Get Completely Lost

Creativity is quite an interesting thing.  The more you do it the better you become at it.  Sometimes.

Initially I thought it was the wet weather we have been having.  Then I thought it is perhaps me being insanely busy the last few weeks.  Perhaps it is something else but right now I must admit that my creative buckets feel rather empty and even while trying to do more, and practice more, I suppose it is inevitable that every photographer gets there at some point.  Buckets empty.  Mojo gone.   Actually, any artist will get to that point again and again.  And again.

Please don’t get me wrong, this is by no means a please-feel-sorry-for-me type post.  Actually, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to get to that  creatively void space every now and then.  It forces you to try new things, try old things, look for inspiration, read a book, listen to music, attend a workshop, enjoy quiet time, enjoy company.  Basically anything that gets your mind going and fills up those creative buckets we all rely on whether we think about it or not.

The one thing I am sure you will agree with me is that you will probably not find inspirational creativity by sitting back and waiting for it.  You need to do something to get it back and keep it going.  Whether you choose to go out and declare photographic war and basically beat the temporary lack of inspiration into submission or whether you choose  a more subtle approach the bottom line is still that you have to do something.

Pardon the cliché, but thinking out the box is one way in which you can approach the filling up of your empty creative buckets.  Do something you would, under normal circumstance, never do.  Another choice is to stay in the box and do something you used to always do but, for whatever reason, lost somewhere along the line.  I think I am going to go with the second option and see how that goes for a while.  Falling back into an old comfort zone for a while might be what I need.  Like arriving at your parent’s house and everything just feeling right.

Yesterday we had four young lions walk within 3 meters of our vehicle.  Great sighting and without thinking I tried something I used to try a long time ago as I shot a few frames at a focal length of 35mm and a pretty funky angle.

I would normally never shoot this image using a portrait layout but for me it still works.  Yes I know, I cut off the lions body off but I love the eye contact with ‘something’ to the right creates tension and the foot off the floor also draws your gaze while giving the feeling of movement.  This is the kind of shot I would have taken a few years ago but the more you think about getting creative or being different the more difficult it becomes and the less images you take because in your mind they are not good / different / special enough.  This process of judging yourself even before creating an image empties those creative buckets faster than you can imagine as your focus starts leaning towards the trying of something new and being different rather than just creating a photograph of what is in front of you.

Apart from the above I think one of the best ways in which to refill your buckets is to get lost.  Get lost in your photography.  Get lost in music.  Get lost in your relationship.  Get lost in life. But get completely lost!

By getting lost you will end up not only enjoy the process of  finding yourself again but you will also find that special place where your creative buckets gets filled up to the top!

Will be back tomorrow and remember – when your creative buckets are running empty do something!  And get completely lost!

Gerry