When you hit a rut and all your images begin to look similar, you need to get out of your rut as soon as possible and get your MOJO back. Here are a couple of ways you can break out of your rut:
- Photograph something different. If you photograph landscapes all the time, try your hand at night photography or street shooting. Photographing something different gets you out of your comfort zone and forces you to try new things. Then when you return to your favorite type of photography, you’ll see things in a different way.
- Find like-minded photographers and feed off each other. Find photographers who shoot the same subject matter that you do and schedule photo shoots with them. Set some ground rules such as keeping the chatter to a minimum and just focusing on getting great shots. Notice how the other photographers tackle a scene. Which vantage point do they use? Which lens? Be a silent observer and then meet at a restaurant or coffee shop after the shoot to compare notes and photographs.
- Start a 365 project. Take at least one picture a day. This discipline forces you to be more creative and come up with new ways of photographing things you’ve photographed before.
- Create a list of new ideas. Sometimes an idea for a photograph pops into your mind when you least expect it. Carry a small notebook with you and jot these ideas down. When you’re in a creative rut, open your little “black book of ideas”, choose one and start shooting.
- Do things other than photography. New York photographer and instructor Jay Maisel says, “To take more interesting photographs, be a more interesting person.”
“Notebook. No photographer should be without one!” Ansel Adams”
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