How can I be more creative?
So what does Creative mean?
Cre·a·tive
Involving the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of artistic work.
Being creative involves using your imagination and creating original ideas. But that’s easier said than done. Creativity wasn’t given out to everyone in equal measures. Some people come up with original ideas easily, others, me included, struggle to find new ideas.
Later in the podcast, I’m going to talk about a guy that is super creative. He has got my mind working overtime. Anyway, I’ll save him until the end.
How do you come up with new ideas?
Well, you can sit down in a quiet room and contemplate your options. This method might take a long time, and there are no guarantees you’ll come up with anything.
Every so often I look at a photo and wonder how they came up with the idea. Was it an image they saw and tried to copy, or did the idea just pop into their head?
Shoot what excites you
Your best way of going about this is to decide which type of photography really excites you. It needs to be a line of photography that will allow you to experiment. Portraits and weddings are an area you could experiment with, but real estate, not so much.
It doesn’t have to be business-related, getting creative in your photography hobby is probably easier, with fewer boundaries.
Next, you are going to spend hours searching for photographers that shoot the type of photos that excite you. Try to narrow it down to 2 or 3 favorites.
Now I want you to try and copy their style. Chances are that you won’t be able to copy them exactly, and that is what you want. We all look at things differently. The results will be your version of that style. I’m sure you won’t be 100% happy with the results, but you will now be thinking of things you can do to improve them. That is where your creativity kicks in, and your style evolves.
Creating a Story
Storytelling is a very important aspect of photography. An image of a smiling couple standing face on to the camera doesn’t really tell a story. But, a photo of them sitting in a restaurant laughing with friends will bring back memories for everyone in the photo.
When you are preparing for a shoot think about building a story with your photos.
Becorns
OK, I mentioned earlier a super creative photographer that’s got my mind working overtime. His name is David M Bird, and he was a toy designer for Lego and Hasbro. So he is a naturally creative person. He came up with the idea of making tiny figures out of acorns and twigs. There is a video on his website showing how he makes them. Making the little people he calls Becorns is creative enough, but it’s what he does with them that is super creative.
He positions the Becorns outside and photographs them with the wild birds, chipmunks, ducks, and frogs. One of the images has a Becorn holding a blueberry and a bird taking the berry. Another image looks like the Becorn is riding a mouse, you have to see the video to find out how he does it.
He sells prints of the Becorns in action and seems to be doing very well. You have to wait up to 4 weeks for your order to be mailed out due to high demand.
Just looking at the videos, and his portfolio has got my creative juices flowing. Check him out https://www.davidmbird.com/
Conclusion
Just sitting there and expecting creative ideas to pop into your head isn’t going to get you far. You need to take a step forward and do something that excites you. As soon as you start something new you’ll open yourself up to new opportunities and creative ideas will be popping up all around you.