Tuesday, November 15, 2011




The Elephant in the Room 



So here's the thing.  We all know about it, we all avoid it like the plague, and yes, we all fear it.  It is a creative block.  You find yourself making good progress, getting on just fine then WHAM!! just like that the only motivation that you can seem to find is to wrangle your scruffy looking self out of the bed just in the nic of time so you don't wet it.  Ok, well maybe that is a little extreme of an example, but you know what I mean.  It happens to all of us at some point or another, and for more than just a few of us, it happens more than once.  The trick is not to let it dominate you.  Too often we find ourselves in a downward spiral of self-loathing because of our creative dry spells.  Of course this is a vicious cycle because as we rebuke ourselves for being so uncreative we are, in fact, KILLLING our creativity!  So first things first, don't be so hard on yourself.  Then, once you have managed to step back of the proverbial ledge and back into the comfyness of your studio, try a few of these ideas.

1.  Get all the horrible ideas out!!  Get a piece of paper and just write whatever comes to your head.  If you think about shooting hamsters out of a canon into a kiddie pool filled with pudding and photograph the splash then write it dow.............wait a minute, that one was pretty good.  You can't have that one. That one is mine!

2. Try shooting something you wouldn't normally shoot.  By doing this you will find that you have no real attachment to the subject and therefore will not look at it the same as you would something that you would normally shoot. 

3.  Ask someone you know to write a list of words for you and challenge yourself to make images that relate to the words.

4. Go on a walk/outing and only take one PRIME lens with you.  Then tell yourself that you can only take one picture the whole time.  Sometimes by giving your brain limitations you will provoke it into rebellion thereby causing ideas to start flowing throughout the walk.

I don't know if you've noticed but there is a trend here in almost all of my tips.  KEEP SHOOTING!!  I seriously cannot stress this enough.  Just like any other form of art photographers need to keep on doing what they do and push through times of creative famine.  If you allow yourself to stop shooting then you will only make it easier to make excuses to keep from shooting.  Don't let this happen!  Again, we have all been there and we all know that it is tough, but with some determination and some support from your fellow artisan you can overcome your drought fairly quickly.

I hope you liked today's post. Please comment with a time that  you suffered from creative block and how you got through it.  Post helpful hints or inspirational pictures.  Let everyone know what you did to get back on track, and who knows, maybe you will inspire someone else to get back on the horse and try again.  Until next time my friends, keep shooting!!

Here's talkin' at ya!

Dave

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