7 Ideas to Inspire Your Creativity

By: Anthony Epes 

When I’m stuck in a rut and not feeling like my photos are that amazing, it usually just takes going to a beautiful new place or going out when the light is incredible to get my back on the path of being excited about taking photos. But not always. Sometimes I need some added inspiration for my creativity. Can you relate?

Sometimes I think all the busyness of my mind, the client who wants something yesterday, the endless emails that needs answering, the toilet that needs fixing in my studio, take over that part of my brain that is flowing and waiting to take photos. It’s almost like these tasks put a huge stopper on my creative flow.
When this happens I like to turn to minds wiser than my own. Over the years I’ve come across ideas that have sparked something in me, helping me to look at the world in new and different ways. Just remembering these ideas when I am down in the depths of not-creating, usually helps to jumpstart my mind and get me back into creating again.

I love hearing advice about creativity from all sources, because it is an act regardless the medium. From singers (“Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.” Miles Davis) to painters (“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Picasso), everyone has something illuminating to share about the creative act.
Here are some of my favourite ideas to inspire creativity:

1. Look for indirect inspiration (via Ernst Haas)

I love looking at other photographers’ work. I like to put myself into a place where I am inspired by other people’s creative visions. But when I am stuck in my own photography, looking at other photographer’s work is probably the worst thing to do.
Funny enough, my favourite photographer of all time – Ernst Haas – agreed! He warned against seeking too much direct inspiration, as it:

“leads too quickly to repetitions of what inspired you,” and instead he recommends you should: “refine your senses through the great masters of music, painting, and poetry. In short, try indirect inspirations, and everything will come by itself.”

So fill your life with beautiful, joyful, and interesting things. Things that make the hair on the back of your neck tingle.

2. Beware the barrenness of a busy life (via Socrates)

Let’s just assume something: our work and your life responsibilities are an endless flow of stuff, and you will never get it all done. Ever. It’s impossible. So stop trying, and give yourself permission to just wander, percolate, get bored. Day dream and do all those awesome things that eventually lead to creativity.
So given that it’s endless, how about deciding that in order to have a happy life, one that is rich with fulfilment and fun and adventure, you have to break free occasionally. Because it’s so satisfying.

Socrates said: “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”

Think about the things that really make you feel fulfilled and inspired. Things that nourish you deep down, that make you feel happy to be alive. You need more of that and less of the constant emails – right?
Turn off the faucet of tasks and prioritize being creative.

3. Kill perfectionism (via Anne Lamott)

When I start a photo project I am visited by that evil force – perfectionism. (It visits me towards the end too, and usually in the middle, in that vast sea when I am unanchored and often unsure of where to go next. It always catches me when I am feeling most vulnerable). I start to worry – “What if my best shot is behind me, what if I’ll never shoot anything amazing again, what if, what if…!?”
And, wow, is perfectionism easy to get sucked into. It’s something on which we believe, that we’re just being super focused. When in fact:

“At its root, perfectionism isn’t really about a deep love of being meticulous. It’s about fear. Fear of making a mistake. Fear of disappointing others. Fear of failure. Fear of success.” – Michael Law

That’s why you have to kill it, because perfectionism will stop you in your tracks. It will stop you before you even get started.
Perfectionism often appears when you’ve cleared everything out of the way and are ready to get down to it. You’ve turned off your phone, cleared the diary, extracted yourself from the ever flowing font of responsibilities. When you are faced with the actually doing.
But what happens if you give into it, and keep giving in to it and never get started?

“Oh my God, what if you wake up some day, and you’re 65, or 75, and you never got your memoir or novel written; or you didn’t go swimming in warm pools and oceans all those years because your thighs were jiggly and you had a nice big comfortable tummy; or you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have a big juicy creative life, of imagination and radical silliness and staring off into space like when you were a kid? It’s going to break your heart. Don’t let this happen.” – Anne Lamott

So how do we deal with this beast? Weirdly what seems to work the best for me, is to say to myself, “It doesn’t matter if what you do is terrible, just do it.” In fact I slightly encourage myself to be terrible, so that I have removed all that pressure to achieve something amazing. Therefore I’ve killed perfectionism at the root (because perfectionism is a desire to either be perfect or pretty amazing).
Then once I’m out the door and taking photos, I’ll fall into the flow and forget all about that horrible perfectionism. Most of the time I’ll even end up with some pretty good shots! Getting started is better than never striking out. Or as Seneca said:

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” – Seneca

4. Make creativity a habit (via Maya Angelou)

I read this quote to my 10 year old son the other day because he had started writing a story. After an initial burst of enthusiasm he said his inspiration had disappeared and he didn’t want to carry on.

“In writing, habit seems to be a much stronger force than either willpower or inspiration.” – John Steinbeck.

Although this may be about writing, it is totally true of any creative pursuit. That is because:

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou

I love that quote because it shows that making an active effort to be be creative on a regular basis (whether it’s every Sunday afternoon, each morning for an hour at 6am, or Wednesday evenings) will guarantee that you will generate more creativity. It’s all about making the time to do it. Because, by the way, there is never the right time, or enough time for everything else. Even professional photographers, like me, need to literally carve out time to be creative.

5. But on the other hand….destroy your other habits (via Henry van Dyke)

“As long as habit and routine dictate the pattern of living, new dimensions of the soul will not emerge” – Henry van Dyke

Because our brain is a very helpful entity, wanting to make our lives as simple as possible (thank you brain), it creates habits very quickly. Although that makes it easy to get up in the morning, make breakfast, get ready for work, get to work and do your job without actually thinking about it too hard, or making any huge decisions – this is terrible for your creativity.
Why?
Because most of the activities you do are by habit. That includes 70-80% of the thoughts you have today, you had yesterday (and will have tomorrow. Scary!) Which means you are for the most part living your life on autopilot. So if you want to create something new, in fact just the act of creating is by nature doing something new, you have to abandon those habits that keep you thinking and living the same way over and over again.
To be aware is to not be locked in habit, or lost in a sea of your ever-revolving thoughts. So take a new route to work, change your morning routine, take a walk in the evening – anything that wakes up that mind of yours and gets you doing and thinking in new ways.

6. Your mind is made of play-doh (via Gandhi)

On my workshops many people come with preconceived ideas of what they are good at, and most definitely what they are not good at. Although I agree we all have predispositions to being naturally good at certain things, what science is now learning about the brain, is that it can continue to learn, change, adapt and evolve throughout your whole life.

“New research shows many aspects of the brain remain changeable (or “plastic”) even into adulthood.” – Wikipedia

How exciting is that? So when Gandhi said this:

“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” – Gandhi

Not only was he totally right, but he was showing us that when we put our minds to something, and really focus and concentrate, we can learn and create whatever we want. As Thomas Edison said:

“If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”

So not being good at something now, or not being a very technical or creative person should not limit you. If you want to be more creative – go out there and work at being creative. If you want to become a technically adept person – do it! Everything is possible if you believe (that’s science saying that, not me).
When I get stuck with the things I struggle with photographically, I remember that I need to not give in to that thought, and instead push through with what I want my photography to be.

7. Dreaming with your eyes wide open (via Ernst Haas)

Being open and creative is something that all children excel at, but it is often squeezed out of us as we grow up. Children are amazing at making connections between disparate ideas; they have an openness and freedom to look at things without thinking, “I can’t think that, I can’t do that, I can’t try that, I’m not good at that.”
So as you were creative as a child, you can be creative again!
It’s about opening yourself up to the wondrous magic that is in the world all the time. Take a walk with a three year old, and it won’t be in a straight line. It will take four or five times longer, or more! Children are not goal-orientated, they are all about noticing that beautiful flower or funny face in the shop, a piece of colourful glass on the floor, or a ladybird!

Haas calls it “dreaming with your eyes wide open”. I love that it’s about shaking off the shackles of that adult training. So just look, wander, get lost, daydream. That’s when you start seeing things that you’ve blocked out in your ordinary day to day life.
Finally, I think many of us have become a culture aimed towards being too goal-orientated, so used to spending our time achieving things, and exchanging our time for achievement. But while it’s important to regularly take time to be creative, it doesn’t always have to lead to an outcome. Just the act of being creative, or looking, is fuel for the fire, even if it never leads anywhere. In fact let’s just throw outcomes out of the window, and get involved in taking photos for the sake of taking photos.
I think being creative is an incredible way to live, because it’s not just being locked into doing stuff, achieving stuff, focused on outcomes. It’s about being in wonder and awe of life.

