How to Re-Invigorate Your Photography

I love to experiment with photography, and I have tried most genres at this stage. There are two things that I need to keep in mind if I don’t want to allow my photography to get stale. One is to take photographs as much as possible and the other is to stay open to new approaches.

In fact, these are interconnected as failing to take on something new could mean that I get bored and stop going out with my camera; while taking on new approaches is a way to guard against staleness in photography, and it keeps me going out with my camera.

From time to time I find that I need to re-invigorate my photography by trying something completely different. My latest approach is to embrace something that I heard from a photographer called Greg Howard, on his YouTube channel Distant Media Photography, and that is to keep surprising yourself with your photography.

This might sound interesting but what does it mean in practice?

If I look at my regular photography outings they involve a lot of woodland photography, macro photography and some street photography. But these easily become repetitive. I love to capture beautiful macro images with interesting bokeh but after a while I realize I have all the images I need for now and I need a break from these types of images.

There’s no surprise element; it’s just a matter of trying to perfect a technique.

It’s the same with woodland photography. I have so many images with different compositions that I struggle to find anything new.

In street photography, a difficult genre at the best of times, I constantly go out and come home with nothing worthwhile.

This is where my new approach comes in. It involves just going out with my camera (handheld and just one lens), with no plan, no agenda, and being prepared to be surprised.

It means having no pre-conceived ideas about what to photograph; just walking and observing all around me.

It means strolling in towns and villages, along country roads, up and down streets and side roads, going to places that are out of the way - hidden corners and parts of the world that are less photographed – and just photographing whatever catches my eye.

The idea is to come home with a set of photos that I will be surprised by and among them I hope I’ll find something I really like.

Above all, these will be occasions just to enjoy my photography and to capture anything that draws my attention, even if it’s not something that anyone else would photograph.

If you would like to re-invigorate your photography, or just try something new, why not give it a try – surprise yourself!