5 Tips to Stay Creative in Photography
5 Tips to Stay Creative in Photography
This morning I'm sitting on the couch, I'm on coffee #2 and inspiration hit me like a ton of bricks. That's just the nature of inspiration: it comes out of nowhere, blindsides you and forces you to get your butt into gear. When inspiration hits you it feels like you can do no wrong (creatively speaking). You have a direct connection to your mind's eye and you get to be the conduit that delivers beautiful art into the world.
I love it when this happens. I live for these moments. Those moments are few and far between but man, when they hit you... you feel like you’ve been touched by some higher creative power. It's moments like that that all artists live for.
Do you want more days like that? Of course, we all do. What if I was to tell you that there are a few things that you could do to have more of those days. That's right, you can tap into your creative powers faster and more often if you take the time to learn how to jump-start creativity. Creativity doesn't have to be this ethereal thing that presents itself to you when it wants to. You can learn to control it and bring it forward whenever you decide.
Today's blog is all about how I jump-start my creativity. These are the tips and tricks that I have learned over the course of almost 20 years. I still have those days where no matter what I try I just can't get the creative juices flowing. But by following this playbook I can help you ensure that you suffer a lot fewer of those uninspired days. So let's jump into it.
Step #1 Take care of yourself
Our inability to create or find the motivation to create can usually be traced back to not taking care of yourself. Maybe you're exhausted because you didn't sleep the night before. Maybe you haven't been eating right for days. Or maybe you're just so stressed out you can't see straight. With those kinds of roadblocks in the way it's no wonder that the creative energies simply refuse to flow.
For me the roadblock is always stress. So I found ways to manage my stress through exercise and implementing a few hours of ‘me time’ everyday. But we're all different and so are our issues. So I challenge you guys: sit down at the dining room table tonight and write out a list of what you think is wrong with you. Ask yourself, do I have any pressing health issues that I need to address? Am I living a stressful existence and need to make some changes? Or am I eating like crap and not treating my body right? Take an hour of you time to create this list and use it as a blueprint to build a better you. Once those roadblocks are gone you'd be surprised at how quickly and easily you can access your creative energies.
Step #2 Learn a musical instrument
This one seems a little weird but just go with it. There have been so many studies done on this that it's surprising that more people don't know about it. Your brain loves music. Doctors have scanned the brains of musicians while they're playing their instruments and their brains really come alive while they're playing. Making music helps reduce stress while opening up neuro pathways in the brain making it easier to tap into your creative side. When my creative block needs to be jackhammered into oblivion my tool of choice is always my ukulele. I simply shred some ACDC on my ridiculously small “guitar” and within the hour I’m creatively Back In Black. (see what I did there) :)
Step #3 Find other local artists and learn from them
Everywhere you look in even the smallest of towns there are artists creating amazing works of art. Right now chefs in your hometown are out there designing new food trends and turning mundane ingredients into art. Graffiti artists are putting out works of art on abandoned buildings and train cars. Tattoo artists are creating living breathing works of art just down the street from you.
No matter what type of art speaks to you, go find the artist and pick their brains over a cup of coffee. Ask if you could shadow them while they work. Or even skype them if you’re feeling anti-social. The goal is to discover a new form of art from somebody who is just as passionate about their craft as you are about yours. You’ll find that their passion is infectious and oftentimes leads you to new ideas in your own work. Ideas that you would not have come up with otherwise. Who knows - you may even make a new friend.
Step #4 Watch television (An extension on step #3)
There is a show on Netflix called Abstract. It showcases artists from all sorts of different genres. One show was about a Broadway set designer. One was about a world-famous font designer. But by far my favorite was about the designer of the Nike Air Jordan basketball shoe. I started every episode unsure if I really wanted to learn about art forms that were so far removed from photography; but by the end I was completely enthralled. Just like in Tip 3, learning about a new art form from someone who is passionate about their craft will help unlock the creativity in you. So grab a cup of coffee and make this one part of your morning ritual. You’ll be glad you did.
And make sure you leave us a comment about other shows we should all be watching below.
Step #5 Let it go
When you’re a professional photographer your livelihood depends on how good you are at your craft. So it’s very easy to live, breathe and eat nothing but photography for the sake of keeping groceries on the table. I can tell you from personal experience that this is a completely dangerous place to be and the quickest way to creative burnout. Fortunately the answer to pulling out of this creative nosedive is dead simple.
You simply need to let go.
Unplug from the photography world. Unfortunately, easier said than done when your financial future depends on staying at the top of your photography game. There’s always new editing techniques to learn. Or a marketing plan to execute and don’t even get me started on blogs and social media. But hard as it is, you need to find time to walk away from your business everyday. Even if all of your efforts bring you hundreds of clients, they do you no good if you’re too stressed out to be creative. So it is imperative that you take time to do nothing and simply let go. Bake a pie, read a book or take a bath. Just make sure that whatever you do has absolutely nothing to do with photography. Or business. Or photography business.
And with that, I am off to STEP #5 my way into a glass of Merlot and a bubble bath. I want to thank you guys for reading about my tips to stay creative. If you guys have any tips of your own I would love to hear them. Use the comment section below to share your favorite tip and hopefully help out a bunch of fellow smash cake photographers.
Catch you next time guys,
Daniel Troutman