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As a photographer, not every photo that you take has to be a masterpiece.
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That's just a pressure that we put on ourselves.
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Early on, for me, I would show up and I'd be so stressed about getting just a great, a creative, a unique shot.
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That I would blow a fuse so early and I would just leave with nothing that I was happy with.
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I'd be so focused on, on getting something new, getting something creative that I would just, I wouldn't even be looking at the world in front of me.
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I'd just be so worried about getting that thing that I didn't even know what it was.
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So again, I would leave with nothing that I was happy with.
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Today, I now start the exact opposite way.
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Hey, Raymond here from the Beginner Photography Podcast, and let me ask you a question.
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Have you ever looked at your photos and thought, like, what am I missing here, you know?
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Or maybe you felt stuck, like you're not improving, no matter how much you try.
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If that's you, well then, you're gonna love today's episode.
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But first, want you to know that you're not alone, every single photographer who has ever come before you, whether they were an amateur or even the professionals that you admire.
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They've been right where you are right now.
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The thing that we often forget is that, the best photographers are not the ones who mastered everything in photography overnight.
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That every time they pick up the camera, they just produce gold.
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They're just simply the ones who have embraced photography as a journey.
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They're the ones who have allowed themselves to, to grow, to make mistakes, to explore creatively without fear, not run when things get tough.
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One of my favorite examples of this is from my interview with legendary photographer, Joe McNally, when he told the story of how he photographed Michelle Yo in the desert for a story for national geographic, that was about, America's fascination with Asian culture.
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I think in big budget Hollywood movies.
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Anyway, he shot all this film in the desert, right?
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He sent off the film to his editor, who called him immediately, yelling at him, saying, these don't say Hollywood.
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So, Joe McNally, on the verge of, potentially losing his job, he booked another shoot with Michelle Yeoh, hanging out of a helicopter in front of the Hollywood sign, to quite literally say, Hollywood.
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The photos were a huge hit.
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And this was all because he didn't give up on the journey.
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And he tried something new.
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So today, I want to help you shift your mindset and actually enjoy the process of learning photography instead of feeling frustrated.
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I want you to walk away after listening to this episode feeling, reconnected to your passion of photography.
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Excited to try something new.
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Um, And confident in, taking those small but practical steps that lead to real progress in photography.
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Because the truth is, progress in photography doesn't come from knowing every single camera setting, and creating perfect photos all the time.
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It comes from simply shooting more.
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It comes from experimenting and it comes from finding the joy in the process.
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Not the end result.
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So in this episode, we're going to break down the three most powerful ways to embrace the learning curve and get unstuck in your photography journey.
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If that's where you're at now.
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So today we're going to cover things like how to reconnect with the reason why you started photography in the first place.
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How to reignite your creativity and give yourself permission to experiment and how to make progress without feeling overwhelmed by simply doing small and consistent steps.
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All right.
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And to make sure that you have plenty of inspiration to take action, I've created something just for you.
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It is a free guide to 46 creative photo ideas to help you break out of a rut and start shooting again.
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You can grab that right now over at beginnerphotopod.
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com forward slash photo ideas, and I'll tell you more about it as we get later on into the episode.
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So, all right, let's go ahead and dive in.
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There's this idea in photography that, we get into it because Well, it's easy, you know, everybody has a camera these days on their phones.
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but when you invest, when you take that time to invest in a dedicated camera, because you saw how easy it is with a phone, you see how productive you can be.
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You're capturing these moments, you're capturing this, the beauty.
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That is life.
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You decide I'm going to invest in a dedicated camera, because if my phone, a cell phone takes photos, this good, imagine how great the images from a dedicated camera would be.
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Right?
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So again, you invest in that dedicated camera and right away, right away, you start running into roadblocks.
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It's way harder than you expected, right?
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It's not taking good photos.
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Definitely not taking great photos.
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And you think to yourself, how is it that a cell phone is taking way better photos than my camera?
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there's a moment there where photography becomes extremely difficult.
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I've been there.
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Maybe it wasn't, comparing it to cell phones, but like, I was that kid who, I always had some sort of camera, whether it was a point and shoot camera, whether it was a Polaroid camera, whatever it was, I took a ton of photos.
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I took a ton of photos of, of my friends in high school.
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I, I literally took my camera to school with me every single day.
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In high school and our math class was such a joke that I would just use that time to take photos of me and my friends, right?
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When we should have been doing math, which is probably why I failed math two years in a row.
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But regardless, I still graduated.
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I loved photography.
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I love taking photos of what was going on.
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And then I went to film school and because I loved just the process of, I loved creating images so much.
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Right.
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I thought film school is the place for me.
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So I went to film school and right away, there's no like on a film camera, there's no, Like, it is your job to make every decision that is going to be related to the image.
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So there's no auto mode, there's not even auto focus on cinema cameras.
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So quickly, right away, day one, probably, you learn about And, my first thought was like, why is this so complicated?
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The point and shoot camera that I have, just for photos, takes great photos.
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Like, it's making all of those decisions.
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Why do we have to complicate this?
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And that fell on my face.
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A lot.
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A lot.
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A lot of my shoots were underexposed, or my depth of field was way off, it was just like really, amateur mistakes that I had never really made before because I just let my camera make a lot of the decisions for me.
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let it produce, you know, photos.
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And I felt that suddenly creating images went from, just this fun thing that I would do, that I got enjoyment out of, and it quickly became a job.
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And I fell out of love with this thing that I enjoyed my whole life.
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I fell out of love with it for, for a bit.
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Now I have the, I mean, you'd call it an advantage if you want to, you could also call it an imprisonment, but, I had the advantage of being in an educational program, like that was my, that was my whole goal.
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So like, if I gave up, well, I would fail and that wasn't an option.
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So I was forced every single day to do this.
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If I wasn't in school and I didn't, you know, depend on a grade or, graduating with some degree, I guess I probably would have gave up.
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I probably would have gave up.
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And to me, like today, looking at y'all who are just getting into photography and trying to do it on your own, you bought the camera, now you're going to figure it out.
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Like so much respect for that.
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Nothing is holding you to photography.
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You could give it up at any moment, but instead of, of hanging the camera up on the shelf, when things get difficult, you, you know, you push through that on your own.
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And that is extremely commendable.
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That doesn't make it any less frustrating, but it's extremely commendable.
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So congratulations.
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But when we fast forward to today, I love photography.
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I love being out and shooting.
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I love trying new things.
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I love looking back at my images.
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I love all of it.
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I even host a photography podcast and I love it so much, but what turned it around for me was reconnecting to my, why, why did I pick up a camera in the first place?
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And my answer to that is that I loved that the camera became a tool for me to bear witness to life.
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to capture it in a way that only I uniquely see it.
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And even fast forwarding even further to today, like, photography has become a type of, like, second memory for me.
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it's strange to think about people who don't photograph their life as much as I do.
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Like some, you know, some people just don't photograph much of their life, and that idea is so foreign to me because like my photography again has become the second memory for me.
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It's, it's become a way to look back at my life.
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And that was the driving motivation to keep me shooting.
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So I get it, when you're caught up in camera settings, when editing seems impossible, when do you know how to stop?
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It's just all these sliders and these things, and there's a billion different possibilities, or, you're frustrated with the struggles of, of social media, it is so easy to lose sight of why you started in the first place, so that is step one.
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We have to reconnect to our why.
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Reconnect to our why.
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We have to reconnect to the passion that brought us to photography.
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Why did you pick up a camera in the first place?
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So I have some steps on how to reconnect.
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And the first step is to reflect on that why, you really have to sit down and ask yourself what excites me about photography.
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Is it just capturing memories?
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Is it documenting your kids?
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Is it, it gives you a reason to get out and, get into nature, is it the joy of storytelling?
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We have to find out what excites you about photography, because if you don't, it's going to be real hard to, stick with it when things get tough, you know?
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So I want you to take out a sheet of paper, lined paper, and I want you to write down your why.
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I want you to write down everything that you love about photography, you know?
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If you love the gear, that's fine.
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That's totally fine.
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if you love capturing smiles, like great, write that down.
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If you love being outdoors with your camera, write that down.
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If you love holding a print in your hand, write that down, write them all down, right?
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I mean, just, just set a timer for like five minutes and write down everything that you can think of that you love about photography and then set another timer for five minutes and look at everything that you wrote down, just kind of absorb it for a moment.
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And then, try to piece it together into some sort of sentence.
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What is it that you love about photography?
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It's easy to say that we love, freezing the moment in time, that we can go back and relive.
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That kind of feels like a trope, right?
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So, try to find something more concrete.
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Because being able to freeze a moment in time, I have a hard time imagining that that is going to be the thing that is going to get you through a rough patch.
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Because when you're creating images that are not, uh, accurate representations of this moment in time that you're freezing, you're creating freezer burns, I don't know, on your photos, and that's not enjoyable, so that can very easily not be able to keep you from, the difficult time, so try to make it as, as concrete as possible.
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And, this will change over time, so don't worry about getting it absolutely, perfectly correct and right and definitive.
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This isn't the thing that's going to go in your gravestone.
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This can be something that you update every six months, every year, you know, whatever it is.
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But just get something down that is going to help guide you in the right direction.
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Step number two to reconnect with your work is to revisit your old work and do so without any judgment.
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I don't know how long you've been photographing.
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according to the survey results that I recently got back from you, listeners of the beginner photography podcast, the majority of you have been shooting for more than a year.
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So if that's you, awesome.
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This is going to be a little bit easier for you, but try to go back to some of your earliest photos.
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It doesn't even have to be since you started taking photography quote unquote, seriously, it could just be some of your earliest photos.
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Go back and look at those photos.
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Try not to critique them.
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You have more knowledge now about photography.
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Try not to critique them.
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Just try to remember the joy.
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The curiosity.
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That you had, you know, what is it about something while you were taking those photos was igniting a passion in you to go deeper into photography.
