This is something we all struggle with from time to time. Sometimes life gets in the way and it becomes harder and harder to pick up our camera. Or we notice that the creative mindset is more difficult to achieve than it might’ve be before. So how can you stay consistent in your photography practice and keep the childlike enthusiasm for the things you see?
Why is consistency important?
Especially in the beginning of your photography journey, everything might feel pretty new and challenging.
But instead of giving up because you’re not sure how to find an answer to your questions, try to set small goals. Achieving goals and seeing how those achievements make you feel, will create a feeling of accomplishment.
Doing this for a longer period of time will create consistency in your daily photography. Consistency doesn’t always mean photographing every day or even every week, but knowing you’re coming back to it eventually.
This knowing will give you contentment with where you are at this given time. Learning to become a photographer is not a race, it’s a marathon. So instead of learning everything at once and feeling overwhelmed – try doing one small thing every now and then.
This way you can trust you stick to photography in the future too.
1. Photographing with your phone
Instead of creating the image to be amazing because of the shutter speed or field of depth, try to find a more effortless approach to photographing.
What if you try to take one image in one day for 7 days, only using your phone. This ways you take out the pressure of always having your camera settings correctly and even having your camera with you. But this ways you are still able to have this creative outlet without having to have everything perfect.
Photographing with your phone will also able you to photograph moments that might otherwise pass you by quicker, than when you’re changing the settings on your digital camera all while noticing you’re just a second too late.
2. Doing photo challenges
Photography challenges are a great way to have something tangible to carry out, which will inevitably motivate you to find that small moment in time to capture your image.
Even better if you can find a photography challenge that is created around your daily life, and doesn’t require too many images or showing up every minute in order to be able to accomplish them.
3. Visit a photography exhibition
In those times when we feel less inspired to be creative, seeing others create and be creative in their own way feels like a breath of fresh air.
You don’t need to be an artist in order to enjoy art or artistic practises like photography. You are able to activate the artistic part of your brain and find new ways of doing things when surrounded by art.
Check your local photography exhibitions and visit them once you have to spare an hour of your time.
Sometimes the only thing you come out with from an exhibition is the feeling of being able to be creative yourself, and that if something, is pretty inspiring.
4. Ask friends what they like about your photos
I must say, this is a huge thing that more people should be doing.
It doesn’t necessarily mean you need to discuss your photography with your friends, just people who are also just starting out or are in similar life situations with their photography than you are.
Finding people who share the same interest lets you expand your knowledge on the matter but also share pain points and hear truly where you could improve in your practice.
Constructive criticism is the only way we can grow and become better.
5. Watch a photography documentary
If you’re not feeling like physically making an effort like checking an exhibition (which might also be costly), there are plenty of great photography documentaries online you can watch.
Like the one about Martin Parr is so relatable, because of the topics he’s shooting. Egglestons’ eye for detail is an incredible skill to have and can practiced by everyone even on a short walk to the store.
6. Go through your old photos
This one is a sure way to find the lost spark of your inspiration; looking at the photos that once made you excited about photography. Look at the photos once again – what do you see now when looking at them? How have they changed in your eyes?
Finding the same excitement and curiosity again will help you see photography as the fun thing it once was for you.
7. Create a small project with someone you know
When I started photography, one of the ways I could build my professional character was through working with others.
I used to do collaborations with a couple of friends of mine who just loved getting images for their portfolio and use them for their own means – this way we both gained in experience and visual material, and it didn’t feel pressured but exciting instead.
We could discuss about the photos, I would get feedback from them, and I would try to do better to produce better images.
If you have people in your circle of friends who are looking to get their images taken, go practice and have fun with them, and you’ll find new ways of expressing yourself through your photographs.
8. Take a course to learn something new
Whenever we feel like there’s nothing new that could excite us or ignite our passion for photography, sharing the experience of learning with someone is a great way to connect with others.
I feel that the best courses are the ones you can experience in person and really have more of hands on exercises and teaching, but they tend to also be a bit more expensive.
Nowadays there are great online platforms that can offer real tangible material and even professionals to help you out with any questions you might have.
Skillshare has great courses for both beginner and professional photographers to grow and develop their skillset. Look for courses that cover the topics you’re interested; portrait, outdoor or fashion photography all differs from each other and requires different experience.
9. Set out small goals
Writing out small goals to get you going with anything is bound to be helpful and it can also work for your creative goals.
Start out with figuring out what were the reasons you started in the first place and reviving your journey from the beginning can give you an honest outlook whether you’ve progressed or not.
And here honesty is truly a virtue; do you feel like you’ve progressed or have you been putting it off because it felt difficult or you needed to learn something ?
Start by asking yourself the questions:
1. Who is my inspirational photographer ? Does my work look like theirs?
2. How often would I like to be photographing ? How often am I photographing now?
3. What are the struggles I am facing with photography now ? How could I overcome them at this given time ?
4. What are the skills I know I need to learn at this given time? What would be the easiest way to learn them?
There are endless ways to learn new things but one of the best platforms is probably Youtube. It has so many short videos that show you how to do something – and you just need to follow the steps.
What to do on the days you don’t feel creative?
We will all feel discouraged at times – and that’s OK. What’s more important is to acknowledge what’s the situation you’re in at the moment and whether it’s truly something that just takes up more of your time than usual.
This way we can let go of the pressure of photographing every day or weekly and know we will come back to it eventually.
This creates more space around photography and lets your creative side have what it needs.
Have you noticed how on those days that you are able to wander around you feel more creative ? It has to do with having more time, more freedom to feel a bit of that boredom, but just enough so that you can feel excitement of having all that time to yourself.
That’s why rarely we feel creative when we are in a rush and even less so when we know we have some busy times ahead.
But to keep that balance in life, we should set aside that small window of time to feel creative. That’s the first step to feeling inspired and the most important step in keeping up with any consistency in any interest. Especially photography.