wrong– it’s important for them to know what’s happening inside the black box when they push the button, but at this age it is the creativity that I really want to foster. I’ve been seeing a lot of articles lately about boosting creativity or getting out of a creative slump, and that got me thinking about my students. I realized that while so many of their questions revolve around exposure and lighting, they almost never come to me complaining about a lack of creativity. Surely they experience the same sort of blocks as the rest of us from time to time, right? Everyone bangs their head against the wall every once in a while, hoping to jar something loose.

So, I put the question to 10 junior photographers, wondering how their responses would stack up against much of the “grown-up” advice making the rounds. Their answers appear below, in no particular order, and mostly unedited. How does their advice compare? You be the judge.

ENTER A PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

Obviously, not all photo contests are created equal and some are much more prestigious than others. What they all have in common, though, is the fact that it takes confidence to share your creation with the world. If you are taking the time to put your work out there, you are (hopefully) going to make sure it is the best that it can possibly be. That takes creativity. If you’re in a slump, entering a contest might just be the motivator you need to get out of it.

boosting-creativity-diyphotography-005

RENT A NEW LENS

Different lenses serve different purposes, depending on the type of photo you’re trying to capture. If you’ve been looking at everything around you through the same one or two focal lengths for too long, get your hands on a different piece of glass. See how widening your view or zooming in tight changes your outlook. A new perspective means new options. New options means making some magic.

boosting-creativity-diyphotography-003

WRITE A PHOTOGRAPHY BUCKET LIST

Okay– so I was a little surprised to see a 14-year-old using a term like “bucket list,” but as she explained, “having the tools is great, but having goals is better.” Even if you know it’s going to take a long time to check them all off the list, just having a list in the first place gives you something to hopefully be inspired by during the dry spells.

LOOK AT PHOTOS AND FIGURE OUT WHY YOU LIKE THEM

I think this one may have originated from a class assignment where they had to bring in photos from magazines and try to break down the lighting. One of my students had a particular knack for this, so I wasn’t surprised to learn that he continued to challenge himself like this long after the assignment had ended. As he put it to me recently, knowing why you like something helps break it down into pieces that are easier to manage. Learning how the pieces fit together makes them less scary, which means you’re more likely to try it.

boosting-creativity-diyphotography-006

DO A PHOTO ESSAY

I’m certainly not going to say it’s easy to take a single, meaningful photo. But if you’re in a slump, it might help to try shooting a series. Tell a story. Making the message less reliant on a single image might take some of the pressure off.

SHOOT SOMETHING NEW

If you’re into nature, try people. If you’re into pets, try food. If you have a style, change it. Put your camera on a tripod and go outside after dark. A change to your photographic routine might push you out of your comfort zone. You wouldn’t want the same thing for dinner every single night, so why be happy shooting the same thing over and over and over?

boosting-creativity-diyphotography-007

PRINT SOMETHING

In the digital age, we’ve gotten used to photos that only exist on our computers. We have these huge archives, but we hardly ever print anything. In an article I once wrote called “The Power of a Print,” I made the point that even if you are editing on an incredible monitor, you are still only looking at your photos constrained from about two feet away. If you want the most solid indicator of just how good that shot it, get it printed big and hang it on the wall. Look at it up close. Look at if from the side. Look at it from ten feet way. Make it the first thing people see when they walk into a room. Seeing your work the way other people will see it has a positive, creative impact on what you shoot and how you shoot it.

GROUP CRITIQUE

And I’m not talking about the Facebook kind. In this era of the faceless internet photography forum, manners have become a thing of the past. Everybody thinks they know better than everybody else, and meaningful critique is often replaced with meaningless– and often insulting– chatter. Find people you trust and whose work you admire. Get together regularly to share critique, thoughts, and ideas. There’s nothing wrong with being harsh, as long as there is a constructive reason for it.

boosting-creativity-diyphotography-004

LEARN HOW TO ADJUST YOUR SETTINGS WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE CONTROLS

Many photographers will tell you that they consider their camera to be an extension of themselves. In order to be that comfortable with your camera, you have to know all its bells and whistles inside and out. The less time you spend looking for a button, dial, or switch, the more time you have to capture a moment in time.

GO FOR A WALK

Walking offers a unique perspective. You can look at your neighborhood from the back seat of a car day in and day out– you might even find something interesting. Walking through your neighborhood, though, is going to offer creative angles, compositions, and backgrounds you might never notice otherwise. Creativity might happen inside your head, but sometimes your feet have a part to play.

boosting-creativity-diyphotography-002

WRAP-UP

Checklists are great, but they aren’t always very realistic. My creative process isn’t the same as yours, and yours isn’t the same as that of a 15-year-old photography student. What we all share, however, are those times when our creativity rebels, leaving us with what feels like a complete and total inability to find our voice and capture it in a single frame. For those times, it’s nice to have a list of suggestions to get you over the hump, even if those suggestions comes from an unlikely source– like young students.

All photos in this article were taken by students in my Digital Photo Challenges class and appear here with their express permission. Since they are all minors, names are withheld at parents’ request.  All rights reserved.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Default Thumbnail25 Ways to Jump Start Photography Inspiration Want to start shooting the Milky Way? Start here Default ThumbnailHow to Take The Perfect Jump Shot With An Open Source Photo Booth GoPro shares jump as company hires former Apple designer Daniel Coster

Filed Under: Inspiration

Jeff Guyer: from diyphotography.net

About Jeff Guyer

Jeff Guyer is a commercial/portrait photographer based in Atlanta, GA. Still an avid street photographer and film shooter, Jeff also launched a kids photography class three years ago, where rumor has it he learns more from the kids than they learn from him. Connect with him on Facebook and Twitter, or check out his work at Guyer Photography.

« Reuters Fires Their Photojournalist of Over 30 Years
Ultrakam Brings 2K Video To iPhone 5S »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • AstrHori new 28mm f/13 2x Macro Periscope lens sees round corners
  • Sony World Photography Awards under fire for age limitations in Student contest
  • 5 ways to find inspiration when the weather is sad and grey
  • Photographers, keep an eye out for auroras around the world this weekend
  • How to make beautiful frozen soap bubble photos this winter

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy