Photofocus

Copyright 2004 Scott Bourne - All Rights Reserved

It’s happened to any serious photographer who’s been at the shutterbug thing for a while. Eventually you run out of fresh ideas. Eventually you find yourself searching for inspiration. Some people even get bored. I’ve written about this before, but here’s a new take on it.

Believe it or not, as counterintuitive as it seems, you can get inspiration from your OLD work. Here’s how.

1. Look at some of your older photos – the older the better. Start by asking yourself how you could improve them today. What new tools or techniques do your have access to today that would change the result?

2. Another quick trick to getting out of your rut is take your old ideas and turn them inside out. Try shooting the same subjects you did in the past but use a new angle. If you shot it high, try getting down on your belly and seeing if you can “see” in a new way. In other words, try exploring the opposite point of view, even if the original was your own.

3. Try mind-mapping. Make a plan. Start mapping out locations, gear changes, new angles, new approaches, new inspiration. Build a plan and work the plan. Sometimes photographic ruts happen when people are relying too much on emotion for inspiration. Professionals especially are prone to this. When it happens, start working by method and not by feel. When you start going through the motions of the technique you’ve learned, combine that with a plan, you start to break out of the rut and get inspired.

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This post sponsored by the Digital SLR Store