How to Improve Your Creativity for Photography
Photography – How to Improve Creativity
“I’m just not creative enough!!” This is what we often hear from new macro photographers who get a bit frustrated as they learn to develop their own style and to capture macro photographs that are truly awe inspiring. Hey, we have all been there before, and we understand how hard it can be to go from simply capturing photographs to creating pictures that really are worth the proverbial “1,000 words”. There’s no need to fear, though, as you are probably more creative than you think. You may just need some macro photography tips to help you develop your eye and your own, unique macro photography style.
You’re in luck! Today’s post is geared toward helping you bring out your inner-creative genius. Give these three macro photography tips a whirl and see if they don’t help you to stoke the creative fires and get on the path to creating truly memorable macro photographs…
Photography Tip # 1 – Just Look at what you’ve done!
Our first tip is to have you go over your portfolio of photographs. Whether you keep all your files digitally or print out hard copies, you need to take some time simply pouring over your body of work. Even if you’ve only managed to snap a few dozen photos, you’ll want to perform this exercise.
Once you have your personal collection in front of you, take a look and choose five of your favorite pictures. Then take the opposite path and choose five photographs that you believe aren’t all the creative. Do you have those ten photographs in front of you? Good! Now you need to compare and contrast. What is it about the photos you like that sets them apart from those that you don’t like so much? By answering this question, you may break through your creative plateau and get on the path to becoming a more consistently creative macro photography.
It may be that your best photos are more clearly focused. Or it could be that your creative snapshots were taken under better lighting conditions. Try to objectively determine what made your good photos so much better than the others, and keep those things in mind the next time you go out to take photographs.
Photography Tip #2 – Get Inspired by Other Photographers
If you’re just feeling like you are uninspired, try taking a look at some of your favorite photographs from top macro photographers. Many times we get locked into our own perspectives and that can drain your creativity. To be creative you must be inspired. Taking a look at your favorite macro photographer’s website or forums or even a hardcopy book or magazine may be just what you need to snap out of the creative doldrums.
Photography Tip #3 – Watch a Nature Show on TV
If you don’t watch a lot of TV, it may be a good time to step away from your camera for a while and check out some good nature shows on TV. You can catch all sorts of great programs on PBS, Discover, Animal Planet and other cable television networks. These shows often feature some pretty outstanding macro videography that can help you to get inspired. Seeing the subjects that many of these shows cover may help to get your creative juices flowing again.
Don’t Force Creativity – Let it Happen…
The main thing that you need to do is to just keep on taking pictures. The macro photography tips that we shared with you today may help you to immediately feel more creative, but more often than not it will take a bit of time. Like any other endeavor in life, the more you practice your craft, the better you’ll get. And persistence will often lead to creativity over the long run. Stick with it. Keep on shooting. And before too long your creative side will begin to reveal itself to you – and to the world – one shot at a time!
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