One thing I never want to do is grow stagnant. In any area of my life, I want to be constantly growing, improving, moving. Many times, the repetitive nature of our lives cause us to fall into a monotonous lifestyle, where everything looks the same, feels the same, sounds the same. And in that we begin to lose our passion, begin to digress.
It has been almost a month since I last picked up my camera- it was actually refreshing to do so. I’ve been catching up on album designs and edits, and meeting with wonderful clients for 2010 that I haven’t really had a “need” to shoot. And THAT is the best time to grow. During this time, I was able to stretch myself creatively…doing things I won’t normally do for client shoots. But in doing so, I expand my vision, see what’s possible, and learn.
First thing I did was play with light…I’ve always been enamored with light and photography, though I’m not a big studio set person. As I tell everyone, though, in order to be a good photographer, you need to understand light. Learn how it works, its effects on your camera, and what you can do to it.
After that, I did another photowalk in downtown Chicago. I did this about a year and a half ago on another cold winter day, which made this a bit more exciting for me. I had to walk the same area I did before, but take a different perspective on everything. Don’t just take the standard images others take…don’t even just take the standard images I take when I’m there. But find that next angle. My original thoughts were to do 60 frames in 60 minutes. Then it was to do 50 frames with just my 50 1.4 lens. Then 35 frames with only the 35 2.0. Then I decided to just forget labeling what I am doing and just shoot…anything and everything. That was probably the most freeing decision I made for the day. I decided to give these images a different processing that’s from my norm- but hey, it’s a personal project and I can do whatever I want! :)
There is a problem when you aren’t passionate for the things you once were. Recognize the change…realize what’s missing. Push yourself to be constantly growing.
