Getting through a photographic mental block

Richard Charpentier Arizona, Photographing Arizona, Photography, Prescott, RLC Design 1 Comment

Trying new things has led me to new and fun locations....

A friend recently asked me about getting through a mental block, and I chuckled to myself about his question.  See, I had one of those mental blocks for a while……  but I think I’ve been working around it nicely!

As an avowed landscape junkie, ghost town addict, and all things retro guy, I found myself “bored” last December.  I’ve been wanting new ways to show the places I enjoy, and to make images that are really interesting to me.  Of course, I need them to be interesting to other viewers as well too.  Can’t work toward pleasing only an audience of one.

So, what have I done about my personal sticking point in my photography?  Experimentation!  Reading, learning, and trying things that I haven’t tried before.  It’s entertained me a lot over the past few months.  And the best part?

I don’t feel so bored an uninspired anymore!  Seriously, all the “trying new stuff” has made me push how I’ve thought about images previously, and it’s made me rethink the favorite things I like to shoot.

So, I haven’t given up on landscapes and spooky ghost towns.  Just took 5 and let myself explore a little more.

Isn’t that how it works for anything you have an interest in?  Learning, expanding, trying something totally off the beaten path?

Then again, maybe I’ve got this all wrong……..  🙂

Well, my next project starts in a few days.  Cammie Lane, the Belly Dance Instructor I photographed the other week has a new project in mind.  I’ll be helping her out with it, and my good friend Josh Gosell is also giving her a hand.  Want to see what Josh has done so far?  It’s amazing…….  If there is the title, “Expert Fire Photographer,” Josh should be the guy who gets it.  Just amazing work, as always.

Provided tomorrow night’s weather works with us, I’ll be starting into my part of Cammie’s newest project.  You’ll see some images from it here, but not all.  In the end, when Cammie is ready to pull her work together I’ll let you know and then you’ll know what we’ve all been up to.

You know what would be really cool?  Some fire spinning shots from Coyote Buttes.  But hey, I’ll leave that stuff to Josh, he’s got it dialed in like no other.

So, to wrap up, in answer to the question at the start of this post……  For me, getting stuck and bored meant that I needed to look at new ways to take images.  And new subjects.  Now that I’ve experimented a good deal I find myself with more ideas about the photography that I really enjoy doing.  And some ideas about images I never considered doing before.  Therefore, I think my “block” has actually led me to expand my horizons even more.  Worked out to be a good thing!

Also, trying new things has introduced me to fun opportunities as well!

Oh, and if you’re still stuck, maybe a trip to Arizona during monsoon season will do the trick.  The dramatic skies have been showing up you know!  🙂

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