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Try to reconnect with that.
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Look at those photos, try to figure out what that thing was when you first started.
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So find, three, five old photos of yours that bring back just really good memories.
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And again, reflect on what made you take those photos.
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What is it?
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What's in those photos that made you say?
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Yeah, this is the moment that I want to capture Step number three to reconnect with your passion is to shoot something meaningful Now that you have some sort of idea of what it is that you love about photography, what drew you into photography, right?
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You have your list of ideas, you have your, your sentence, your why, and now you have a series of photos, that again, remind you of the curiosity and joy that first brought you to photography.
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Now it's time to take those things and try to shoot something meaningful.
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We're not trying to shoot, something quote unquote good.
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You don't need to feel the pressure of creating something, magical or perfect.
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I just want you to capture something that is personal to you.
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Maybe it's a childhood place.
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Maybe it's a childhood toy.
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Maybe it's a favorite coffee mug.
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Maybe it's your pet in their usual cozy spot, sunlight.
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Whatever it is, you have to find something meaningful to photograph.
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So today, I want you to do that.
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I want you to take one meaningful photo.
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Even if it's on your phone, that's totally fine.
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Right?
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The goal is to get you to take a photo.
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And then I want you to reflect on how that photo makes you feel like, why does it make you feel something?
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Why did you decide to take that photo?
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Try to connect with that feeling of why.
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All right.
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So that was the first part, right?
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The first part of, you know, learning to embrace this journey of photography rather than just looking at your images and saying, is it good or is it bad?
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The first part is to reconnect with your passion.
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That's what we just did.
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I gave you the three steps to reconnect.
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Now, the next part is we have to learn to embrace creative exploration, I found that in photography, you have to have permission to play.
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That's when you're going to be the most productive in photography.
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Even after shooting weddings for 10 years, when I think back to some of my favorite images, they come from my personal collection, times when I'm just kind of goofing off and trying something new.
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When I have the space to get out of my head, not worry about rules, not worry about all the technicals related to photography, but just shoot, just look at the world.
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So my signature style in photography right now is something that I call a stitch scape a stitch scape This is like a like a stitched Originally, it was like landscapes, but now it's just kind of like more scenes of everyday life, regardless.
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I call them a stitch scape.
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So, if you haven't seen any of these images, if you're not in the beginner photography podcast, Facebook group, or you're not subscribed to the newsletter, maybe you haven't seen any of these images.
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So imagine for a second that you're out shooting and all you have is like a 50 or an 85 millimeter lens and you want to capture more of a wide scene, right?
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But you don't like, you don't have a lens that's going to allow you to do that.
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So you stand in one spot and you shoot multiple different images of the scene that is in front of you.
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So, from left to right, you're taking photos, one, two, three, four, from top to bottom.
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So, you know, another one, two, three, four, and then the bottom one, two, three, four, and now you have a series of say, I don't know, 12 photos.
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You print all those photos out and then you lay them out to create the scene as if it was like, like a puzzle, like puzzle pieces, you have 12 puzzle pieces.
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And now you're going to try to put them together and create the full scene.
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I've been shooting these since like, I think like 2004, 2005.
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Never much with like, you know, a ton of intention.
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This all originally started because well, I had a Motorola Razr Cellphone with 0.
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3 megapixels, but the lens was not a wide lens at all.
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So oftentimes I would just take two or three photos, one left, one center, one right.
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And then I would just kind of stitch those photos together in Photoshop, and try to make it look as if it was one photo.
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But today I will do my best to print them out and put them together physically, you know, and again, I've shot hundreds of these, many of, of my life, many of them actually at weddings, I loved doing it during the first kiss and many that are just simply landscapes.
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But it really wasn't until I, I walked away from weddings that I decided to physically print out these photos and compile them together like a puzzle.
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I was so busy shooting weddings.
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I was so busy waiting for the right moment.
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I was so busy, worrying, about the hair and the getting everything picture perfect that I didn't have time.
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I didn't have the space to explore creative ideas.
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I had to give myself permission to play around and try something new.
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And now it's my favorite thing in photography.
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So you may be struggling because, again, you feel overwhelmed by all the rules in photography, or just the amount to learn, and you don't even know where to start.
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Or you're afraid to get it wrong, you know?
00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:56.863
And God forbid, let's say that you do get a photo that you like, and you post it on Instagram, and I don't know, some, some jerk who, whose favorite hobby is like cutting off people in traffic, they decide that they're going to just unleash complete undeserved anger on you one day.
00:18:56.903 --> 00:18:59.093
And that is going to wreck you.
00:18:59.659 --> 00:19:05.403
We need to get back to the creative space, not just worrying about the technicals all the time.
00:19:06.125 --> 00:19:09.096
Creativity comes from experimentation.
00:19:09.105 --> 00:19:13.222
It comes from trying something new, not just following a formula.
00:19:14.173 --> 00:19:17.439
So how do we explore our creativity?
00:19:18.032 --> 00:19:22.512
The first thing that we need to do is just remove the pressure of creativity.
00:19:22.962 --> 00:19:23.972
of playing around.
00:19:24.722 --> 00:19:30.056
I try to think of photography, like our own physical bodies, okay?
00:19:30.679 --> 00:19:33.989
When you go out and you do photography, imagine that as a sport.
00:19:34.778 --> 00:19:41.209
If you watch the Olympics, if you watch any sort of professional sports, these athletes are professionals.
00:19:41.209 --> 00:19:43.078
This is what they're paid to do, right?
00:19:43.648 --> 00:19:46.068
They're a peak performance.
00:19:46.661 --> 00:19:51.141
And before every game, before every match, before every tournament, what do they do?
00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:52.790
They stretch.
00:19:53.740 --> 00:19:55.820
You gotta stretch, you know?
00:19:56.049 --> 00:20:02.942
stretch, when they loosen up, they're not doing it the degree that they need to later on to compete.
00:20:03.221 --> 00:20:05.162
They're just moving around.
00:20:05.172 --> 00:20:07.021
They're just kinda, getting the gears going.
00:20:07.021 --> 00:20:11.403
They're As a photographer, not every photo that you take has to be a masterpiece.
00:20:11.713 --> 00:20:13.844
That's just a pressure that we put on ourselves.
00:20:14.596 --> 00:20:19.067
Early on, for me, I would show up and I'd be Let's, take a wedding for example.
00:20:19.086 --> 00:20:20.037
Or just anything.
00:20:20.366 --> 00:20:20.856
Anything.
00:20:21.086 --> 00:20:27.116
I would show up and I'd be so stressed about getting just a great, a creative, a unique shot.
00:20:27.567 --> 00:20:32.559
That I would blow a fuse so early and I would just leave with nothing that I was happy with.
00:20:32.609 --> 00:20:39.150
I'd be so focused on, on getting something new, getting something creative that I would just, I wouldn't even be looking at the world in front of me.
00:20:39.150 --> 00:20:43.279
I'd just be so worried about getting that thing that I didn't even know what it was.
00:20:43.329 --> 00:20:47.549
I was hoping that, lightning would strike and be like, this is the thing.
00:20:48.289 --> 00:20:50.650
Capture this and everything changes for you.
00:20:50.650 --> 00:20:51.660
But that never happens.
00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:54.190
So again, I would leave with nothing that I was happy with.
00:20:55.174 --> 00:20:57.255
Today, I now start the exact opposite way.
00:20:57.505 --> 00:21:02.535
I show up and I ask myself, what are the photos that everybody else would take here?
00:21:03.244 --> 00:21:04.404
And then that's where I start.
00:21:04.684 --> 00:21:06.144
I start taking those photos.
00:21:06.575 --> 00:21:08.652
That's the warming up, you know?
00:21:09.182 --> 00:21:17.001
And then before I know it, I'm starting to change up my angle, maybe play with my shutter speed, maybe even a little forced perspective if I'm feeling crazy.
00:21:17.618 --> 00:21:20.979
And before I know it, I'm in the zone, trying new creative things.
00:21:21.719 --> 00:21:26.616
But it starts with getting those gears going, loosening up, trying something new.
00:21:27.186 --> 00:21:31.926
So for you, try, I don't know, a bad photo challenge.
00:21:31.926 --> 00:21:42.769
Try a bad photo challenge where you intentionally take 10 bad, or just boring photos to free yourself from that fear of imperfection.
00:21:43.009 --> 00:21:47.920
When you take just 10 like bad photos again, or boring photos, then you're just like, okay, I get it.
00:21:48.116 --> 00:21:48.787
Okay, I'm in it.
00:21:49.326 --> 00:21:50.237
Let's go ahead and get going.
00:21:50.809 --> 00:21:51.349
So try that.
00:21:51.904 --> 00:21:55.426
That's going to help release that pressure by just playing around.
00:21:56.119 --> 00:22:02.480
You also, another way to explore your creativity is to experiment with a new technique or subject.
00:22:02.933 --> 00:22:03.314
Right?
00:22:03.534 --> 00:22:10.653
I think that we all kind of naturally gravitate towards one thing or another, whether that's, you know, landscapes, portraits, street photography, whatever.
00:22:11.210 --> 00:22:12.329
Try something new.
00:22:12.775 --> 00:22:15.384
Try something new don't normally shoot, you know?
00:22:15.624 --> 00:22:30.780
For me, when I was shooting weddings, I'd be so in the zone of, of portraits and, these environmental portraits and, focusing on the moment that I had to get out of my head and I experimented with some product photography.
00:22:31.548 --> 00:22:34.367
And at the time, me and my neighbor were like brewing a bunch of beer.
00:22:34.928 --> 00:22:48.121
So we had our own bottles and I was like, yeah, I'll like photograph our, our own, homebrew beers, in this really cool and fun way, and I spent a whole afternoon just like photographing a single bottle and I remember that afternoon very well.
00:22:48.171 --> 00:22:49.171
I don't remember what year it was.
