Episode 384: Photography Resolutions for 2024

Show Notes

Greetings, you’re listening to the Liam Photography Podcast, I’m your host Liam Douglas and this is Episode 384 for Thursday Jan 4, 2023. In today’s episode I want to talk about Photography Resolutions in 2024 and how to tackle them. If you are like me or most any other photographer, you’ve most likely had times where you hit the wall creatively and find it hard to get motivated to get out and shoot more and today I am going to try and give you new things to think about to get your creativity going again.

Since moving to North Carolina in 2021, I’ve been struggling with keeping my creativity going. There just doesn’t seem to be as much to shoot in NC as there was when I lived in Georgia. I’m sure that’s probably not true but most anything really awesome I want to shoot here is hours away by car. I looked one weekend because I love shooting daytime long exposures of waterfalls and discovered that the closest one to where I live is like a five hour drive one way! That puts a serious damper on that idea since I am in no hurry to drive ten hours round trip to photograph one waterfall.

I love museums and historical places, but I have already shot the NC Science museum in Raleigh like six times so I am running out of reasons to go there anymore. Sure they add new exhibits now and then but the bulk of what they have stays the same. So, how do we keep our creativity going in situations like this, well I have some suggestions for you and they are ones I am planning to use more in 2024 to get me going again.

Primes Only

If you want to truly challenge yourself in 2024, try shooting with only prime lenses in 2024. Primes as you may already be aware are generally better optically than zoom lenses because they have fewer elements and groups than a zoom. Prime lenses can also tend to be more optically perfect than any zoom lens because of the more simplified design. A good prime lens will also offer much more in aperture allowing your to have F/1.8 or F/1.4 or the really great ones might be F/1.2 or even wider!

These super wide apertures will allow you to shoot in lower light situations and have a shallower depth of field than a zoom as well. You’ll be able to more easily separate your subject from the background and I am not just talking about portraits either. You can use a prime lens for shooting up close and personal to sculptures in a garden or of small objects or when doing product photography. Maybe you don’t shoot product for a living, but nothing says you cannot do it as a hobby!

Another advantage of shooting primes only is that generally speaking it will lighten your kit more when out shooting all day. That might not be true If you have F/1.2 lenses or even wider but as a general rule primes will be lighter and more manageable than a zoom lens that’s big and heavy. Shooting with primes only will also make you re-think your composition before you shoot. And you will have to move around more as well since you cannot just zoom to get closer to a subject.

But what primes should you use? Well, all of the ones you own! Pick a focal length like 35mm or 50mm and just challenge yourself to go out and shoot all day with that one lens. See how that limitation forces you to rethink your composition and the field of view that you get. 35mm is of course the perfect lens for Street Photography so that can be a second way at the same time to get out there and create as you are tackling two things at once if you’ve never done Street Photography before.

50mm can be a dream lens for portraits for some so give that a try, even if you only practice with your own friends and family, it can be a great way to get creative again and think outside your comfort zone. 50mm can be so very versatile and it is close to the same field of view as the human eye so you can think of things in those terms as well. You can still do landscapes with a 50mm, you just cannot shoot as wide as say the 35mm or a 24mm, but it can be done so whats stopping you from experimenting?

Try a Different Genre

Another great way to just your creativity going again is to shoot a new genre or style of photography that is not part of your norm. If you are primarily a portrait and wedding photographer, try shooting landscapes or wildlife instead on the side as a personal hobby. You might not have the lenses for shooting this new genre but you can always pick up a third party option cheap or maybe a used lens from someone like KEH or Used Photo Pros. You don’t need a super wide aperture lens to shoot landscapes since most of that photography is shot at F/8 or F/11 so you can buy a much less expensive option than say an F/1.2 or F/2.8.

When it comes to wildlife if you don’t have a nice long telephoto you can always rent one from the folks at Lens Rentals so that you don’t have to spend lots of money buying a lens that you only use on occasion, although I prefer to own lenses in focal ranges that I don’t make money with just so I can be more creative when shooting for myself. Keep in mind when shooting wildlife, you need to be even more patient than normal as animals spook easily and they won’t just walk up to you for a photo shoot, you are going to have to work at it more.

