On Creativity

Do we always need to be creative to make great photos?

I hear this word fairly often…creativity, or one of its derivatives…creative, create or even uncreative. As photographers and artists, we sometimes become obsessed with being creative, after all, photography is a creative art, so that must mean we need to be creative to make great images. Well, yes and no. All too often, I think we feel constrained by how we are “supposed” to feel about photography. We hear that to make great images, we need to be in a “creative” space. Thats not always possible. I do commercial photography and believe me, there are many times when I am at a client shoot and I am most certainly NOT in a creative space. So, what do we do? We cannot simply “turn” creativity on or off. I am not sure what the answer is, but I have found that a few things help me in getting my creativity juices flowing.

Close up of rose buds about to bloom

1. Just do it…

To borrow from Nike, if you are feeling uncreative (if thats a word) try this…start taking photos of arbitrary stuff, anything, see how you can find different angles, lighting, shapes and so on. Be very focused on this for about ten minutes, this exercise I find, tends to unlock my creative mind and pretty soon I am seeing some angles and shots that I didn’t see ten minutes before

2. Just stand there

Freeman Patterson does an exercise with students on his workshops. He makes them stand in one place, and he tells them to take 36 different images from that vantage point. They cannot move off that spot until they have taken those images, no matter how long it takes. Sounds crazy, but it is possible and it forces you to look at your surroundings and the objects nearby. Freeman has written books on this subject, he is like the Obi Wan Kenobi of creativity!

3. Let it flow

If you have your camera in hand, and your creativity is not with you, start shooting anyway. Very often, the activity of taking photos will help break through the blockages and before you know it, you are flowing…seeing shapes, colours and ideas. It is amazing that we can simply do an action and that can cause our brains to change and start seeing things creatively.

4. Try drawing it…

One technique that I find works for me sometimes is to sit down and try and sketch the scene. Pretty soon, I am observing things through different eyes and then I pick up my camera and start the photography process.

5. Look for colours, shapes, textures

If the subject matter is not very interesting, I then turn to more abstract subjects. I start looking for colours, shapes, textures, urban decay or anything abstract that might work. By focusing on the small stuff, the big stuff sometimes falls into place…try it!

Spaghetti drying

So yes, creativity can be elusive. The muse sometimes doesn’t show up and it is those times that we need to work for the shot. There are also times when the whole shoot feels “wooden” or hollow, as if I was simply going through the motions. That will happen and it must happen. Those are the times when we need to dig deeper as photographers and try and make the best out of the situation. Try and photograph something great when you are in a creative slump, its a good exercise. I also find that I don’t edit my images immediately after I have had a non-creative shoot. I leave them for a week or two and go back to them when I feel more creative, this has helped me see some good images which I felt were bland at the time.

Creativity is a fickle mistress, but it is not the only ingredient in great image making. Master you camera and your craft so that you can still make great images even if your creative juices don’t flow!