I think Henry Miller summoned it up perfectly when he wrote:

“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.”

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Using Visual Diaries To Find Inspiration for your Photography

By: Darren Rowse 

Have you ever been stuck in a rut?
A common problem that many digital photographers face after a while is that they look at the results of their work and find that most of the photos that they’ve been taking look much the same as each other.
It’s easy to get stuck in a rut with your digital photography – always photographing the same subjects, from the same angles, in the same mood, in the same style etc.
Now there’s nothing wrong with having your own style or preference when it comes to subject matter – but it can get a little boring if you don’t mix it up a little from time to time and add some spice into your photography.
Visual Diaries – I was speaking with a semi-professional photographer recently about her work and how she kept it ‘fresh’ and she answered by pulling out a spiral bound art folio. At first I thought it was an album of her work but on opening it I discovered it was a scrapbook – filled with images that others had taken.
This photographer had gotten in the habit of cutting out images that inspired her from newspapers, magazines, advertising brochures, postcards etc. She even printed shots from online to stick in her visual notebook. The other section of her visual notebook was a place for writing and drawing ideas. When she thought of an idea to photograph in the day to day of life she’d make a note of it (or even draw a little sketch to help her remember) so she could come back to it later to do a photo shoot around the idea.
The idea behind the notebook was simply to give her inspiration to try new things. Every time she found herself getting in a rut or searching for an idea to make her work more creative she’d get out her notebook and see what other photographers were doing in terms of subjects, angles, colors, cropping etc. She didn’t directly copy the work of others but in exposing herself to it found that her own work had improved and had a wider and more contemporary appeal.
Now I’m sure many of us don’t have the time to create a visual diary like this photographer – but there are many variations you can put upon her approach. Here’s two I use:

• Idea Wall – many graphic designers do a similar thing to visual diaries but stick the images and ideas that inspire them up on a wall next to their desk. In this way they’re constantly stimulated by others work.
• Bookmark Folder – I’m someone who is very web-based in my work and so have an ‘inspiration bookmark folder’ which is essentially an online version of a visual diary where I store links to web pages and online images that inspire me

Homework
Head to Flickr (a great online photo sharing site) and go surfing through some of the photos that others have taken.

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How To Be Inspired Every Day

by Eva Polak
 
“Inspiration does not come like a bolt. Nor is it kinetic, energetic striving. It comes into us slowly and quietly all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness.” – Brenda Ueland
Whether you have been creating photographs for years or only for few weeks, finding inspiration is not always easy. We all experience periods of creative blocks when we get stuck and all our good ideas come to a halt. Inspiration seems to elude us. So, what can we do to help a creative energy affect us day after day? Is there a way to stay inspired? For me there is a definite “Yes” to these questions.
Throughout the years I developed some systems and strategies to ensure I remain creative and make things happen. The followings are my favourite ways to keep igniting my creativity.

1. Keep a Notebook

Keep your notebook with you whenever possible, so that you can write all your ideas, notes, inspirational quotes, dreams, goals, etc. Be consistent and add items to it often. In time it will become a great source of inspiration but also a reminder of your goals to keep you focused and motivated.

2. Take your Camera with you Wherever Possible

There are possible photographs all around us. You never know what you will see. Be prepare.

3. Read Biographies of Artists that you Admire

A biography is a great source of inspiration. You can learn, not only facts from someone’s life, but also discover important insights while gaining a deep appreciation for challenges these artists faced and the accomplishments they achieved. You may find parallel experiences in their life, be inspired by their persistence, and be motivated by their success.

4. Experiment

Take risks and try photographic styles or techniques you’ve never done before.
Use different camera settings. Play “What if…” game. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Just explore and have fun.

5. Start a Personal Project

Set realistic goals and plan your photo shoots. This requires a lot of discipline, so start small and you can always build up.
Evaluate your results from time to time, but remember this is your project, your ideas and your photographs. Don’t let anyone discourage you.

6. Visit Art Galleries

Going to see an exhibition can enrich your imagination. You will get new ideas to focus on and see your own art in a new perspective.

7. Learn Something New Everyday, Every Week, Every Year

Start reading books about art and photography. Subscribe to newsletters, podcasts and feeds. Take a class, attend a workshop, join a photography group. These activities will trigger new ideas, increase the level of your skill and boost your confidence.
 

