Getting Out of the Creative Rut

Every now and then I stop taking photographs.

Not deliberately. I don't announce to myself, "Right, I'm taking a break from photography."

It just sort of happens.

A few weeks go by. Then a few more. I'm still looking at photographs, still thinking about photography, still occasionally thinking "That would make a good shoot" — but somehow the camera stays in the cupboard.

And the longer it goes on, the harder it becomes to actually do something about it.

I think that's what people mean when they talk about getting into a creative rut.

The problem with sitting around waiting for inspiration

The obvious solution would seem to be coming up with a new idea.

Unfortunately, when you're in a creative rut, coming up with new ideas is usually the last thing you're particularly good at.

You look at Instagram and see somebody else's amazing location shoot.

Then another one.

Then another.

Eventually you're thinking that everyone else is doing something interesting while you're sitting at home looking at the same four walls.

This is not particularly helpful.

And buying another lens probably isn't going to fix it either.

Although, obviously, I'm not ruling that out completely.

Go somewhere

I've found that one of the best things you can do is simply get out and shoot on location.

It doesn't have to be some spectacular exotic location.

Sydney has plenty of places where you can walk around with a camera and find something interesting.

A street you've never photographed.

An old building.

A car park.

A railway station.

A bit of industrial ugliness that somehow looks fantastic in the right light.

A beach when the weather isn't doing what you'd normally expect.

The important thing is that you're somewhere different.

Because once you're somewhere different, you have to respond to what's actually there.

You can't just fall back on the same background, the same lighting arrangement and the same poses you've used twenty times before.

The location starts making suggestions.

And that's where things get interesting

You might see a wall and think, "That could work."

So you try it.

It doesn't.

You move ten metres.

Suddenly the light is better.

You try another shot.

The model turns slightly.

You change lenses.

You move closer.

And eventually you get something.

Maybe it's not the greatest photograph you've ever taken.

But that's not really the point.

You've started making photographs again.

And that's often enough to break the cycle.

The happy accidents

One of the things I particularly like about location shooting is that you can't control everything.

In a studio, you can control the lights.

You can control the background.

You can control the distance.

You can control pretty much everything.

Which is very useful.

It can also be incredibly boring.

On location, things keep getting in the way.

The sun comes out.

The sun disappears.

Someone walks through the shot.

There's a strange reflection in a window.

The wind does something unexpected with someone's hair.

You notice a completely different background while you're walking to somewhere else.

Sometimes the things that weren't supposed to happen produce the photograph you end up liking most.

It's also better for the person you're photographing

I think there's something else that happens on location.

The shoot becomes less about taking pictures of someone and more about doing something together.

You're walking around looking for places.

You're talking.

You're trying things.

You're occasionally standing in the middle of somewhere wondering whether you've just had a brilliant idea or a completely stupid one.

And sometimes the latter turns into the former.

That's part of the fun.

For me, photography has always been much more interesting when it feels like a collaboration rather than a production line.

Not every shoot has to produce something brilliant

This is probably the bit that is easiest to forget.

You don't have to come home with twenty great photographs.

You don't even have to come home with one.

If you've spent a couple of hours experimenting with different ideas, you've probably done something useful.

Because one photograph can lead to another idea.

And that idea can lead to another shoot.

And suddenly you're back in the process again.

The creative rut has quietly disappeared without you ever having to work out exactly what caused it.

So if you're stuck...

Don't sit at home waiting for inspiration to arrive.

Grab the camera.

Find somebody who is willing to be photographed.

Go somewhere you've never shot before.

Try something.

Try something else.

Take some photographs that don't work.

Take some photographs that are OK.

Hopefully take a few that make you think "Oh... that's actually pretty good."

And then do it again.

Because sometimes the cure for not feeling creative isn't to think harder about photography.

It's to go and do some photography.

And preferably somewhere other than the same place you've been photographing for the last six months.

That's certainly what I'm going to try next time I'm stuck.

Assuming, of course, I can remember where I put the camera bag.