I know many photographers (pros and amateurs alike) who need a special occasion like a vacation, a wedding or a sports event to take their camera out in their free time. When I ask them “why only for big occasions?”, I often get the reply that every day life is not interesting enough…
This is where photography meets psychology. It is in our nature to not be aware of our daily routine as it appears that it’ll always be there and that it is not important enough for us. The funny thing is that i.e. in 10 or 20 years time those few ordinary every day pictures that one did take become our treasure to remind us of a time that is long gone and won’t come back. We get older, cities, houses, cars etc. change – people pass away…
Think about all the photos that you would have wanted to capture of a certain time, person, event or place but that you won’t be able to take any more because they are gone.
In our April 14th Photofocus Inspiration podcast episode we talked about the desire to improve ones vision and finding some motivation to go out and make good photos. Do listen to that episode if you have not listened to it yet and also go back and listen to our previous inspiration podcast episodes to be reminded of their essence and what really matters in photography.
With our small yet extremely powerful cameras we are lucky today that we can always take a camera with us where ever we go. Don’t take this for granted and make the point to always take a camera with you – and use it!
Here is a little example of how I motivate myself to come home with a few images even when I don’t see anything spectacularly interesting (as of today) that would not be worth capturing for many. I force myself to make a short documentary of 5 images to describe a certain scene or event. This short documentary should be a visual story that can live without words or further explanations. It can be a story of a whole day or only a 5-minute event.
This is one very basic example of what I took home from a recent stroll with my small mirrorless camera and a 24mm equivalent FOV lens:
Start to think of these kind of little documentaries in your every day life. You will see that your vision for stories will improve and that there are plenty of things to capture that may become meaningful in the future. And remember to add enough info into your documentary photos that even an outsider will gather enough information to understand the story (even without words). Process these documentaries right away at the end of the day to your 5 images.
And once you get into the habit to regularly do these short documentaries, you will have enough edited material for a photo book at the end of each year without the headache of having to go back through thousands of unedited images.
Marco Larousse
Marco's approach to photography is "reduce to the basics and focus on the story and the subject." Growing up with the limitations that film photography has taught him, he still enjoys the basic approach to photography today. For Marco the camera is a tool and a mere extension of his instincts.
Marco is the producer and co-host of the Photofocus #Inspiration and #Mirrorless podcasts episodes.
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Beautiful shots. And then your kids turns 10 and refuses to be on the receiving side of a camera.
Thanks Brian! I am training them in photography already. So they are quite often behind the camera already 😉
This is something that I need to do more often. When I first started out with photography I used to be taking shots at every opportunity and as time has passed, I do it far less often, unless it’s an actual gig. Thank you for reminding me of the importance of shooting on a daily basis.
I’m happy to inspire and motivate 🙂
Great article and photos Marco. It reminded me of a conversation I recently had with an ex photography student. He told me how he always takes his camera wherever he goes just in case. I told him that was a great discipline and I should follow his example. He replied: “Well, you’d be following your own suggestion considering you are the one who taught me that habit seven years ago!
Thanks Christian! That is a funny story. I hope that you will stick to your own rules from now on 😉
Awesome photos! Thank you for this reminder – this is something that I need to do on a daily basis.
Thanks Kylie! I hope that you have started this habbit now already 🙂
Very good discussion. As a photography student, I always pondered about daily life photography.
Yes, it seems boring to most including me, but its as you said, the tiny little details change everyday, slowly advancing and changing through along time and life. The passing of my late father recently also led me to think about documenting everyday life in hope that we can preserve all the frozen moments we lived.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Thank you for the kind words Dean. I’m very sorry to read about the recent loss of your father.
I hope that you will stay motivated to document daily life and that photography will bring joy to your life.