8. Visit New Places

You don’t have to go overseas to find something exciting to photograph. Explore your neighbourhood. You will discover all sorts of places that you didn’t even know existed.

9. Look after Yourself

A healthy body equals a healthy mind. Exercise, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, drink a lot of water. Take some time out to relax.
And above all have fun!
Eva Polak is fine art photographer based in Auckland who specializes in impressionist photography. Author of two books “At the beach” and “Impressionist Photography Techniques” – visit her site at www.evapolak.com.

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How to Find Inspiration for Your Photography When Your Muse is Missing

By: Stacey Hill  

In a city full of construction sites, concrete walls tucked around a corner not visible from the street 

are a haven for graffiti artists. You have to go looking for them.

Maybe you just recently bought your camera, or maybe you got it a while ago. But has it been sitting on a shelf for a few months? Perhaps you have been shooting for a while but have just run out of enthusiasm? Feel like you are stuck in a rut? Like you should change it up a bit but don’t quite know how?
Or maybe you are just so overwhelmed with possibilities and potential that you are paralyzed with the indecision of what to try first?

Glorious spring cherry blossoms. So many shades of pink.

Inspiration is everywhere

Sometimes it’s a matter of opening your eyes and seeing the world in a different way. Perhaps you need to let go of the fear of trying something new. Lack of equipment can sometimes be an excuse. Difficulty or the cost of travel is another factor that can hold people back.
Trying new things can be scary, especially if you are new to photography and uncertain about how your images will turn out. So let me tell you one really important thing;

It doesn’t matter if you don’t get it right the first time.

Or even the twentieth time, though you might prefer to move on to something new at that point.
What is the worst that could happen if you try street photography? Pick some flowers and have a go with macro photography? Try to capture an awesome sunrise?

One of the best sunsets I have ever seen, absolutely stunning. Probably my 127th sunset shot, 

and worth the effort of the previous 126.

Kickstart your inspiration

Here are a few tips to help you kickstart your inspiration:

• Actually get out there with your camera. Get your bum off the sofa, camera in hand, out the door in any direction. Make time for your hobby. Do it regularly. Give yourself permission to go out and shoot.
• Go somewhere different than your usual places. Sit near a busy cafe. Take a walk in a nature reserve. Explore the sand dunes at the beach. Find a stream or river where birds are active.
• Once you get to your new place, find a good spot and then just sit for five to 10 minutes. Immerse yourself in the sound of the place (yes take the headphones ooff). Watch the activity around you, see where the light and shadows fall, what textures are nearby. Be present and soon you will see all sorts of opportunities for images.
• Be brave and attend events with your camera. Sports events, local festivals, markets, concerts, fairs, car rallies, agricultural shows – the list goes on and on of places you can go for minimal cost. There are people dressed up, doing interesting things, lots of different stuff to see and photograph. Walk around, watch the people, see the patterns, spot the areas of activity. Hover at the edges if that makes you more comfortable.

First time at Roller Derby – the lighting was awful so I decided to experiment with slower 

shutter speeds for fun.

• See the small details via macro photography. Good macro lenses are expensive, so see if you can borrow or rent one to see if that is your thing.  Macro or close-up filters are a cost effective option to get you started. Look inside your pantry or fridge. See what is flowering in the garden. Setup a small studio with your tripod, a table and some natural window light and experiment.

Take time to see the small interesting details – this is an old cash register.

• Learn to see in black and white. Look for contrast, texture, shapes, and lines. Try to see the image without color. At the beginning, this will be really hard, but eventually, you will start to see the core compositional elements that make for a good black and white image.

It was lightly raining as I took this image. The light was flat and dull, but I knew the sky would 

look fabulous once processed into black and white.

• Start a photography project. There are lots of 365 Day or 52 Week Challenges around – some with themes and some just to encourage you to shoot regularly.  Try one of them or develop your own project idea.
• Work with props. Taking straight portraits can be really challenging. Getting people to relax and smile naturally is hard. Instead, give them something to interact with and take their mind off the camera. A ball, or a hat. Perhaps a pretty shawl or wrap. A book or a bunch of flowers. Be creative, make it fun and light hearted.