00:22:49.171 --> 00:22:57.451
I don't remember what weddings I had shot before after that, but I remember that time because it was something new and it was something that got me out of my head to try something new.
00:22:58.183 --> 00:23:02.344
And those photos, like I didn't bring them into Photoshop.
00:23:02.344 --> 00:23:05.161
I didn't do like, you know, I didn't post them on my Instagram.
00:23:05.161 --> 00:23:06.121
I didn't do anything with it.
00:23:06.181 --> 00:23:13.738
The goal was the exercise itself, but just to get out of your zone and try something new is really, really hard.
00:23:14.067 --> 00:23:22.731
a huge boost to your creativity because now your brain is, is trying to figure out all these new pathways, and again, you don't have to make it a big thing.
00:23:23.402 --> 00:23:28.917
You don't have to go out hire models or go on a trip to Nepal or whatever.
00:23:29.228 --> 00:23:32.178
if you need to try landscape photography, you don't need to do that.
00:23:32.188 --> 00:23:34.817
Like these can be things that you do at home to push yourself.
00:23:35.498 --> 00:23:38.107
I shot that bottle of a beer in my.
00:23:39.448 --> 00:23:40.847
I put it on a stool.
00:23:41.417 --> 00:23:46.998
I set up some lights around it, some reflectors, and I did it just in my kitchen, you know, it can be at home.
00:23:47.491 --> 00:23:51.612
And if you need a little help, well, this is what I was talking about earlier.
00:23:51.652 --> 00:23:54.402
I invite you to grab my free download.
00:23:54.761 --> 00:23:58.311
It's called 46 creative photo ideas to get you out of a rut.
00:23:58.852 --> 00:23:59.781
And I created this.
00:23:59.981 --> 00:24:07.916
It is loaded with with fun and challenging ideas, again, to get you to stretch and to get you to warm up your creative muscles.
00:24:07.916 --> 00:24:08.936
That's the whole point of this.
00:24:41.846 --> 00:24:48.297
You can download it right now for free as in like free, free that, you know, you don't have to put in your credit card or anything, it's just free.
00:24:48.932 --> 00:24:51.192
You can grab it over at beginner photopod.
00:24:51.623 --> 00:24:53.822
com forward slash photo ideas.
00:24:54.269 --> 00:24:56.750
Again, beginner photopod.
00:24:56.829 --> 00:24:58.779
com forward slash photo ideas.
00:24:59.339 --> 00:25:02.139
You pick one thing from the 46 creative ideas.
00:25:02.829 --> 00:25:04.500
And just give it a shot.
00:25:04.940 --> 00:25:05.539
Try it out.
00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:06.569
See what happens.
00:25:07.202 --> 00:25:07.532
All right.
00:25:07.772 --> 00:25:21.052
Now, the last thing that we need to do to learn to embrace the journey that is photography, is we have to simply take small, practical steps.
00:25:21.653 --> 00:25:26.806
Because the small and practical steps where we're gonna get our biggest wins, you know.
00:25:27.445 --> 00:25:30.125
Photography can feel overwhelming, I know, I've been there.
00:25:30.673 --> 00:25:40.465
And when you think that you have to master everything at once, oh my gosh, there's camera settings, there's lighting, there's composition, there's editing, there's moment, all these things.
00:25:41.009 --> 00:25:43.309
That's a lot to do all at once.
00:25:43.970 --> 00:25:49.942
But the truth is, is that progress comes from consistent, but small steps.
00:25:49.962 --> 00:25:51.163
It doesn't come from leaps.
00:25:51.605 --> 00:25:56.766
Nobody gets to the top floor of a building by taking one giant leap to get up there.
00:25:57.005 --> 00:26:01.262
They take a bunch of small steps and learning photography is exactly the same.
00:26:01.272 --> 00:26:10.643
But I guess the analogy is a bit different because in a building there's a theor, I guess there is a physical top floor, but in photography there's, there's not.
00:26:10.992 --> 00:26:13.895
Photography's gonna be a lifelong journey for you.
00:26:14.470 --> 00:26:15.909
So there is no top floor.
00:26:16.586 --> 00:26:18.435
That's the thing, my goal.
00:26:19.201 --> 00:26:22.020
For this podcast is, is not for you to just listen.
00:26:22.565 --> 00:26:24.014
Like, I don't care about download numbers.
00:26:24.306 --> 00:26:30.475
don't care about like so many things that when I look at, like photography growth hacks or whatever, like, I don't care about that stuff.
00:26:32.152 --> 00:26:39.266
want you to not only like, I don't want you to just listen to an episode and then do nothing about it.
00:26:39.868 --> 00:26:43.828
I want you to absorb the information and then take action.
00:26:44.509 --> 00:26:49.788
Because consistent action, even tiny actions, will amount to greatness.
00:26:50.428 --> 00:27:00.489
I've shared this on the podcast a bunch of times, but if you haven't heard it, my weddings in May were way worse than my weddings in October.
00:27:01.155 --> 00:27:04.255
Meaning I was better at the end of the season than at the beginning of the season.
00:27:04.255 --> 00:27:09.066
Because by the end of the wedding season, I had been doing these small little actions.
00:27:09.286 --> 00:27:13.465
I had been learning to be just 1 percent better at each wedding.
00:27:13.806 --> 00:27:22.618
Not totally transforming who I was fundamentally at every wedding, and taking massive leaps and huge investments in gear and all these techniques.
00:27:22.618 --> 00:27:24.999
Just 1 percent better.
00:27:25.611 --> 00:27:33.081
And at the end of October, there I was way better, way smarter, way more creative of a photographer.
00:27:33.632 --> 00:27:40.061
And this all came from all of those 1 percent days that simply added up.
00:27:40.761 --> 00:27:49.241
And as far as I can tell, like that's been the best way to learn and to grow, that's been the best way to make consistent change.
00:27:49.797 --> 00:27:53.696
I've shared this on the podcast as well, like, my weight has always been a struggle in my life.
00:27:53.736 --> 00:28:04.574
And, there's this idea that, like, there's maybe too, too much information here, but it's like losing one pound a week is better than losing 50 pounds in a single week.
00:28:05.001 --> 00:28:16.551
Because when you lose, a small amount over a longer period of time, now you're developing the habits, the skills that are required to, to be a healthier individual long term.
00:28:17.271 --> 00:28:24.678
If you could easily lose like 50 pounds in a week, let's just say, you know, 15 pounds in a week, then you're not going to hold on to that habit.
00:28:25.346 --> 00:28:28.205
You're just gonna say, oh, well, this was, this was easier than I thought.
00:28:28.205 --> 00:28:31.635
I can just go back to my old ways and then just spend a week and, get back to it.
00:28:32.341 --> 00:28:34.816
And in photography, it's, it's very much the same.
00:28:34.905 --> 00:28:37.415
Your cell phone takes great photos right away.
00:28:37.925 --> 00:28:39.570
And you think to yourself, oh, this must be easy.
00:28:39.931 --> 00:28:43.630
So you don't really put in a lot of effort into thinking about things like composition.
00:28:43.951 --> 00:28:50.590
You don't put a lot of effort into thinking about things like, like moment, the things that aren't related to the gear at all, or lighting.
00:28:51.086 --> 00:28:52.156
You just think, oh, it's fine.
00:28:52.156 --> 00:28:52.813
Like, whatever.
00:28:52.834 --> 00:28:58.557
But if photography is hard, that is a huge, huge benefit.
00:28:59.247 --> 00:29:04.106
Because when you get to the point to where you feel, wow, I've actually made some progress here.
00:29:04.656 --> 00:29:05.606
Then you know.
00:29:06.080 --> 00:29:13.153
That it's genuine progress and then it's going to last, So again, how do we make that consistent progress?
00:29:13.153 --> 00:29:15.163
How do we make those small steps?
00:29:15.753 --> 00:29:21.533
Well, the answer, I think the first part is just to, just to focus on one skill at a time.
00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:29.213
Very often we'll go out and think, I'm going to the park today, you know, whatever, going to a nature park.
00:29:29.513 --> 00:29:31.574
I want to focus on, I'm going to get some great light.
00:29:31.604 --> 00:29:39.683
I'm going to, focus on my compositions, maybe get some leading lines of a trail, do all this stuff, hopefully I'll find some birds flying and I'll be able to capture them as well.
00:29:39.894 --> 00:29:42.413
All of these, like we're putting in so many things.
00:29:43.023 --> 00:29:46.856
We're putting so much weight onto the growth of that one session.
00:29:47.576 --> 00:29:49.057
That it becomes heavy.
00:29:49.067 --> 00:29:50.236
It's overbearing.
00:29:50.527 --> 00:29:52.896
So focus on just one skill at a time, you know?
00:29:53.136 --> 00:29:56.366
If it's gonna be composition, just focus on composition.
00:29:56.606 --> 00:29:57.896
If the light's good, awesome.
00:29:57.936 --> 00:29:59.886
If a bird shows up, sweet.
00:29:59.916 --> 00:30:00.557
Even better.
00:30:00.817 --> 00:30:03.057
But if not, that's not what you came there for.
00:30:03.610 --> 00:30:08.971
photographers have, hoped that this isn't me, go to Alaska hoping to photograph a bear, and a bear doesn't show up?
00:30:09.472 --> 00:30:10.972
You have to have a backup plan.
00:30:10.982 --> 00:30:15.133
You have to have like a main goal that isn't related to things that are outside of your control.
00:30:15.653 --> 00:30:20.472
So work on things like, just spend this whole week working on noticing light.
00:30:20.932 --> 00:30:22.163
Don't worry about your settings right now.
00:30:22.373 --> 00:30:23.403
Just notice some light.
00:30:24.042 --> 00:30:25.413
Look at how the light comes in the window.
00:30:25.423 --> 00:30:30.165
What is the intensity of light on the objects closer to the window than further away from the window?
00:30:30.725 --> 00:30:32.225
That means that there's fall off somewhere.
