Have you ever had this happen to you? You are out in the field, or perhaps on a photo trip you planned and when you get there, creatively, you draw a blank. Perhaps you are clicking away and the pictures are just not what you are envisioning.
Don’t worry, it is part of the creative process. It has happened to me and when it does creep into my thinking, I begin to go back to the basics and begin asking myself a series of questions. These are just the ones that I have accrued over the years and they work incredibly well for helping me get unstuck and make images that I like and am proud of. Let me share these with you:
- Find a window
- Follow a line
- Pick out a detail rather than the whole when composing
- Look for motion
- Change your perspective (low, high, vertical, angled, straight up, straight down)
- Find contrast
- Look for color
- Find a sliver of light
- Look for interaction
- Find what anchors the frame
- Look for a relationship
- Isolate a subject
I carry these with me on my iPhone for a reminder and whenever I am in that place where I begin to struggle with ideas for composition, I pull out this list and inevitably, something comes to mind and I come away with images that are something I am proud to share. What has helped you break through the creative sticking point? I would love to have you share your thoughts below in the comments.