Three ladies that I ran across and asked to pose in front of these blue statement walls. They did 

their own posing with no prompting from me.

• Go out at nighttime. So many new possibilities – light painting, astrophotography, star trails, auroras, steel wool, light trails, fireworks or even kids sparklers.
• Find a thing, anything, anywhere. Shoot it at different angles, in different kinds of light. Keep coming back and try and find a new and interesting way to capture the essence of a mundane everyday object.

Looks simple, try doing it backward in the dark within 30 seconds, ankle deep in snow with 

freezing feet running back and forth from the camera.

Endless possibilities exist

Landscapes, sunrise, sunset, wedding, portrait, boudoir, food, macro, street, dance, cats, astrophotography, waterfalls, compositing, fine art, black and white, weather, birds, architecture, events, underwater, travel, flowers, sports, product, photojournalism – all options for you to try.
The list goes on, that is just off the top of my head. There are still many more choices. Take any one of those words above, and break it down into smaller elements, and there are even more choices, for example;  travel > people, places, food, color, culture, and experiences.

An installation at an outdoor art festival being constructed.

Develop a habit

Some of my best work came after completing a 21-day creativity course. On day five I was to “Allocate a 15-minute time-slot to shoot anything”. The idea is that when you tell yourself it will only take 15 minutes, then you are much more likely to make the time to do it. Of course, it always took much longer, but because the effort is made to get started, suddenly it becomes fun. It doesn’t matter that it actually ends up being an hour instead.

Maybe you have kids to feed, bathe, and wrangle into bed so you feel like you cannot take the time. Instead of sitting down to Facebook or watch TV when you do have time, go get your camera instead. Talk to your family and friends, let them know it is important to you. Ask them to help – maybe they will be a model for you? Maybe they have a cool prop you could borrow?

Attendees at a local Zombie Run kindly agreed to lurch for me.

What makes you happy?

Where is your happy place? Is it a library? A cup of coffee at your favorite cafe? Is it down at the beach? At the park with the kids? Walking the dog? Playing a sport?
What could be better than doing your favorite thing and taking the camera along to record the experience? Kids playing in the autumn leaves, or about to push off down the slide. Your dog fetching a stick or racing along the beach. Steam rising off a cappuccino with a cupcake on the side. Frost patterns on a morning walk. Sunset setting the sky on fire. The smell of a new book. What’s your thing?

It’s not my thing, but street photography is hugely popular.

Learn to let it go

Don’t try too hard. Have your camera handy but take the time to be in the moment too. Genuine emotions and responses are far more compelling than a contrived situation. Learn to be patient and wait for the right moment. Sometimes just put your camera aside and let it go. Not every day will give you a keeper, or even a reason to shoot.  But you can guarantee that the best shooting opportunities will be the ones that happen when you leave your camera behind.
So in some circumstances, it may be more appropriate to be present, and leave the camera at home. It might be culturally insensitive or just plain rude. It could be more fun to enjoy being part of the event, rather than shooting from the sidelines as often happens with photographers.

A gorgeous art graffiti piece with the foundation for a building about to be built immediately in 

front of it. Taken on a step stool bought from home so I could shoot over the security fence.

Research

My favourite place for inspiration is Pinterest. I have boards dedicated to food, still life, fine art, Gothic, the macabre and pinup photography. All these things that have inspired me one way or another. Some are there to remind me to try a new thing. Others are there to remind me to keep experimenting with a style that is still new and experimental. Some are just fantastic images that delight me.
Instagram is another source of wonderful images.  Both are places you can search for reasonably specific concepts and find images to match. It is also easy to curate your feed for both, so that you get a regular supply of stuff that may inspire you.
Facebook has many groups dedicated to specific photography styles. As well as a good source of image inspiration you can also ask questions or ask for advice. Asking someone how they achieved a certain image can be a simple way of making your learning easier. Many people are often only to happy to help. Quite a few will even have blogged about the image with some backstory around how it was created.
Art galleries, museums, books on the grand masters of painting or photography are all available for viewing – many of them online.

A local steampunk lady agreed to pose for me in exchange for an image.

