Part 4 Lesson 4: FInding inspiration
Half way through my masters degree I had to come up with a completely original research proposal. It could be on anything at all to do with education. I was like a rabbit in the headlights – I froze, and for 2 weeks could not come up with a single idea.
A year later, research completed, I discovered that in giving me free reign to do what I wanted, my tutors were not doing me any favours at all. They would have done better to give me some kind of boundary. I ended up researching whether creativity could be taught, and apart from discovering that yes, it can, I also pieced together 3 principles that come up again and again in the area of creative breakthroughs.
This week I'll share the 3 principles with you, and show you how you can apply them to your own photography. Next time you need a new idea, do these 3 steps and I guarantee a breakthrough will happen.
The three steps
1. The first is 20 minutes of pure brainstorming. Turn off your internal critic – no idea is wrong and absolutely no criticism is allowed, because criticism inhibits your creative flow.
2. Next, spend 20 minutes with your practical hat on. Now you can go through your ideas, edit them, and discard any that are really, genuinely impractical. Don’t be too hasty though, the most creative ideas seemed crazy at one point.
3. Last, if you need it, you use an incubation stage to refine your ideas, or generate more if you need them. Honestly, this works. First, articulate your question; eg "I need 3 photo project ideas." Then let the question incubate while you go for a walk or a drive. Or take a shower. If you leave your brain simmering the problem whilst you do something very mundane that doesn’t need you to think about anything else, its neurons will do their work, trigger new connections and spit out a creative breakthrough.
I wanted a new idea to enter into the International Garden Photographer of the Year awards. Using the 3 step technique brought me to this spot with a super-wide angle lens, an idea for editing to emphasise the lushness, and eventually this shortlisted image.
THIS WEEK'S PROJECT: come up with a new photography idea
1. Brainstorming stage
Spend 20 minutes brainstorming. Don't forget, there are no wrong answers. And don't let your practical brain have an opinion at this stage - no saying to yourself, "I can't take a photo of the Eiffel Tower even though I've always wanted to, because I'm not in Paris." The question at this stage is, what photograph do you want to take, not what can you take.
Even if you already know exactly what new photograph you want to take today, do the exercise anyway. You'll come up with plenty of new ideas.
Write down all your ideas. You might find some ideas trigger others, or long lost photo projects are remembered. You might remember you once wanted to do something with your old family photos, or you saw a project you wanted to try on Pinterest.
Don't forget - absolutely no editing at this stage. Anything goes.
2. Editing stage
Now you can edit. Cross things off that are physically impossible (but not without thinking about potential workarounds first - maybe you could recreate Paris in your kitchen). Delete things you don't fancy so much, and then make a list of what's left in a vague order of what you'd most like to do. Then pick the first one and do it.
3. Incubation stage
If you struggled to come up with ideas, now is the time for a walk, a shower or a drive. Say the question out loud; "What new photograph do I want to take today?", then off you go. Don't force yourself to think about it or worry about not having any ideas. Put it to the back of your mind and get on with the mundane activity. (Must be done alone - having company is a distraction.)
The Workbooks
If you want to catch up on previous lessons, or just like to have a book in your hands, you will enjoy using the A Year With My Camera workbooks. Designed to be written in, they will give you a complete record of your whole year. Search on your local Amazon store.