00:30:32.255 --> 00:30:34.365
Can you photograph that fall off?
00:30:35.193 --> 00:30:36.913
Next week just focus on composition.
00:30:37.213 --> 00:30:37.803
Oh, wow.
00:30:37.874 --> 00:30:38.567
Look at that.
00:30:38.567 --> 00:30:42.528
That's a leading line right there going to this thing Oh, what a beautiful frame that would be.
00:30:43.028 --> 00:30:57.578
The next week just color and contrast Set micro goals for yourself for your next session It'll be way more productive than you ever could have imagined I promise Okay, so here's another issue that people face, right?
00:30:57.588 --> 00:31:00.178
Because if, if we're coming up with consistent progress, right?
00:31:00.178 --> 00:31:02.798
We need to make consistent progress.
00:31:02.798 --> 00:31:08.259
That does not mean I'm gonna take two hours this Saturday to go out and practice my photography.
00:31:08.509 --> 00:31:11.168
And then next weekend, well, things get busy.
00:31:11.229 --> 00:31:15.548
And then the week after that, well, I'll have 15 minutes to, you know, squeeze in or whatever.
00:31:15.868 --> 00:31:18.199
And then hopefully at the end of the year, I'll be a better photographer.
00:31:18.874 --> 00:31:24.866
No, no, no, you don't have to do these in huge hour, two hour long chunks of time.
00:31:25.106 --> 00:31:25.696
Is that better?
00:31:25.696 --> 00:31:31.586
Yeah, of course, but consistency is better than overall time, okay?
00:31:31.876 --> 00:31:44.616
And if that only means that you practice 15 minutes a day, at home, Again, those tiny steps, you pick a subject, pick a coffee cup you know, and photograph it a bunch of different ways.
00:31:44.616 --> 00:31:46.476
Photograph it, from above.
00:31:46.476 --> 00:31:48.156
Photograph it from below.
00:31:48.366 --> 00:31:49.507
Get some closeup detail.
00:31:49.686 --> 00:31:51.277
Find some harsh light next to a window.
00:31:51.277 --> 00:31:52.297
Find some soft light.
00:31:52.517 --> 00:31:54.376
Use a unique framing technique.
00:31:54.376 --> 00:31:58.396
You know, whatever it is, get a number of photos that you can try at home.
00:31:59.036 --> 00:32:24.638
And then after that 15 minutes, well, then, then you can stop, but then do it again tomorrow with something else, shorter amounts of time that are more focused and more intentional on the one aspect that you're going to learn light composition, color, you know, whatever is way more beneficial than just one, two hour long session where you have all this weight on yourself because you only get it once like a month to get out and shoot.
00:32:25.276 --> 00:32:26.365
just not sustainable.
00:32:26.556 --> 00:32:30.995
Focus on those shorter, more consistent sessions.
00:32:31.628 --> 00:32:37.798
And then this isn't required, but this was always a big help to me is, is to track your process or progress rather.
00:32:38.199 --> 00:32:40.358
You do that by reviewing your own work.
00:32:40.358 --> 00:32:47.560
So in, in my Lightroom catalog, I categorize everything or I catalog everything by month and by year.
00:32:48.120 --> 00:32:53.530
So all of my 20, all of my May 2024 photos, I know exactly where they are.
00:32:53.550 --> 00:32:55.880
All of my January, 2025 photos.
00:32:55.880 --> 00:32:56.891
I know exactly where those are.
00:32:56.901 --> 00:32:58.957
All of my November, 2018 photos.
00:32:58.998 --> 00:33:00.548
I know exactly where all those are.
00:33:01.040 --> 00:33:12.330
So I can go back two or three years and see my images from then, and then I also favorite all of my images from each month so I can look at all of my favorite images from that time period.
00:33:13.215 --> 00:33:19.605
And then I can today look at all of my current favorite photos and see how much I've grown in that time.
00:33:19.665 --> 00:33:25.282
See how my, my vision is changing, what is it that I'm focusing on now that I wasn't back then?
00:33:25.903 --> 00:33:27.133
I can see that growth.
00:33:27.762 --> 00:33:28.722
You can do something similar.
00:33:28.732 --> 00:33:33.272
You can create a, I don't know, before and after folder to see your improvements over time.
00:33:33.913 --> 00:33:39.782
Just pick three, five, 10 photos that you took over the past six months, put them in a folder.
00:33:40.278 --> 00:33:42.707
Wait six months and then do it again.
00:33:43.288 --> 00:33:47.964
For that month or whatever, and just look at the differences and see where your photos have changed.
00:33:48.204 --> 00:33:53.144
And when you do that, you'll be able to see definitively that you are a better photographer.
00:33:53.345 --> 00:33:55.204
You'll see how you've improved.
00:33:55.474 --> 00:34:03.894
And sometimes just seeing like, Oh, wow, I have made progress will be enough to keep you going.
00:34:04.647 --> 00:34:07.880
Because again, the goal is not to get to the end fastest.
00:34:08.471 --> 00:34:09.501
Because there is no end.
00:34:09.921 --> 00:34:10.671
It's a circle.
00:34:10.981 --> 00:34:11.860
There's no end.
00:34:12.557 --> 00:34:16.298
So why try to do it all at once?
00:34:16.758 --> 00:34:18.327
You're not going to get there any faster.
00:34:18.891 --> 00:34:21.510
Let's go ahead and recap the key takeaways from today.
00:34:22.061 --> 00:34:29.701
If you want to avoid the overwhelm and you really want to look at photography as a lifelong journey.
00:34:30.561 --> 00:34:32.530
And you want to embrace this learning curve.
00:34:32.561 --> 00:34:35.280
Even though right now it's, it's pretty difficult.
00:34:35.541 --> 00:34:36.465
It feels overwhelming.
00:34:36.994 --> 00:34:42.474
The keys to doing that are, one, you need to reconnect with your passion and remember why you started.
00:34:43.067 --> 00:34:44.867
And then capture something meaningful today.
00:34:45.661 --> 00:34:52.411
Two is to embrace your creativity by playing with new techniques and perspectives without any pressure.
00:34:53.190 --> 00:35:01.000
And three is to make progress in small steps by setting tiny and achievable goals that just keep you shooting.
00:35:01.690 --> 00:35:06.061
If you want to kickstart your creativity and build a regular photography practice.
00:35:06.690 --> 00:35:12.061
Again, I invite you to download my 46 free creative photo ideas guide.
00:35:12.601 --> 00:35:17.471
It's filled with again, simple, but powerful prompts to get you shooting with fresh eyes.
00:35:18.121 --> 00:35:20.971
Grab your copy right now over at beginner photo pod.
00:35:21.451 --> 00:35:23.460
Dot com forward slash photo ideas.
00:35:23.500 --> 00:35:25.690
Again, that's beginner photo pod.
00:35:26.161 --> 00:35:28.900
Dot com forward slash photo ideas.
00:35:29.541 --> 00:35:30.831
Here's today's call to action.
00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:42.230
After you try one of these creative challenges, after you've taken one of the steps from today, I want you to share that photo in the beginner photography podcast community, which you can join over at beginner photo pod.
00:35:42.460 --> 00:35:43.690
com forward slash group.
00:35:43.701 --> 00:35:44.811
Again, totally free.
00:35:44.920 --> 00:35:47.541
We'd love to have you and I'd love to see what you create.
00:35:48.041 --> 00:35:50.199
So that is it for today until next time.
00:35:50.199 --> 00:35:52.309
Remember the more that you shoot today.
00:35:52.652 --> 00:35:58.603
And you do so consistently, the better of a photographer you will be tomorrow and every day subsequently.
00:35:59.572 --> 00:36:00.143
So that's it.
00:36:00.353 --> 00:36:00.873
I'll talk to you soon.
00:00:00.130 --> 00:00:03.819
As a photographer, not every photo that you take has to be a masterpiece.
00:00:04.129 --> 00:00:06.259
That's just a pressure that we put on ourselves.
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Early on, for me, I would show up and I'd be so stressed about getting just a great, a creative, a unique shot.
00:00:13.865 --> 00:00:18.859
That I would blow a fuse so early and I would just leave with nothing that I was happy with.
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I'd be so focused on, on getting something new, getting something creative that I would just, I wouldn't even be looking at the world in front of me.
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I'd just be so worried about getting that thing that I didn't even know what it was.
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So again, I would leave with nothing that I was happy with.
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Today, I now start the exact opposite way.
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Hey, Raymond here from the Beginner Photography Podcast, and let me ask you a question.
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Have you ever looked at your photos and thought, like, what am I missing here, you know?
00:00:45.366 --> 00:00:49.426
Or maybe you felt stuck, like you're not improving, no matter how much you try.
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If that's you, well then, you're gonna love today's episode.
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But first, want you to know that you're not alone, every single photographer who has ever come before you, whether they were an amateur or even the professionals that you admire.
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They've been right where you are right now.
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The thing that we often forget is that, the best photographers are not the ones who mastered everything in photography overnight.
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That every time they pick up the camera, they just produce gold.
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They're just simply the ones who have embraced photography as a journey.
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They're the ones who have allowed themselves to, to grow, to make mistakes, to explore creatively without fear, not run when things get tough.
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One of my favorite examples of this is from my interview with legendary photographer, Joe McNally, when he told the story of how he photographed Michelle Yo in the desert for a story for national geographic, that was about, America's fascination with Asian culture.
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I think in big budget Hollywood movies.
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Anyway, he shot all this film in the desert, right?
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He sent off the film to his editor, who called him immediately, yelling at him, saying, these don't say Hollywood.
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So, Joe McNally, on the verge of, potentially losing his job, he booked another shoot with Michelle Yeoh, hanging out of a helicopter in front of the Hollywood sign, to quite literally say, Hollywood.
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The photos were a huge hit.
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And this was all because he didn't give up on the journey.
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And he tried something new.