Summary

It can be easy to fall into the same old habits, sticking to one particular style or technique. Making the effort to change that is difficult. Overcoming inertia and breaking out of your comfort zone is hard.
Yet if you keep doing the same things, you will keep getting the same images, the same results. Eventually boredom will set in, causing you to put the camera aside.
My challenge to you is to instead, pick up the camera, open your eyes and give yourself a chance to truly see the world around you. Once you do that, limitless possibilities will become apparent, and your inspiration will be everywhere.

A light festival held in mid-winter. It was bitterly cold, but I had so much fun I went back the 

second night to catch all the things missed first time round.

Still, don’t try to do it all at once either, as creative fatigue and burnout can result. Learn to pace yourself. Break it down into manageable chunks, learn one thing and move on to the next. Some things will have more resonance and stay with you for longer. Others will not click with your style at all.

It’s possible that you could find your niche and want to stick with one particular style.  If so, then congratulations on finding your happy place. But keep in mind, even when you are in that zone, there are still ways to explore it, try different points of view, and push your boundaries.
In Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert writes about her theory that ideas are constantly swirling around us. But unless we are in a receptive state of mind, they will fail to find purchase:

“But sometimes – rarely, but magnificently – there comes a day when you’re open and relaxed enough to actually receive something. Your defenses might slacken and your anxieties ease, and then magic can slip through. The idea, sensing your openness, will start to do its work on you. It will send the universal physical and emotional signals of inspiration (the chills up the arm, the hair standing on the back of the neck) (…)”

Inspiration is anywhere and everywhere, we just need to make ourselves open for our muse to find us.

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Non-Photographic Activities To Improve Your Photography Without Leaving Home

By: Ana Mireles 

What makes a good photograph? Is it more about the form or the content? The great photographer Cartier Bresson once said, “to photograph: it is to put on the same line of sight the head, the eye, and the heart.” So, here are some suggested activities to improve your photography by exercising your mind.
There are lots of things you can do to improve your photography without leaving home – from getting inspiration and exercising your analytical perception to gaining introspection to focus your mind. In this article, you’ll find some ideas to get you going.

1/6 sec. f/8 ISO 200

Find inspiration online

Being stuck at home doesn’t mean you can’t visit a museum anywhere in the world. Using Google Arts & Culture, you can take virtual tours of some of the biggest museums. Also, you can zoom into the masterpieces; seeing details you could never appreciate in person.

If virtual museums aren’t enough for you, check out a library. They also hold valuable heritage and have much of it available online. One of the biggest ones is the World Digital Library from UNESCO. Here, you can get free access to thousands of books, documents, and photos from all over the world.

If traditional searches aren’t giving you what you need, look for some innovative thinking. Thanks to current technology, you can get inspired using an unusual starting point. For example, with “Color Palette” you can look for artworks that share the same colors.
Another favorite of mine is “From a picture to a thousand stories.” It helps you find books through words or concepts.

If you prefer the behind-the-scenes to the artwork itself, follow podcasts with artist talks. For example, Dialogues where “Each episode pairs two exceptional makers and thinkers.”
Also, look for the different initiatives museums around the globe have launched during this time, like #StayAtHomeStedelijk, that features mini-documentaries.

Learn how to draw

Artistic disciplines often complement each other because of the different skills you develop by practicing them. One of the most direct links is between drawing and photography.
Learning to draw is an activity that improves your photography because it teaches you to actually see what’s in front of you. It also allows you to analyze how light interacts with objects of different shapes and materials.
For example, this will come in handy when you’re setting up studio lighting.

1/5 sec. f/8 ISO 200

Understanding shadows also helps you when you’re making photo-composites. That is because you need coherent shadows to fully integrate the subject into the background. You also need to consider how it will affect the other subjects to get a realistic result. Drawing can help you understand all of this.

Meditate

There are many techniques and traditions for meditation. There’s no right or wrong way to do it in this case. Just choose the one that works for you.
Some of the benefits of meditation include self-awareness, a decrease of anxiety, and therefore increased perception.
All of these are good things for you to focus on your photographic practice and unleash creativity.

1 sec. f/22 ISO 200

Sometimes you can’t even think of a good idea for your next project; other times you can’t find the right angle for a certain topic. This is often the result of a busy life that won’t give you time to reflect because it requires action.
If you work at uncluttering your mind, you may find it easier to overcome these blocks. A related activity that covers both mind and body is yoga, so you can consider doing that as well.