Find yourself a good spot to just sit and take in nature and wait for the wildlife to come to you in a manner of speaking. Once you find a good spot just park yourself in one of those camping chairs and wait some nature to happen. Birds can be a lot of fun to shoot and you can usually see a nice variety of them in the wild from robins, to hawks to eagles to hummingbirds. You get a variety of sizes and colors in birds which is great as well so you can break things up more. You might even have a bird sanctuary in your area that you could go to and make things easier on yourself, but you will have to find a way to shoot past the cages they are in.

For landscapes, just go out hiking in your local area, head to a county, state or federal park and you can capture all kinds of interesting landscapes with ease. Shoot a mount range from a distance or a line of trees, or even a single tree that you find interesting. Look for items to add in your foreground as well such as boulders or other natural objects. Shoot seascapes from your local beach with people in the foreground walking in the sand with the ocean behind them. Use an app like Photo Pills to keep track of Sunrise and Sunset times and shoot those as well. Blue hour and Golden hour are fantastic times to shoot landscapes or seascapes with all the beauty and color in the sky during those time periods.

(Magic Mind)

Personal Projects

If you need to get your creativity going again how about a personal project like I have been shooting for years with my Forgotten Pieces series. You don’t need to copy what I am doing, maybe old abandoned buildings and history is not your thing, that’s no problem either. Shoot what you are passionate about no matter what it is, maybe you prefer to shoot high school sports like football or baseball, women’s volley ball or basketball. You might have kids that are into T-ball or Soccer or even Lacrosse any of these sports can give you a good personal project to shoot and you can share the images with the team and the players and their families.

Maybe you are into wildlife conservation so you could shoot not only wildlife but the devastation that man has had on habitats with our constantly building subdivisions or strip malls. You might be someone who’s into conservation of our natural resources and you can use that as your passion project or even spend your time volunteering your photography to causes you care about. You can offer your services as a volunteer to Now I lay Me Down to Sleep or for your local Lions Club or whatever you choose there are pretty much limitless possibilities when it comes to volunteering your services as a photographer.

Road Trips/Vacations

The last one I want to throw at you is road trips on the weekend where you can just choose someplace you or you and your family would like to go, grab a camera and go. You can take in State or Federal parks, National Forrests or anything else your heart desires. Many times I have just grabbed my camera, gassed up the car and hit the road for a day or an entire weekend just to see what I could find to photograph and if you are a regular listener then you already know that is how my Forgotten Pieces of Georgia project was started. I was just driving back roads in Georgia one weekend in 2015 and I came upon Sparta, Georgia which was close to a ghost town at the time and when I saw the dozens of closed up shops on its main street my project was born.

Since I am a history nut I also love driving back roads and finding old cemeteries as you never know what kind of history you can find there. I have stumbled upon forgotten cemeteries that contained Civil War soldiers. It always saddens me to find one that is overgrown as there is no one to care for it anymore and some of the old headstones can be quite beautiful and great photo material.

Maybe you’ve always wanted to vacation someplace you’ve never been before like Hawaii or Alaska and now you can afford to go, then don’t forget your camera. If this is a once in a lifetime trip to someplace new, maybe even the UK or Japan you certainly want cherished memories in the form of photographs to look back on in your golden years or to share with your children and grandchildren. Years ago when I worked at Radio Shack I had a couple come in and they were getting ready to go on their dream vacation to Australia. This was a trip they had been planning for forty years and could finally go on when they retired. They had an OK point and shoot camera but since Australia is one place I have always dreamed of visiting, I convinced them it would be better to take a video camera and make vacation movies to enjoy and share with their family. They later came back after their trip and thanked me for talking them into the video camera as they got hours of great footage during their 90 day trip Down Under.

Wrapping up today’s episode, there are so many things you can do to get your creativity going in 2024 and I am planning on getting myself out there more this year and capturing what I can and there is nothing stopping you from doing the same so get out there and shoot!

Magic Mind

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You can find my work @ https://www.liamphotography.net and follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @liamphotoatl. If you like abandoned buildings and history, you can find my project @ http://www.forgottenpiecesofgeorgia.com. and http://www.forgottenpiecesofpennsylvania.com.

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Forgotten Pieces of Georgia Project

Forgotten Pieces of Pennsylvania Project