12 Jul Reviving Creativity and Passion for Your Craft!
In recent months I found that my work was not inspiring to me, and I started questioning what was setting me apart from the rest of the pack? With the influx of photographers coming into the industry, how am I going to differentiate? I was so busy with sessions, using the same “go to” poses, and having a “just get the shot” mentality, that my work looked like a lot of my competitor’s work. My passion and drive were focused on getting the job done and getting the bills paid. My photography got lack luster and my creativity became stagnant.
In truth, when I was lying in bed at night, I wanted more than that from my photography career. I AM an Artist; I AM creative, people LIKE LOVE the images I make that are outside of the box and creative. New clients quickly forget the example image they showed me and asked me to recreate, and choose images that are inspired by their child’s unique personality instead of a Google search.
Let a little thing inspire you then make it happen.
For this session, I was inspired by one little crocheted pirate hat! I picked it up at a local boutique and the wheels started turning. I thought, “How cute would it be to photograph a little boy in a bubble bath with this pirate hat? No wait! In a bubble bath in a claw foot tub! Now if only a client with a little boy and a claw foot tub would book an appointment…WHY WAIT?!” So I extended a call out to my FB fans. “Looking for a fab bathroom with a claw foot tub. Anyone know anyone?”
Within a day, I had a call from a friend/client with a sister-in-law who’d just remodeled her bathroom with a gorgeous claw foot tub. I excitedly told my friend of my vision and she procured her cute little nephew, the perfect subject for my idea! Before the idea faded away into my journal, we packed up and headed over on my off day for a session.
The beauty of this session was that I had full creative control and there were no expectations. Mom wasn’t even there! We played until the little guy was as wrinkled as a raisin and I got to exhaust every camera angle, lens, perspective and prop I brought to create new work I was excited about.
After the session, I realized I was stalking my own Facebook posts and web galleries. I found myself going back time and again to see if the images lost their luster. Every time, I fell back in love with them. If I was in love with the images, how could my clients not be? All the thoughts and visions I poured out on paper or dreamt about were right in front of me because, as Seth Godin suggested, I “poked the box.” Take initiative, make a move and see what happens. If you don’t, nothing bad will happen, but neither will something great. Don’t you want to be the one to create something great?
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1 Godin, Seth. Poke the Box: When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time?. Powered by Amazon, 2011. 6-7. Print.
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