Join a virtual ‘Salon’

Artistic and intellectual gatherings have taken place to fuel some of the greatest movements throughout history. So, why wouldn’t it be a good activity to improve your photography? The idea is, that through conversation, you can exchange knowledge and refine ideas.

Thanks to current technology, you don’t have to leave your house to meet like-minded people or receive feedback on your projects.
Even reflecting on current events with other artists may influence your work.
Look for Facebook groups, discussion blogs, or even host your own salons with your colleagues via video conferences. The possibilities are endless.

There’s a number of activities to improve your photography that don’t necessarily imply making a photograph. If you find yourself without the possibility of leaving the house or picking up your camera, use this time to exercise your mind. You’ll notice the difference the next time you go out to shoot.
Share in the comments section any other activities to improve your photography that you find useful.

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4 Ways the Time of Day Affects Your Photographs

By: Simon Ringsmuth

You have probably heard the saying, “The early bird gets the worm,” and in some ways that phrase can be repurposed to apply to photographers as well. “The early photographer gets the picture” isn’t always true in a literal sense, but learning to recognize changes that happen throughout the day, and how they affect your pictures is critical to developing a deeper understanding of photography in general. If you’re looking for a way to enhance your own photography, get better shots, or just try something new, getting up early to take some photos in the morning hours can have a dramatic impact on your pictures.

What you will see below is a collection of shots that are similarly-composed, but taken at different times of the day. The idea is not necessarily to see which picture is better, but to help you visualize and understand how much impact the time of day has on your outdoor pictures.

1 – Colors and Shadows

One advantage of shooting in the morning is that the sun is not directly overhead, which means light is diffused in the sky, and essentially coming from all directions. This helps your subjects have more even  lighting, and makes it easier to get a good overall exposure since there isn’t the same degree of high contrast between light and dark areas that happens later in the day. This picture of some flowers in the morning illustrates the concept, and shows how diffused morning light can affect not just the shadows, but the color and vibrance of the picture as well.

Flowers at 7:30am: 50mm, f/1.8, ISO 200, 1/180th of a second

Revisiting the same scene later in the day revealed an image that is similar in overall composition but quite different in some significant ways. The colors on the orange flower are not as rich and vibrant as they are in the morning photo, and the individual petals create harsh shadows that can be somewhat distracting.

Flowers at 1:45pm: 50mm, f/1.8, ISO 200, 1/6000 second

While taking photos later in the day often means you have more light available, it comes with an important tradeoff: the midday sun often often leads to a greater degree of contrast with brighter highlights and darker shadows.  However, this is not to imply that shooting later in the day is an inherently bad idea. Learning to shoot at different times of the day is not just about knowing how things are lit, but understanding how nature itself changes. Different times of day are not necessarily better or worse, but each has its own set of opportunities and challenges.
Notice how the pink flower has opened up and is much more vibrant than in the morning. No amount of early sunlight can coax a flower into full bloom, and sometimes you simply have no choice but to shoot later in the day if you want to get a particular picture. Wildlife shooters often take pictures in the morning or evening, but not necessarily because of the light. They do it because many animals are simply much more active at that time, than in the middle of the day.
One of the best solutions, which is not always possible but does offer some creative opportunities, is when you can get pictures in the middle of a cloudy or overcast day. That scenario gives you the nature advantages of shooting in the middle of the day, with the lighting advantages of morning or dusk. In this final picture, which was taken during a moment of thick cloud cover, you can see how the pink and orange flowers are in full bloom, while the light is much more similar to the morning image. The shadows are soft and diffused, which lends a warm and pleasant feeling to the image.

Flowers on an overcast day: 50mm, f/1.8, ISO 400, 1/6000 second

2 – Background Elements

One nice thing about shooting pictures in the morning is how the early sun can cast a nice even light on your subject. But, there are other elements of a photographic composition to take into account as well. Here are two pictures of some seed pods on a magnolia tree, taken a few hours apart. In these examples you can see that the morning light doesn’t just affect the color and shadows on the subject, but has a notable impact on the background elements, and other parts of the picture as well.
In the first image the subject (i.e. the seed pod in the foreground) is evenly lit, with nicely saturated colors, and the composition has a nice warm tone overall. There are a few drawbacks though – the building in the background which faces to the east is so brightly lit it’s distracting, and the sky does not yet have the rich blue tones that can happen later in the day.