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So today, I want to help you shift your mindset and actually enjoy the process of learning photography instead of feeling frustrated.
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I want you to walk away after listening to this episode feeling, reconnected to your passion of photography.
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Excited to try something new.
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Um, And confident in, taking those small but practical steps that lead to real progress in photography.
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Because the truth is, progress in photography doesn't come from knowing every single camera setting, and creating perfect photos all the time.
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It comes from simply shooting more.
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It comes from experimenting and it comes from finding the joy in the process.
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Not the end result.
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So in this episode, we're going to break down the three most powerful ways to embrace the learning curve and get unstuck in your photography journey.
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If that's where you're at now.
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So today we're going to cover things like how to reconnect with the reason why you started photography in the first place.
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How to reignite your creativity and give yourself permission to experiment and how to make progress without feeling overwhelmed by simply doing small and consistent steps.
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All right.
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And to make sure that you have plenty of inspiration to take action, I've created something just for you.
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It is a free guide to 46 creative photo ideas to help you break out of a rut and start shooting again.
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You can grab that right now over at beginnerphotopod.
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com forward slash photo ideas, and I'll tell you more about it as we get later on into the episode.
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So, all right, let's go ahead and dive in.
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There's this idea in photography that, we get into it because Well, it's easy, you know, everybody has a camera these days on their phones.
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but when you invest, when you take that time to invest in a dedicated camera, because you saw how easy it is with a phone, you see how productive you can be.
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You're capturing these moments, you're capturing this, the beauty.
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That is life.
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You decide I'm going to invest in a dedicated camera, because if my phone, a cell phone takes photos, this good, imagine how great the images from a dedicated camera would be.
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Right?
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So again, you invest in that dedicated camera and right away, right away, you start running into roadblocks.
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It's way harder than you expected, right?
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It's not taking good photos.
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Definitely not taking great photos.
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And you think to yourself, how is it that a cell phone is taking way better photos than my camera?
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there's a moment there where photography becomes extremely difficult.
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I've been there.
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Maybe it wasn't, comparing it to cell phones, but like, I was that kid who, I always had some sort of camera, whether it was a point and shoot camera, whether it was a Polaroid camera, whatever it was, I took a ton of photos.
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I took a ton of photos of, of my friends in high school.
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I, I literally took my camera to school with me every single day.
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In high school and our math class was such a joke that I would just use that time to take photos of me and my friends, right?
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When we should have been doing math, which is probably why I failed math two years in a row.
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But regardless, I still graduated.
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I loved photography.
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I love taking photos of what was going on.
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And then I went to film school and because I loved just the process of, I loved creating images so much.
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Right.
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I thought film school is the place for me.
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So I went to film school and right away, there's no like on a film camera, there's no, Like, it is your job to make every decision that is going to be related to the image.
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So there's no auto mode, there's not even auto focus on cinema cameras.
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So quickly, right away, day one, probably, you learn about And, my first thought was like, why is this so complicated?
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The point and shoot camera that I have, just for photos, takes great photos.
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Like, it's making all of those decisions.
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Why do we have to complicate this?
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And that fell on my face.
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A lot.
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A lot.
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A lot of my shoots were underexposed, or my depth of field was way off, it was just like really, amateur mistakes that I had never really made before because I just let my camera make a lot of the decisions for me.
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let it produce, you know, photos.
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And I felt that suddenly creating images went from, just this fun thing that I would do, that I got enjoyment out of, and it quickly became a job.
00:07:09.394 --> 00:07:12.723
And I fell out of love with this thing that I enjoyed my whole life.
00:07:13.059 --> 00:07:15.399
I fell out of love with it for, for a bit.
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Now I have the, I mean, you'd call it an advantage if you want to, you could also call it an imprisonment, but, I had the advantage of being in an educational program, like that was my, that was my whole goal.
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So like, if I gave up, well, I would fail and that wasn't an option.
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So I was forced every single day to do this.
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If I wasn't in school and I didn't, you know, depend on a grade or, graduating with some degree, I guess I probably would have gave up.
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I probably would have gave up.
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And to me, like today, looking at y'all who are just getting into photography and trying to do it on your own, you bought the camera, now you're going to figure it out.
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Like so much respect for that.
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Nothing is holding you to photography.
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You could give it up at any moment, but instead of, of hanging the camera up on the shelf, when things get difficult, you, you know, you push through that on your own.
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And that is extremely commendable.
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That doesn't make it any less frustrating, but it's extremely commendable.
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So congratulations.
00:08:18.709 --> 00:08:22.036
But when we fast forward to today, I love photography.
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I love being out and shooting.
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I love trying new things.
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I love looking back at my images.
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I love all of it.
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I even host a photography podcast and I love it so much, but what turned it around for me was reconnecting to my, why, why did I pick up a camera in the first place?
00:08:41.731 --> 00:08:49.466
And my answer to that is that I loved that the camera became a tool for me to bear witness to life.
00:08:49.986 --> 00:08:53.076
to capture it in a way that only I uniquely see it.
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And even fast forwarding even further to today, like, photography has become a type of, like, second memory for me.
00:08:59.264 --> 00:09:03.767
it's strange to think about people who don't photograph their life as much as I do.
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Like some, you know, some people just don't photograph much of their life, and that idea is so foreign to me because like my photography again has become the second memory for me.
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It's, it's become a way to look back at my life.
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And that was the driving motivation to keep me shooting.
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So I get it, when you're caught up in camera settings, when editing seems impossible, when do you know how to stop?
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It's just all these sliders and these things, and there's a billion different possibilities, or, you're frustrated with the struggles of, of social media, it is so easy to lose sight of why you started in the first place, so that is step one.
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We have to reconnect to our why.
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Reconnect to our why.
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We have to reconnect to the passion that brought us to photography.
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Why did you pick up a camera in the first place?
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So I have some steps on how to reconnect.
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And the first step is to reflect on that why, you really have to sit down and ask yourself what excites me about photography.
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Is it just capturing memories?
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Is it documenting your kids?
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Is it, it gives you a reason to get out and, get into nature, is it the joy of storytelling?
00:10:18.086 --> 00:10:27.736
We have to find out what excites you about photography, because if you don't, it's going to be real hard to, stick with it when things get tough, you know?
00:10:28.216 --> 00:10:34.530
So I want you to take out a sheet of paper, lined paper, and I want you to write down your why.
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I want you to write down everything that you love about photography, you know?
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If you love the gear, that's fine.
00:10:40.964 --> 00:10:41.563
That's totally fine.
00:10:41.833 --> 00:10:44.380
if you love capturing smiles, like great, write that down.
00:10:44.801 --> 00:10:48.072
If you love being outdoors with your camera, write that down.
00:10:48.381 --> 00:10:52.812
If you love holding a print in your hand, write that down, write them all down, right?
00:10:53.121 --> 00:11:05.721
I mean, just, just set a timer for like five minutes and write down everything that you can think of that you love about photography and then set another timer for five minutes and look at everything that you wrote down, just kind of absorb it for a moment.
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And then, try to piece it together into some sort of sentence.
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What is it that you love about photography?
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It's easy to say that we love, freezing the moment in time, that we can go back and relive.
00:11:18.219 --> 00:11:20.099
That kind of feels like a trope, right?
00:11:20.099 --> 00:11:22.918
So, try to find something more concrete.
00:11:23.469 --> 00:11:32.399
Because being able to freeze a moment in time, I have a hard time imagining that that is going to be the thing that is going to get you through a rough patch.
00:11:32.418 --> 00:11:51.298
Because when you're creating images that are not, uh, accurate representations of this moment in time that you're freezing, you're creating freezer burns, I don't know, on your photos, and that's not enjoyable, so that can very easily not be able to keep you from, the difficult time, so try to make it as, as concrete as possible.
00:11:51.558 --> 00:12:00.004
And, this will change over time, so don't worry about getting it absolutely, perfectly correct and right and definitive.
00:12:00.144 --> 00:12:02.024
This isn't the thing that's going to go in your gravestone.
00:12:02.304 --> 00:12:06.672
This can be something that you update every six months, every year, you know, whatever it is.
00:12:06.672 --> 00:12:10.932
But just get something down that is going to help guide you in the right direction.
00:12:11.784 --> 00:12:18.595
Step number two to reconnect with your work is to revisit your old work and do so without any judgment.
00:12:19.249 --> 00:12:21.208
I don't know how long you've been photographing.
00:12:21.678 --> 00:12:30.979
according to the survey results that I recently got back from you, listeners of the beginner photography podcast, the majority of you have been shooting for more than a year.
00:12:31.589 --> 00:12:34.509
So if that's you, awesome.
00:12:34.509 --> 00:12:39.601
This is going to be a little bit easier for you, but try to go back to some of your earliest photos.
00:12:39.621 --> 00:12:45.961
It doesn't even have to be since you started taking photography quote unquote, seriously, it could just be some of your earliest photos.
00:12:47.798 --> 00:12:48.928
Go back and look at those photos.
00:12:48.938 --> 00:12:49.989
Try not to critique them.
00:12:50.028 --> 00:12:51.818
You have more knowledge now about photography.
00:12:52.355 --> 00:12:53.365
Try not to critique them.
00:12:53.524 --> 00:12:57.034
Just try to remember the joy.
00:12:57.095 --> 00:12:58.599
The curiosity.
00:12:59.068 --> 00:13:09.554
That you had, you know, what is it about something while you were taking those photos was igniting a passion in you to go deeper into photography.
00:13:09.605 --> 00:13:10.965
Try to reconnect with that.
00:13:11.495 --> 00:13:15.855
Look at those photos, try to figure out what that thing was when you first started.
00:13:16.284 --> 00:13:23.591
So find, three, five old photos of yours that bring back just really good memories.
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And again, reflect on what made you take those photos.
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What is it?
00:13:29.392 --> 00:13:31.682
What's in those photos that made you say?
