Exposed! :: Creativity and the Camera

Creativity is a funny thing - it is not something you can get easily from a book in a library or from googling on the web. It is more of a process - something you develop.

De-stressing

Creativity starts with self care - you need to be comfortable on many levels, well fed, hydrated, with an adequate body temperature. As important you need to be comfortable on non-physical levels - not stressing about family, work, money, performance, etc.

Few people can honestly claim to be continually in a peaceful state of bliss!! However, to be effectively creative you need to find a physical/mental space where you can concentrate on your creativity and the camera! Learning to eat well, dress properly and by giving yourself a break from mental stresses can help facilitate your creative power. To help control inner demons some people use meditation and yoga, some use exercise. There are many resources available on nutrition and comfort in the outdoors. However you do it de-stressing while on safari with your camera will help you perform at your best!

Stressing in the pro ranks!

Looking at professional photo work the stock photographer has an advantage over an assignment photographer in the stress department!

A stock photographer has few deadlines and has the luxury of being able to make creative gambles (that may or may not succeed) without an art director expecting results in minutes or hours!

An assignment photographer must produce within a specific timeframe and has the pressures of immediate performance looming over them! The assignment photographer does not have the same creative freedom of a stock shooter.

As a result, the finished pictures of these 2 groups of photographers can be very different!

Smelling the Roses

Once you have established a good creative work space there are many things you can do to help inspire creativity:

Stop, sit down and watch the world around you for minutes or hours. Leave your camera in the bag for a while. Just observe!
Ask "what if" a lot.
Consider alternatives.
Revisit the location at different times of day and year.
Look how others do things - not to copy but to learn valuable lessons, open new doors, and get inspired.

Homework!!

Here is a creativity exercise:

Go for a walk and find a specific, finite, fun-for-you subject. Finite?: Do not choose a tree, choose a specific leaf! Do not choose a car, choose 1 headlight.
Take a picture of the subject. No bracketing allowed! No editing allowed until you are done!
Now take 20 other unique pictures of the specific and finite subject. The photos must all be vastly different - not just slight variations of each other. How will you do this? If you are stumped my Creative Fundamentals course might be just the right thing for you!
If you follow these rules you will end up with many different versions of the exact same subject.
Now I will change one rule. You must photograph a new, finite subject resulting in 100 unique and different pictures of the same subject (no bracketing)!

This exercise is designed to encourage you to come up with alternative ways of doing things - some call this creativity!

Good luck! Be proud of your successes. Be kind with your mistakes. Critical, but kind with yourselves - the mistakes are your ticket to improved photos and greater success! Yahoo!

See you soon!
Harry