Magnolia seed pods at 7:30am: 50mm, f/1.8, ISO 400, 1/500 second

Here’s the same composition taken a few hours later, which illustrates that shooting in the bright sunlight has some tradeoffs tradeoffs that are both good and bad. While the building in the afternoon photo is not overexposed and the sky has more of a pleasing blue tint, the subject is somewhat backlit which causes a bit too much contrast for my liking.

Magnolia seed pods at 2:35pm: 50mm, f/1.8, ISO 100, 1/1500 second

Again, the message here is not about why taking pictures at a particular time of day is better or worse, but understanding the effect it will have on your images. Some of the problems with the afternoon picture could be mitigated if I simply took the picture from a different angle or used another subject. I could also have used the pop-up flash on my camera as a fill flash which would have fixed some of the shadows on the subject. These challenges also become a little easier to work with if you are taking pictures of people and not immovable inanimate objects because you can tell them where to go, bring umbrellas, or use structures to manipulate the light.

3 – Even Lighting

I already gave some examples of how the early morning sun can have a pleasant effect on a single subject, but it can also cast an entire scene, or even a landscape, in an entirely different light compared to the afternoon. This image of a path on the Oklahoma State University campus is one of the most pleasing examples of how shooting in the morning can give you an incredible advantage when it comes to just working with light. The entire scene is evenly lit, and even the undersides of the tree branches are green. There are no harsh shadows and the morning light creates a warm and welcoming feeling overall.

Path at 7:30am: 50mm, f/4, ISO 400, 1/60 second

In the next image you can clearly see evidence of some of the challenges posed by midday sunlight. The image is awash with contrasting areas of light and dark, and the shadows on the path are disjointed and distracting. There is no one clear focal point for the image, and the undersides of the leaves are so dark they are almost unrecognizable. It looks like an entirely different scene, even though it was the same location.

Path at 1:45pm: 50mm, f/4, ISO 200, 1/1500 second

The final image in this series illustrates one additional hurdle that must be overcome when shooting during the day – other people. In most parts of the world, and especially on a college campus, there simply is not much human activity in the early morning. Later in the day you will usually find yourself contending with workers, pedestrians, students, tourists, children playing, or a variety of other types of individuals who might inadvertently get in the way of letting you take the picture you want.

Path at 12:15pm: 50mm, f/4, ISO 400, 1/1500 second

Almost any outdoor photographic situation will have far fewer people around in the wee hours of the morning, which can not only give you better pictures, but a greater sense of peace and calmness as you go about the business of taking photos. The other point to note about the image above with the students walking, is that even though there was plenty of cloud cover which meant nice evenly-diffused lighting, the undersides of the trees are much darker than in the 7:30am photo. This illustrates how even though cloudy and overcast days are great for photos, there are still some aspects of shooting in the morning or evening that can be advantageous.

4 – The Human Impact

Finally, here’s one more example of how pictures in the morning can be much different than pictures later in the day. This bronze statue is a friendly sight for shoppers and drivers in downtown Stillwater, Oklahoma. Taking his photo as the sun is creeping over the horizon yields a well-lit image with a hometown feel, as the shops of main street recede into the background. Colors are even and not overly-saturated, and there is neither too much, nor too little, contrast on the statue itself.

Bronze Man at 7:30am: 50mm, f/2.8, ISO 200, 1/60 second

The same photo in the late afternoon looks dramatically different, but not just because of the lighting. In the second picture (below) the light is clearly coming from overhead, as the top of his shoulders and side of his hat are much brighter and the contrasting light is creating much deeper shadows on his overcoat. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as the result is an image that shows more texture on the statue, even though one of the tradeoffs is that the side of his head is shrouded in shadow. However, the most critical difference here is the background, which is now filled with passing shoppers and parked cars. The picture seems cluttered, the focal point is less obvious, and instead of a friendly small town main street it now seems like a sterile commercial shopping center.

Bronze Man at 4:15pm: 50mm, f/2.8, ISO 200, 1/1500 second

Hopefully these examples give you a better idea of how the time of day in which you take pictures can dramatically affect not just the lighting, but many aesthetic elements of your photographic compositions as well. What are your favorite tips for shooting at different times of the day? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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