00:13:31.682 --> 00:13:46.778
Yeah, this is the moment that I want to capture Step number three to reconnect with your passion is to shoot something meaningful Now that you have some sort of idea of what it is that you love about photography, what drew you into photography, right?
00:13:46.778 --> 00:13:58.048
You have your list of ideas, you have your, your sentence, your why, and now you have a series of photos, that again, remind you of the curiosity and joy that first brought you to photography.
00:13:58.769 --> 00:14:03.288
Now it's time to take those things and try to shoot something meaningful.
00:14:03.812 --> 00:14:06.274
We're not trying to shoot, something quote unquote good.
00:14:07.154 --> 00:14:12.695
You don't need to feel the pressure of creating something, magical or perfect.
00:14:13.044 --> 00:14:16.934
I just want you to capture something that is personal to you.
00:14:17.514 --> 00:14:19.384
Maybe it's a childhood place.
00:14:19.384 --> 00:14:20.654
Maybe it's a childhood toy.
00:14:20.684 --> 00:14:22.782
Maybe it's a favorite coffee mug.
00:14:23.131 --> 00:14:28.740
Maybe it's your pet in their usual cozy spot, sunlight.
00:14:28.780 --> 00:14:33.551
Whatever it is, you have to find something meaningful to photograph.
00:14:34.311 --> 00:14:37.071
So today, I want you to do that.
00:14:37.081 --> 00:14:39.801
I want you to take one meaningful photo.
00:14:40.398 --> 00:14:42.368
Even if it's on your phone, that's totally fine.
00:14:42.368 --> 00:14:42.557
Right?
00:14:42.567 --> 00:14:45.138
The goal is to get you to take a photo.
00:14:45.398 --> 00:14:51.788
And then I want you to reflect on how that photo makes you feel like, why does it make you feel something?
00:14:51.788 --> 00:14:54.118
Why did you decide to take that photo?
00:14:54.118 --> 00:14:57.357
Try to connect with that feeling of why.
00:14:58.140 --> 00:14:58.591
All right.
00:14:58.591 --> 00:15:01.370
So that was the first part, right?
00:15:01.398 --> 00:15:09.431
The first part of, you know, learning to embrace this journey of photography rather than just looking at your images and saying, is it good or is it bad?
00:15:10.150 --> 00:15:12.581
The first part is to reconnect with your passion.
00:15:12.671 --> 00:15:13.571
That's what we just did.
00:15:13.571 --> 00:15:15.681
I gave you the three steps to reconnect.
00:15:16.443 --> 00:15:26.140
Now, the next part is we have to learn to embrace creative exploration, I found that in photography, you have to have permission to play.
00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:30.191
That's when you're going to be the most productive in photography.
00:15:30.650 --> 00:15:41.980
Even after shooting weddings for 10 years, when I think back to some of my favorite images, they come from my personal collection, times when I'm just kind of goofing off and trying something new.
00:15:42.421 --> 00:15:55.041
When I have the space to get out of my head, not worry about rules, not worry about all the technicals related to photography, but just shoot, just look at the world.
00:15:55.056 --> 00:16:10.375
So my signature style in photography right now is something that I call a stitch scape a stitch scape This is like a like a stitched Originally, it was like landscapes, but now it's just kind of like more scenes of everyday life, regardless.
00:16:10.375 --> 00:16:11.275
I call them a stitch scape.
00:16:11.566 --> 00:16:20.831
So, if you haven't seen any of these images, if you're not in the beginner photography podcast, Facebook group, or you're not subscribed to the newsletter, maybe you haven't seen any of these images.
00:16:20.841 --> 00:16:30.881
So imagine for a second that you're out shooting and all you have is like a 50 or an 85 millimeter lens and you want to capture more of a wide scene, right?
00:16:31.131 --> 00:16:33.672
But you don't like, you don't have a lens that's going to allow you to do that.
00:16:34.366 --> 00:16:39.706
So you stand in one spot and you shoot multiple different images of the scene that is in front of you.
00:16:40.236 --> 00:16:45.797
So, from left to right, you're taking photos, one, two, three, four, from top to bottom.
00:16:46.076 --> 00:16:52.197
So, you know, another one, two, three, four, and then the bottom one, two, three, four, and now you have a series of say, I don't know, 12 photos.
00:16:53.006 --> 00:17:00.917
You print all those photos out and then you lay them out to create the scene as if it was like, like a puzzle, like puzzle pieces, you have 12 puzzle pieces.
00:17:01.187 --> 00:17:05.666
And now you're going to try to put them together and create the full scene.
00:17:06.260 --> 00:17:11.290
I've been shooting these since like, I think like 2004, 2005.
00:17:11.750 --> 00:17:14.671
Never much with like, you know, a ton of intention.
00:17:15.086 --> 00:17:22.386
This all originally started because well, I had a Motorola Razr Cellphone with 0.
00:17:22.586 --> 00:17:26.320
3 megapixels, but the lens was not a wide lens at all.
00:17:26.330 --> 00:17:31.211
So oftentimes I would just take two or three photos, one left, one center, one right.
00:17:31.851 --> 00:17:36.980
And then I would just kind of stitch those photos together in Photoshop, and try to make it look as if it was one photo.
00:17:37.800 --> 00:17:55.173
But today I will do my best to print them out and put them together physically, you know, and again, I've shot hundreds of these, many of, of my life, many of them actually at weddings, I loved doing it during the first kiss and many that are just simply landscapes.
00:17:55.963 --> 00:18:04.433
But it really wasn't until I, I walked away from weddings that I decided to physically print out these photos and compile them together like a puzzle.
00:18:05.077 --> 00:18:07.567
I was so busy shooting weddings.
00:18:07.607 --> 00:18:09.798
I was so busy waiting for the right moment.
00:18:09.837 --> 00:18:17.218
I was so busy, worrying, about the hair and the getting everything picture perfect that I didn't have time.
00:18:17.218 --> 00:18:21.597
I didn't have the space to explore creative ideas.
00:18:22.258 --> 00:18:25.018
I had to give myself permission to play around and try something new.
00:18:25.749 --> 00:18:27.878
And now it's my favorite thing in photography.
00:18:28.489 --> 00:18:37.499
So you may be struggling because, again, you feel overwhelmed by all the rules in photography, or just the amount to learn, and you don't even know where to start.
00:18:38.169 --> 00:18:40.009
Or you're afraid to get it wrong, you know?
00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:56.863
And God forbid, let's say that you do get a photo that you like, and you post it on Instagram, and I don't know, some, some jerk who, whose favorite hobby is like cutting off people in traffic, they decide that they're going to just unleash complete undeserved anger on you one day.
00:18:56.903 --> 00:18:59.093
And that is going to wreck you.
00:18:59.659 --> 00:19:05.403
We need to get back to the creative space, not just worrying about the technicals all the time.
00:19:06.125 --> 00:19:09.096
Creativity comes from experimentation.
00:19:09.105 --> 00:19:13.222
It comes from trying something new, not just following a formula.
00:19:14.173 --> 00:19:17.439
So how do we explore our creativity?
00:19:18.032 --> 00:19:22.512
The first thing that we need to do is just remove the pressure of creativity.
00:19:22.962 --> 00:19:23.972
of playing around.
00:19:24.722 --> 00:19:30.056
I try to think of photography, like our own physical bodies, okay?
00:19:30.679 --> 00:19:33.989
When you go out and you do photography, imagine that as a sport.
00:19:34.778 --> 00:19:41.209
If you watch the Olympics, if you watch any sort of professional sports, these athletes are professionals.
00:19:41.209 --> 00:19:43.078
This is what they're paid to do, right?
00:19:43.648 --> 00:19:46.068
They're a peak performance.
00:19:46.661 --> 00:19:51.141
And before every game, before every match, before every tournament, what do they do?
00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:52.790
They stretch.
00:19:53.740 --> 00:19:55.820
You gotta stretch, you know?
00:19:56.049 --> 00:20:02.942
stretch, when they loosen up, they're not doing it the degree that they need to later on to compete.
00:20:03.221 --> 00:20:05.162
They're just moving around.
00:20:05.172 --> 00:20:07.021
They're just kinda, getting the gears going.
00:20:07.021 --> 00:20:11.403
They're As a photographer, not every photo that you take has to be a masterpiece.
00:20:11.713 --> 00:20:13.844
That's just a pressure that we put on ourselves.
00:20:14.596 --> 00:20:19.067
Early on, for me, I would show up and I'd be Let's, take a wedding for example.
00:20:19.086 --> 00:20:20.037
Or just anything.
00:20:20.366 --> 00:20:20.856
Anything.
00:20:21.086 --> 00:20:27.116
I would show up and I'd be so stressed about getting just a great, a creative, a unique shot.
00:20:27.567 --> 00:20:32.559
That I would blow a fuse so early and I would just leave with nothing that I was happy with.
00:20:32.609 --> 00:20:39.150
I'd be so focused on, on getting something new, getting something creative that I would just, I wouldn't even be looking at the world in front of me.
00:20:39.150 --> 00:20:43.279
I'd just be so worried about getting that thing that I didn't even know what it was.
00:20:43.329 --> 00:20:47.549
I was hoping that, lightning would strike and be like, this is the thing.
00:20:48.289 --> 00:20:50.650
Capture this and everything changes for you.
00:20:50.650 --> 00:20:51.660
But that never happens.
00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:54.190
So again, I would leave with nothing that I was happy with.
00:20:55.174 --> 00:20:57.255
Today, I now start the exact opposite way.
00:20:57.505 --> 00:21:02.535
I show up and I ask myself, what are the photos that everybody else would take here?
00:21:03.244 --> 00:21:04.404
And then that's where I start.
00:21:04.684 --> 00:21:06.144
I start taking those photos.
00:21:06.575 --> 00:21:08.652
That's the warming up, you know?
00:21:09.182 --> 00:21:17.001
And then before I know it, I'm starting to change up my angle, maybe play with my shutter speed, maybe even a little forced perspective if I'm feeling crazy.
