Photography is a beautiful journey of the creation of recordings capturing moments in time. Between learning to shoot, practicing to create extraordinary images, potential day jobs, family life and more, time for shooting can become scarce. Time flies when you’re having fun, and it seems to move at an even faster pace the older you get because your life becomes more and more busy. I live and work in NYC and we are always on the go here. Time is money.
Shooting the NYC skyline on a photowalk in New Jersey with a fellow photographer.
Image courtesy of Yann Bizeul
Whether photography is just a hobby or you aspire to do more with your images like exhibit or provide photography services, it’s really important not put your camera away at any point and instead, to always be capturing your visions around you through your lens. In this article, I will share several ways to incorporate photography into your everyday life so that your creative passion steers clear of the back burner and you continue to be inspired to record the world around you.
1. Always Have a Camera on You
Whether it’s your DSLR, a point and shoot or your smartphone camera, when you have a camera conveniently on your person, there will never be a moment when you encounter a decisive moment or a beautiful object or scene and miss the opportunity to capture it because you didn’t have a camera on you.
Left to right: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-RX10 IV Digital Camera, Apple iPhone 8 Plus and Nikon D750 DSLR Camera w/ 24-120mm Lens>.
Camera images courtesy of Adorama. iPhone 8 Plus image courtesy of Google.
You can fall upon decisive moments, beautiful objects and/or breathtaking scenes at any time – even on your daily commute that you have previously traveled hundreds of times – and it’s much more empowering to know you have gear with you to record that moment if you desire.
2. Participate in a Photo Project Challenge
There are many books, articles and websites out there dedicated to photo projects and challenges that you can create for yourself, with a “365 Project” being one of the more popular choices because it gets you shooting every day.
Left to right: FineArtAmerica, Smugmug, Flickr and 500px.
If you sign up on websites such as Flickr, Smugmug, Fine art America or 500px, each platform has groups or communities where you can post your image of the day and receive feedback and encouragement that will motivate you to do better and to continue shooting.
3. Start a Photography Blog
Whether you write about photography, like I do, or you just want a platform to showcase your images and tell your life story through photos, a photography blog is another way to share your work, obtain feedback and encouragement and gain recognition and followers for your photography.
My blog: “Ramblings of an Artist”.
A good rule of thumb is to post at least once a week, but 3-5 times a week would be optimal if you are looking to gain exposure and to keep active with photography.
4. Participate in Social Media
Platforms like Facebook and Instagram are perfect tools to share your work on a very regular basis, as it happens, and to broaden your audience through hashtags and keywords.
My Instagram profile.
Not only will posting your images on social media keep your contacts up to date with your work but you will acquire a following and gain precious feedback – the more you post.
5. Schedule Something Photography Related
While it doesn’t have to be every day, perhaps once a week or bi-weekly, schedule and participate in a photography workshop or photo walk, meet with other photographers to shoot and share photos or set up a portfolio critique session to get feedback on your photography. Registering for a workshop or portfolio critique or just meeting up with other photographers for a photo walk and to share your images forces you to get out and shoot and you are less likely to cancel than if you were to always plan on shooting alone.
6. Collect Inspirational Images and/or Start a Pinterest Board
Pinterest a great tool – especially for portrait and fashion photographers – as you can search numerous images on the pin boards of other people and collect and save inspirational images for your next photo shoot.
My Pinterest boards.
This platform is also perfect for creating mood boards to share with your creative team on a photo shoot to give your team a better idea of your feel, mood and vision for the outcome of your images.
7. Peruse Your Favorite Magazines and Learn From the Images
You most likely already take time to read your favorite magazines in fashion, travel, science, news, etc. One way to double task your reading is to take a moment to study some of your favorite images in these magazines and determine what it is that draws you to the image. Is it the lighting? The wardrobe? The colors? The architecture?
I shoot portraits and fashion so I study fashion magazines for new techniques and to find inspiration.
Figuring out what’s appealing about an image to you as you flip through magazines forces you to look at photographs more closely, sometimes creating an interest in how the image was produced and how you can reproduce something similar. In addition, magazines can be a great source of inspiration for your next photo walk or photo shoot. I typically tear pages out of fashion magazines of images that inspire me, whether it’s the pose, wardrobe, makeup or hairstyle of the model, or the location, general idea and/or lighting of a set. I scan them and save them in organized folders to peruse later when I am looking for inspiration for my photo shoots.
8. Participate in a Photo Competition
There are many photo contests out there – most with some type of incentive involved – and many themed on things having to do with your everyday life. Contests such as “best pet photo” and “best destination photo” offer you opportunities to either use images from your everyday life or encourage you to shoot more everyday images in your life.
Enter a themed photography competition.
9. Volunteer as a Photo Assistant for a Working Photographer
This is a great opportunity to keep your toe in the photography world by learning new techniques and exposing yourself to the visions of other photographers and how they execute and achieve their visions.
Work as a photo assistant.
Model: Deeksha Chawla
Image courtesy of Robert Olsen
I generally put together TFP shoots once or twice a month and recruit volunteer photography assistants who are willing to come in and work hard with me for 8-9 hours on any given day to not only learn about equipment use and lighting techniques, but to experience and execute my thought process for my creative visions for a shoot.
10. Volunteer Your Photography Services
Do good with your talents. Volunteer at a local animal rescue to photograph the animals that are available for adoption. You can also volunteer at places like hospices to help record for a family – a loved one’s last months, weeks, days and/or final moments.
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Portrait Photography Services
Organizations such as Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep ask for portrait photographer volunteers to help families honor children lost to stillbirth by providing portrait photography services capturing those children in a beautiful photograph for families to have and keep for remembrance.
It’s important to find ways to integrate photography into your everyday life. Not only does it give you a creative outlet but it provides you the opportunity to record those important moments in your life and in the lives of others. Putting your camera down for any extended amount of time can make it even harder to pick it back up again at a later date, and even if you do, you may stand a chance of not having the momentum you once had in capturing extraordinary images.
