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4 Lessons in Creativity for Photographers

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Creativity in any discipline is about finding new and original ideas. When they strike, creative thoughts seem to appear out of nowhere – light bulb moments. Sometimes it seems like creativity is something intangible that we can’t control. But are there ways you can nurture your own creativity? How can we better create the conditions for those moments of inspiration to strike?

In her TED talk, Julie Burstein, an expert in creative thought, offers insight into how creativity grows out of everyday experiences. Her stories revolve around various creative disciplines, but her key four ‘lessons’ are ones that we can embrace as photographers. Her full TED talk is worth watching, but in this post, we wanted to explore in-depth some of her key points and discuss how these may be applicable for photographers.

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How to make the same subject look interesting in photos every time

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Taking photos of the same subject over and over again sounds tiring. It seems hardly doable to make the shots interesting every time. But it’s not impossible.

In this video, Peter McKinnon shares some awesome advice how to take new, fresh and interesting photos without losing inspiration. It will certainly inspire you to take a new look on photographing the repetitive subjects. Even if the subject is always the same – your photos don’t have to be.

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Idea is bigger than gear: photographer uses paper cutouts to transform famous landmarks

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Photographing famous landmarks is something most of us do when we travel. It’s always a nice memory, but honestly speaking – it’s hard to make these photos original. But British photographer Rich McCor (or Paper Boyo) has found a way to do it. His photos of landmarks are definitely unique, yet the solution he found is stunningly simple.

Rich uses black paper cutouts and transforms the landmarks into something completely new. In his photos, Big Ben becomes a wrist watch, London Eye is a bicycle wheel, and Arc de Triomphe transforms into a Lego figurine. He gives something so familiar a whole new context and it’s really fun to see the transformation.

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Shoot outside your comfort zone: here’s how and why to do it

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One of my goals as a photographer is to always improve.  Regardless of how well others may think my work is I am always trying to learn and grow as a creative.

There are several things you can do to fine tune and/or continue to grow.  You can take a workshop, read a blog, or watch videos of how others do it.  However, for me, nothing replaces actually getting out the gear and shooting something.  Anything.  I love reading blogs and YouTube videos as much as the next but I (like many) learn best by doing.  I’ve found that for me personally one of the best ways to spin up the creative juice is to shoot outside my norm.  These exercises more often than not give me a different perspective on composition, light, or camera control that I either did not pay attention to previously or never needed to use shooting fashion and beauty.

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6 Photographers Demonstrate the Evolution of Creativity and Inspiration

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A short while ago we shared a fascinating video about the power of perspective and how 6 photographers captured the same person, playing changing characters, completely differently.

It was a brilliant experiment, but it left me wanting to see how different photographers would capture the same character or object.

The next video in the series, ‘The Lab – Evolution’, isn’t exactly what I was hoping to see but brings us one step closer as a group of six photographers all receive the same everyday objects and photograph them together.

While the previous video was about perspective, this one is all about creativity and inspiration and they evolves.

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Make Your Street Photography More Dynamic By Choosing What to Put In the Frame (and What to Leave Out)

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Street photography is a very popular genre right now, but it is nothing new.  Award-winning photographer Joel Meyerowitz started his photography career in the early ’60s when photographers like Diane Arbus and Lee Friedlander were roaming the sidewalks of urban communities.

In a video by Phaidon Press, Joel shares some of the most fundamental elements of street photography.  “What you put in and what you leave out [of the frame] are what determines the meaning … of the photograph,” he explains.  With an artistic vision that goes beyond simply creating perfect “copies” of real life, he describes how even those elements outside the frame can impact what’s inside and how SLR cameras are at a significant disadvantage for street photography work.

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Photographer Crafts the Best Birth Announcement Video with Drone in Backyard

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We’re always seeing new and creative ways that parents are using to inform friends and loved ones of a new addition to the family.  But, I don’t think anyone does it quite like Dirk Dallas.  Dirk, a photographer and drone enthusiast with a flair for the dramatic (in only the best sense of the term), created a very memorable birth announcement for their third daughter using a drone in the backyard.

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Overcoming Creative Dry Spells and where to find inspiration

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One of the things I used to hate when perusing my path as a photographer is when I reached a point where I was uninspired to shoot, or I’d reach a point where I’d feel that my best work is behind me and there is nothing new I can do. These creative dry spells used to happen to me from time to time and I know it happens to everyone so I want to share what I personally do to overcome this feeling.

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10 Important Lessons in Creativity

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It’s confession time. I’ve been struggling lately with my creativity. The client work is fine. It’s the personal work– the stuff that’s supposed to satisfy my soul between the paid gigs– that’s taken a dip. I have a few theories, but a funk is a funk and sometimes the harder you try pushing through it the deeper it gets. Chances are I’m just over-thinking it. After all, we’re talking about art, right? You’re supposed to feel it, not think it.

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