00:21:17.618 --> 00:21:20.979
And before I know it, I'm in the zone, trying new creative things.
00:21:21.719 --> 00:21:26.616
But it starts with getting those gears going, loosening up, trying something new.
00:21:27.186 --> 00:21:31.926
So for you, try, I don't know, a bad photo challenge.
00:21:31.926 --> 00:21:42.769
Try a bad photo challenge where you intentionally take 10 bad, or just boring photos to free yourself from that fear of imperfection.
00:21:43.009 --> 00:21:47.920
When you take just 10 like bad photos again, or boring photos, then you're just like, okay, I get it.
00:21:48.116 --> 00:21:48.787
Okay, I'm in it.
00:21:49.326 --> 00:21:50.237
Let's go ahead and get going.
00:21:50.809 --> 00:21:51.349
So try that.
00:21:51.904 --> 00:21:55.426
That's going to help release that pressure by just playing around.
00:21:56.119 --> 00:22:02.480
You also, another way to explore your creativity is to experiment with a new technique or subject.
00:22:02.933 --> 00:22:03.314
Right?
00:22:03.534 --> 00:22:10.653
I think that we all kind of naturally gravitate towards one thing or another, whether that's, you know, landscapes, portraits, street photography, whatever.
00:22:11.210 --> 00:22:12.329
Try something new.
00:22:12.775 --> 00:22:15.384
Try something new don't normally shoot, you know?
00:22:15.624 --> 00:22:30.780
For me, when I was shooting weddings, I'd be so in the zone of, of portraits and, these environmental portraits and, focusing on the moment that I had to get out of my head and I experimented with some product photography.
00:22:31.548 --> 00:22:34.367
And at the time, me and my neighbor were like brewing a bunch of beer.
00:22:34.928 --> 00:22:48.121
So we had our own bottles and I was like, yeah, I'll like photograph our, our own, homebrew beers, in this really cool and fun way, and I spent a whole afternoon just like photographing a single bottle and I remember that afternoon very well.
00:22:48.171 --> 00:22:49.171
I don't remember what year it was.
00:22:49.171 --> 00:22:57.451
I don't remember what weddings I had shot before after that, but I remember that time because it was something new and it was something that got me out of my head to try something new.
00:22:58.183 --> 00:23:02.344
And those photos, like I didn't bring them into Photoshop.
00:23:02.344 --> 00:23:05.161
I didn't do like, you know, I didn't post them on my Instagram.
00:23:05.161 --> 00:23:06.121
I didn't do anything with it.
00:23:06.181 --> 00:23:13.738
The goal was the exercise itself, but just to get out of your zone and try something new is really, really hard.
00:23:14.067 --> 00:23:22.731
a huge boost to your creativity because now your brain is, is trying to figure out all these new pathways, and again, you don't have to make it a big thing.
00:23:23.402 --> 00:23:28.917
You don't have to go out hire models or go on a trip to Nepal or whatever.
00:23:29.228 --> 00:23:32.178
if you need to try landscape photography, you don't need to do that.
00:23:32.188 --> 00:23:34.817
Like these can be things that you do at home to push yourself.
00:23:35.498 --> 00:23:38.107
I shot that bottle of a beer in my.
00:23:39.448 --> 00:23:40.847
I put it on a stool.
00:23:41.417 --> 00:23:46.998
I set up some lights around it, some reflectors, and I did it just in my kitchen, you know, it can be at home.
00:23:47.491 --> 00:23:51.612
And if you need a little help, well, this is what I was talking about earlier.
00:23:51.652 --> 00:23:54.402
I invite you to grab my free download.
00:23:54.761 --> 00:23:58.311
It's called 46 creative photo ideas to get you out of a rut.
00:23:58.852 --> 00:23:59.781
And I created this.
00:23:59.981 --> 00:24:07.916
It is loaded with with fun and challenging ideas, again, to get you to stretch and to get you to warm up your creative muscles.
00:24:07.916 --> 00:24:08.936
That's the whole point of this.
00:24:41.846 --> 00:24:48.297
You can download it right now for free as in like free, free that, you know, you don't have to put in your credit card or anything, it's just free.
00:24:48.932 --> 00:24:51.192
You can grab it over at beginner photopod.
00:24:51.623 --> 00:24:53.822
com forward slash photo ideas.
00:24:54.269 --> 00:24:56.750
Again, beginner photopod.
00:24:56.829 --> 00:24:58.779
com forward slash photo ideas.
00:24:59.339 --> 00:25:02.139
You pick one thing from the 46 creative ideas.
00:25:02.829 --> 00:25:04.500
And just give it a shot.
00:25:04.940 --> 00:25:05.539
Try it out.
00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:06.569
See what happens.
00:25:07.202 --> 00:25:07.532
All right.
00:25:07.772 --> 00:25:21.052
Now, the last thing that we need to do to learn to embrace the journey that is photography, is we have to simply take small, practical steps.
00:25:21.653 --> 00:25:26.806
Because the small and practical steps where we're gonna get our biggest wins, you know.
00:25:27.445 --> 00:25:30.125
Photography can feel overwhelming, I know, I've been there.
00:25:30.673 --> 00:25:40.465
And when you think that you have to master everything at once, oh my gosh, there's camera settings, there's lighting, there's composition, there's editing, there's moment, all these things.
00:25:41.009 --> 00:25:43.309
That's a lot to do all at once.
00:25:43.970 --> 00:25:49.942
But the truth is, is that progress comes from consistent, but small steps.
00:25:49.962 --> 00:25:51.163
It doesn't come from leaps.
00:25:51.605 --> 00:25:56.766
Nobody gets to the top floor of a building by taking one giant leap to get up there.
00:25:57.005 --> 00:26:01.262
They take a bunch of small steps and learning photography is exactly the same.
00:26:01.272 --> 00:26:10.643
But I guess the analogy is a bit different because in a building there's a theor, I guess there is a physical top floor, but in photography there's, there's not.
00:26:10.992 --> 00:26:13.895
Photography's gonna be a lifelong journey for you.
00:26:14.470 --> 00:26:15.909
So there is no top floor.
00:26:16.586 --> 00:26:18.435
That's the thing, my goal.
00:26:19.201 --> 00:26:22.020
For this podcast is, is not for you to just listen.
00:26:22.565 --> 00:26:24.014
Like, I don't care about download numbers.
00:26:24.306 --> 00:26:30.475
don't care about like so many things that when I look at, like photography growth hacks or whatever, like, I don't care about that stuff.
00:26:32.152 --> 00:26:39.266
want you to not only like, I don't want you to just listen to an episode and then do nothing about it.
00:26:39.868 --> 00:26:43.828
I want you to absorb the information and then take action.
00:26:44.509 --> 00:26:49.788
Because consistent action, even tiny actions, will amount to greatness.
00:26:50.428 --> 00:27:00.489
I've shared this on the podcast a bunch of times, but if you haven't heard it, my weddings in May were way worse than my weddings in October.
00:27:01.155 --> 00:27:04.255
Meaning I was better at the end of the season than at the beginning of the season.
00:27:04.255 --> 00:27:09.066
Because by the end of the wedding season, I had been doing these small little actions.
00:27:09.286 --> 00:27:13.465
I had been learning to be just 1 percent better at each wedding.
00:27:13.806 --> 00:27:22.618
Not totally transforming who I was fundamentally at every wedding, and taking massive leaps and huge investments in gear and all these techniques.
00:27:22.618 --> 00:27:24.999
Just 1 percent better.
00:27:25.611 --> 00:27:33.081
And at the end of October, there I was way better, way smarter, way more creative of a photographer.
00:27:33.632 --> 00:27:40.061
And this all came from all of those 1 percent days that simply added up.
00:27:40.761 --> 00:27:49.241
And as far as I can tell, like that's been the best way to learn and to grow, that's been the best way to make consistent change.
00:27:49.797 --> 00:27:53.696
I've shared this on the podcast as well, like, my weight has always been a struggle in my life.
00:27:53.736 --> 00:28:04.574
And, there's this idea that, like, there's maybe too, too much information here, but it's like losing one pound a week is better than losing 50 pounds in a single week.
00:28:05.001 --> 00:28:16.551
Because when you lose, a small amount over a longer period of time, now you're developing the habits, the skills that are required to, to be a healthier individual long term.
00:28:17.271 --> 00:28:24.678
If you could easily lose like 50 pounds in a week, let's just say, you know, 15 pounds in a week, then you're not going to hold on to that habit.
00:28:25.346 --> 00:28:28.205
You're just gonna say, oh, well, this was, this was easier than I thought.
00:28:28.205 --> 00:28:31.635
I can just go back to my old ways and then just spend a week and, get back to it.
00:28:32.341 --> 00:28:34.816
And in photography, it's, it's very much the same.
00:28:34.905 --> 00:28:37.415
Your cell phone takes great photos right away.
00:28:37.925 --> 00:28:39.570
And you think to yourself, oh, this must be easy.
00:28:39.931 --> 00:28:43.630
So you don't really put in a lot of effort into thinking about things like composition.
00:28:43.951 --> 00:28:50.590
You don't put a lot of effort into thinking about things like, like moment, the things that aren't related to the gear at all, or lighting.
00:28:51.086 --> 00:28:52.156
You just think, oh, it's fine.
00:28:52.156 --> 00:28:52.813
Like, whatever.
00:28:52.834 --> 00:28:58.557
But if photography is hard, that is a huge, huge benefit.
00:28:59.247 --> 00:29:04.106
Because when you get to the point to where you feel, wow, I've actually made some progress here.
00:29:04.656 --> 00:29:05.606
Then you know.
00:29:06.080 --> 00:29:13.153
That it's genuine progress and then it's going to last, So again, how do we make that consistent progress?
00:29:13.153 --> 00:29:15.163
How do we make those small steps?
