Slumps (1 focal length)

Hello,

So this time I have another way to get around slumps. It is using just one focal length for a day or week or month. What ever length of time you want and see how creative you can get with just that focal length. The zoom becomes your feet. It is best in my opinion to use one that you don’t use often to get out of your comfort zone.

Let’s say you are a landscape photographer who usually shoots with wides or superwides. See what you can do with a 50mm or 100mm or even a 300mm. Make your brain think of different ways to do what you enjoy.

Above there are two pictures of the same subject at different focal lengths and about 4 minutes apart. For the wide it is at 28mm f9 0.8 seconds, the telephoto is at 90mm f10 2 seconds. Both were taken with f2.8 fixed lenses as well from roughly the same location. The waves and waterfall were the main subjects. Zoomed in the waterfall and crashing waves have a more dominant and intimate place in the image, on the wide the ocean takes over the frame and the waterfall is nearly lost. I like both of them though. From my experience most landscape photographers don’t use the middle focal lengths and they can be very beneficial.

Now if you usually shoot telephoto images such as wildlife or sports then you could do the inverse and use a wider angle lens which would allow more of the environment around the subject to play a part in the image. Using the background or edges of the frame to help tell the story.

It’s just an idea that can be fun and frustrating to get out of the normal. You might not enjoy it and go back to what you regularly do or you might find a new way to take pictures that you enjoy.

~Scott

Slumps (10 ft challenge)

Good morning,

So we can all get into creative slumps or blocks or what ever you would like to call it. It is just a time when doing what you enjoy seems boring or pointless because you have “done it all before.” There are various ways to get around this. A common one is to buy some new gear which is always fun and exciting for at least a little while. Now we including myself aren’t well off enough to be able to do that often. So another option is to use what you have but in a different way.

So comes the 10 foot challenge. It is rather simple and doesn’t need to be exact. Step 1 grab your camera, Step 2 look around you in a rough distance of 10 feet to see subjects, Step 3 take a picture of something within that 10 foot radius. For most people this will be indoors, if you generally shoot outdoors then this will force you to change what you do. Then maybe go outside to start this. The main point is to get you out of your comfort zone and take a picture of something that you normally wouldn’t or take a photo of something that you already have but change the way that you capture it. Spend a few minutes to look around and turn a mundane subject into something interesting.

Above are a few examples of things that I did while I was doing a 365 a in 2015 with objects that were around the house. Most were types of photography that I had seen before but either never did it or didn’t have much experience with. Slumps suck and this is a way to get through one. Comments are open and I would enjoy seeing what you come up with.

Scott