How to keep making progress as a Photographer
One of the best aspects of photography is its ability for lifelong learning. However, we all hit roadblocks sometimes that make it difficult to get out there and take photos. In this blog, I'll give you useful and easily implementable tips to boost your motivation and get back into your photography flow.
Create habits
Structure Your Workflow by creating a weekly photography routine about when you go out to shoot. While not every day needs to be a photography day, create a consistent schedule for photography outings. Choose a specific day and time of the week dedicated solely to photography. Make sure your photography routine aligns with your commitments. While I commit to shooting every Friday in the late afternoon, Sunday evenings might suit your timetable. Find a time that suits your lifestyle. Occasionally, the weather might be bad, yet, I encourage you to shoot in any conditions. First, you expand your skills to shoot in a wide variety of conditions be it rain, nighttime, or bright sunlight. Second, often the most challenging conditions yield the most compelling shots. Establish your photography routine and stick to it; visible progress will be the long-term reward.
Despite the terrible weather that day, a brief break in the clouds rewarded me with this photo.
Often the most terrible weather can make for the best photos.
Broaden your photographic horizon
The best way to keep inspired and motivated is to constantly expand your photographic horizon. If you consistently photograph the same things and edit in the same style, you will become bored of photography eventually because the process becomes monotonous. But if you try to improve your photography a tiny bit every day your progress will accumulate greatly in the long run. Research has shown that your motivation is highest when you work on something that is right on the edge of your current abilities. In photography terms, this means that your motivation is highest when it is just very slightly over your current abilities. While it does not make sense to learn flash photography if you hardly understand the exposure triangle, it does make sense to practice the composition rule you have learned or look for inspiration on how to use it in practice. In case you have learned the effect of a specific slider in Lightroom, you might want to learn how to incorporate it into your editing workflow. When you have just realised how shutter speed affects your images, you might want to watch a YouTube video on how to use slow shutter speed creatively. I encourage you to slightly push your boundaries every day, be it just an effort of five minutes a day. Those tiny little things won’t make a difference from day to day. But they will stack up and make you a great photographer in the long run.
Join a photography community
The final way to keep motivation up is to join a community of fellow photographers in town. For somebody to flourish in whatever they do, they need to be surrounded with the right people. If you want to become a runner, make sure to find a running buddy of a similar level who encourages you to keep pushing your boundaries. If you are a student, make sure to organise collective study sessions to keep you motivated to perform well in the exams. The same is true for photographers. If you want to be a great photographer, surround yourself with other photographers. They motivate you to go out to shoot, they inspire you by sharing their work and the group engages in mutual learning by sharing photographic results and techniques on how to take better photos. Furthermore, sharing your work in your community and getting their feedback and praise can be very rewarding and motivating to keep improving. If up until now you have primarily shared your work with your family and friends, they will most definitely tell you how great your photos are. However, they most often are not in a position to truly evaluate and engage in more in-depth discussions about photography. While you should absolutely continue sharing your work with relatives, I encourage you to surround yourself with local photographers with whom you share a common passion, goals and a desire to improve. Ultimately, the right surroundings will keep you motivated to bring your photos to the next level.
Join a community of fellow photographers to engage in mutual learning.
