The ability to adapt and evolve is crucial for any photographer. Stagnation can lead to uninspired work, leaving you feeling unfulfilled and your audience disengaged.
Coming to you from OpticalWander, this insightful video explores the challenges of maintaining creativity in street photography and offers valuable advice for overcoming them. Samuel Bassett, the host, candidly shares his personal experience with feeling stuck in a rut, acknowledging that his photography has become "boring" due to its repetitive nature over the past four years. He emphasizes the importance of recognizing this stagnation as an opportunity for growth and encourages viewers to embrace experimentation and push their boundaries.
Bassett emphasizes that his intention is not to discourage aspiring photographers but rather to inspire them to strive for continuous improvement. He clarifies that he himself is still learning and evolving. This honest and relatable approach makes his message all the more impactful, reminding us that even experienced photographers face creative challenges and that the pursuit of mastery is an ongoing journey, as all photographers, no matter how long they have been at it, go through these sorts of periods. Don't let them get you down. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Bassett.
The problem here is doing just one genre like a wedding or portrait photographer. I have stated this before, I love doing Milky Way captures but when I go to my favorite place which happens to be a wedding capital of 4-5 weddings every weekend costing lots of $$$'s - smoking cards you almost smell. At night when the partiers are sleeping I am on a clean beach at low tide all alone 90% of the time. Wedding photographers like lights and more lights not a very dark beach with the unseen Milky Way over head while amongst Driftwood - Can you just view that in your mind and think original and $'s earned for it. Yea, bride and groom will have to get all dressed up and walk through a swamp some and the different times of the year maybe early morning in March to June for just after sunset (this one would have many standing in line out to the parking lot some 100 yards away. Just for info the faster and wider the lens the faster the SS, OH!, Yes not a do not move for 30 sec. but a speedy 5 secs. if one uses NPF rule for accurate. And the more MP's like the A7RV the faster the SS needed or for speed of the shoot to be fast and no standing still to bore the couple. Just saying find another bag of tricks or even post a notice in the many hotels used by the guests and wedding couple and start a business of your own and able to do it for 5 days before and after a new moon to shoot around weather if need be!!! Any camera and wide angle lens will do.
1. and 2. people and family on the beach that just happen to be there and were glad to be still for a minute or two and no lights used just the night lights from lit areas.
3. and 4. taken in the morning behind a Holiday Inn while wedding couples slept but great spots just out the back door. Even deer come out to eat the salty grass with you standing up behind the camera and if I told you while red bugging got three does looking in a picture window while the owner was watching TV!
PS I unknowingly captured the MW with my T2i back in '11 on a lit dock just aiming south for grins!