00:29:15.753 --> 00:29:21.533
Well, the answer, I think the first part is just to, just to focus on one skill at a time.
00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:29.213
Very often we'll go out and think, I'm going to the park today, you know, whatever, going to a nature park.
00:29:29.513 --> 00:29:31.574
I want to focus on, I'm going to get some great light.
00:29:31.604 --> 00:29:39.683
I'm going to, focus on my compositions, maybe get some leading lines of a trail, do all this stuff, hopefully I'll find some birds flying and I'll be able to capture them as well.
00:29:39.894 --> 00:29:42.413
All of these, like we're putting in so many things.
00:29:43.023 --> 00:29:46.856
We're putting so much weight onto the growth of that one session.
00:29:47.576 --> 00:29:49.057
That it becomes heavy.
00:29:49.067 --> 00:29:50.236
It's overbearing.
00:29:50.527 --> 00:29:52.896
So focus on just one skill at a time, you know?
00:29:53.136 --> 00:29:56.366
If it's gonna be composition, just focus on composition.
00:29:56.606 --> 00:29:57.896
If the light's good, awesome.
00:29:57.936 --> 00:29:59.886
If a bird shows up, sweet.
00:29:59.916 --> 00:30:00.557
Even better.
00:30:00.817 --> 00:30:03.057
But if not, that's not what you came there for.
00:30:03.610 --> 00:30:08.971
photographers have, hoped that this isn't me, go to Alaska hoping to photograph a bear, and a bear doesn't show up?
00:30:09.472 --> 00:30:10.972
You have to have a backup plan.
00:30:10.982 --> 00:30:15.133
You have to have like a main goal that isn't related to things that are outside of your control.
00:30:15.653 --> 00:30:20.472
So work on things like, just spend this whole week working on noticing light.
00:30:20.932 --> 00:30:22.163
Don't worry about your settings right now.
00:30:22.373 --> 00:30:23.403
Just notice some light.
00:30:24.042 --> 00:30:25.413
Look at how the light comes in the window.
00:30:25.423 --> 00:30:30.165
What is the intensity of light on the objects closer to the window than further away from the window?
00:30:30.725 --> 00:30:32.225
That means that there's fall off somewhere.
00:30:32.255 --> 00:30:34.365
Can you photograph that fall off?
00:30:35.193 --> 00:30:36.913
Next week just focus on composition.
00:30:37.213 --> 00:30:37.803
Oh, wow.
00:30:37.874 --> 00:30:38.567
Look at that.
00:30:38.567 --> 00:30:42.528
That's a leading line right there going to this thing Oh, what a beautiful frame that would be.
00:30:43.028 --> 00:30:57.578
The next week just color and contrast Set micro goals for yourself for your next session It'll be way more productive than you ever could have imagined I promise Okay, so here's another issue that people face, right?
00:30:57.588 --> 00:31:00.178
Because if, if we're coming up with consistent progress, right?
00:31:00.178 --> 00:31:02.798
We need to make consistent progress.
00:31:02.798 --> 00:31:08.259
That does not mean I'm gonna take two hours this Saturday to go out and practice my photography.
00:31:08.509 --> 00:31:11.168
And then next weekend, well, things get busy.
00:31:11.229 --> 00:31:15.548
And then the week after that, well, I'll have 15 minutes to, you know, squeeze in or whatever.
00:31:15.868 --> 00:31:18.199
And then hopefully at the end of the year, I'll be a better photographer.
00:31:18.874 --> 00:31:24.866
No, no, no, you don't have to do these in huge hour, two hour long chunks of time.
00:31:25.106 --> 00:31:25.696
Is that better?
00:31:25.696 --> 00:31:31.586
Yeah, of course, but consistency is better than overall time, okay?
00:31:31.876 --> 00:31:44.616
And if that only means that you practice 15 minutes a day, at home, Again, those tiny steps, you pick a subject, pick a coffee cup you know, and photograph it a bunch of different ways.
00:31:44.616 --> 00:31:46.476
Photograph it, from above.
00:31:46.476 --> 00:31:48.156
Photograph it from below.
00:31:48.366 --> 00:31:49.507
Get some closeup detail.
00:31:49.686 --> 00:31:51.277
Find some harsh light next to a window.
00:31:51.277 --> 00:31:52.297
Find some soft light.
00:31:52.517 --> 00:31:54.376
Use a unique framing technique.
00:31:54.376 --> 00:31:58.396
You know, whatever it is, get a number of photos that you can try at home.
00:31:59.036 --> 00:32:24.638
And then after that 15 minutes, well, then, then you can stop, but then do it again tomorrow with something else, shorter amounts of time that are more focused and more intentional on the one aspect that you're going to learn light composition, color, you know, whatever is way more beneficial than just one, two hour long session where you have all this weight on yourself because you only get it once like a month to get out and shoot.
00:32:25.276 --> 00:32:26.365
just not sustainable.
00:32:26.556 --> 00:32:30.995
Focus on those shorter, more consistent sessions.
00:32:31.628 --> 00:32:37.798
And then this isn't required, but this was always a big help to me is, is to track your process or progress rather.
00:32:38.199 --> 00:32:40.358
You do that by reviewing your own work.
00:32:40.358 --> 00:32:47.560
So in, in my Lightroom catalog, I categorize everything or I catalog everything by month and by year.
00:32:48.120 --> 00:32:53.530
So all of my 20, all of my May 2024 photos, I know exactly where they are.
00:32:53.550 --> 00:32:55.880
All of my January, 2025 photos.
00:32:55.880 --> 00:32:56.891
I know exactly where those are.
00:32:56.901 --> 00:32:58.957
All of my November, 2018 photos.
00:32:58.998 --> 00:33:00.548
I know exactly where all those are.
00:33:01.040 --> 00:33:12.330
So I can go back two or three years and see my images from then, and then I also favorite all of my images from each month so I can look at all of my favorite images from that time period.
00:33:13.215 --> 00:33:19.605
And then I can today look at all of my current favorite photos and see how much I've grown in that time.
00:33:19.665 --> 00:33:25.282
See how my, my vision is changing, what is it that I'm focusing on now that I wasn't back then?
00:33:25.903 --> 00:33:27.133
I can see that growth.
00:33:27.762 --> 00:33:28.722
You can do something similar.
00:33:28.732 --> 00:33:33.272
You can create a, I don't know, before and after folder to see your improvements over time.
00:33:33.913 --> 00:33:39.782
Just pick three, five, 10 photos that you took over the past six months, put them in a folder.
00:33:40.278 --> 00:33:42.707
Wait six months and then do it again.
00:33:43.288 --> 00:33:47.964
For that month or whatever, and just look at the differences and see where your photos have changed.
00:33:48.204 --> 00:33:53.144
And when you do that, you'll be able to see definitively that you are a better photographer.
00:33:53.345 --> 00:33:55.204
You'll see how you've improved.
00:33:55.474 --> 00:34:03.894
And sometimes just seeing like, Oh, wow, I have made progress will be enough to keep you going.
00:34:04.647 --> 00:34:07.880
Because again, the goal is not to get to the end fastest.
00:34:08.471 --> 00:34:09.501
Because there is no end.
00:34:09.921 --> 00:34:10.671
It's a circle.
00:34:10.981 --> 00:34:11.860
There's no end.
00:34:12.557 --> 00:34:16.298
So why try to do it all at once?
00:34:16.758 --> 00:34:18.327
You're not going to get there any faster.
00:34:18.891 --> 00:34:21.510
Let's go ahead and recap the key takeaways from today.
00:34:22.061 --> 00:34:29.701
If you want to avoid the overwhelm and you really want to look at photography as a lifelong journey.
00:34:30.561 --> 00:34:32.530
And you want to embrace this learning curve.
00:34:32.561 --> 00:34:35.280
Even though right now it's, it's pretty difficult.
00:34:35.541 --> 00:34:36.465
It feels overwhelming.
00:34:36.994 --> 00:34:42.474
The keys to doing that are, one, you need to reconnect with your passion and remember why you started.
00:34:43.067 --> 00:34:44.867
And then capture something meaningful today.
00:34:45.661 --> 00:34:52.411
Two is to embrace your creativity by playing with new techniques and perspectives without any pressure.
00:34:53.190 --> 00:35:01.000
And three is to make progress in small steps by setting tiny and achievable goals that just keep you shooting.
00:35:01.690 --> 00:35:06.061
If you want to kickstart your creativity and build a regular photography practice.
00:35:06.690 --> 00:35:12.061
Again, I invite you to download my 46 free creative photo ideas guide.
00:35:12.601 --> 00:35:17.471
It's filled with again, simple, but powerful prompts to get you shooting with fresh eyes.
00:35:18.121 --> 00:35:20.971
Grab your copy right now over at beginner photo pod.
00:35:21.451 --> 00:35:23.460
Dot com forward slash photo ideas.
00:35:23.500 --> 00:35:25.690
Again, that's beginner photo pod.
00:35:26.161 --> 00:35:28.900
Dot com forward slash photo ideas.
00:35:29.541 --> 00:35:30.831
Here's today's call to action.
00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:42.230
After you try one of these creative challenges, after you've taken one of the steps from today, I want you to share that photo in the beginner photography podcast community, which you can join over at beginner photo pod.
00:35:42.460 --> 00:35:43.690
com forward slash group.
00:35:43.701 --> 00:35:44.811
Again, totally free.
00:35:44.920 --> 00:35:47.541
We'd love to have you and I'd love to see what you create.
00:35:48.041 --> 00:35:50.199
So that is it for today until next time.
00:35:50.199 --> 00:35:52.309
Remember the more that you shoot today.
00:35:52.652 --> 00:35:58.603
And you do so consistently, the better of a photographer you will be tomorrow and every day subsequently.
00:35:59.572 --> 00:36:00.143
So that's it.
00:36:00.353 --> 00:36:00.873
I'll talk to you soon.
