Limit yourself to get out of a creative rut
Oct 31, 2017
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja 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, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
Share:
Getting stuck in a creative rut has happened to us all. It’s frustrating and it sometimes looks like it will never end. Fortunately, there are ways to make yourself inspired and start creating and enjoying the process again. Rachel and Daniel from Mango Street propose one of the ways in their latest video: restrain yourself.
It may sound contradictory: you already feel restrained, and now you need to add even more limitations. But, the truth is that this can push your creativity forward and actually make you more creative. Have a look how Daniel and Rachel applied this method.
The couple challenged one another to take photos only under certain conditions, or in other words – with various limitations. So, Daniel had to take photos only while lying on his back or shooting through his legs. Rachel was only allowed to shoot with the camera above her head, or while lying on her belly. Daniel had one set shot only with manual focus, and Rachel with the shutter speed of 1/30 or slower. The point is – each restriction forced them to think within the limits imposed on them.
The reasons to get stuck in a creative rut are many. But I believe one of them is the overwhelming amount of possibilities and choices. This is why posing certain restrictions can make you more focused and forced to think within a certain framework.
As for the limitations, there can be plenty of them. You can limit yourself to shooting only with a prime lens under specific conditions. You can start an alphabet challenge and shoot only with a toy camera. Or like Rachel and Daniel, you can shoot only with specific camera settings or from a specific point of view. Either way, you will have the challenge to focus on, and you’ll start creating and enjoying photography again.
[Take Your Photos to the Next Level When in a Creative Rut | Mango Street]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja 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, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
Join the Discussion
DIYP Comment Policy
Be nice, be on-topic, no personal information or flames.
4 responses to “Limit yourself to get out of a creative rut”
It’s kind of interesting to see the bodily limitations they put on taking the photos. By only being allowed to take photos lying on your back to get the shot, you have to push past the ‘I don’t want to get dirty’ and just get on with it. Getting over that hang-up could produce a lot of interesting shots…
When I played rugby we used to start training sessions by rolling in the mud to get over the mental block. That way we were willing to tackle more and play better because we weren’t worried about a little bit of mud.
I am now starting to carry waterproof trousers on some photography sessions so I am happy to kneel or lie down without worrying that my car seats will get dirty!
This weekend I walked round the forest behind my parents house (a familiar location) and one day I used a 35mm staying at f/2.8 or wider and then I went round the next day with a 70-200
I missed a few shots that my 24-105 would have made, but I got a much better variety of shots and some unique ones.
Maybe next weekend I will try some low angle shots or maybe try using my flashgun again.
These are great tips to stoke your creativity! I really like the idea of shooting with physical limitations, like the shooting between your legs or on your belly, etc. Great ideas! Thanks for sharing! You can check out my work at Louis Joseph Photography at http://www.louisjosephphotography.com. Lj