10 Suggestions For Getting Through A Slump

Shot last night after deciding I had to get out, no matter what - followed a lead someone suggested for a new location.


Ever had a period when you couldn't seem to create a good photograph for love or money - everything you shoot turns out to be crap and after a while you lose enthusiasm? Thought so!

My life in photography has been a series of ups and downs, sometimes fairly dramatic (I gave up for 15 years). That said, I haven't had a serious slump for the last five years and perhaps my experience can be of help to a few other 'slumpers'.

1) You may be a dedicated LANDSCAPE (substitute your own main interest here) photographer, but if you want to avoid slumps you need some other areas of possible interest - that's how I got started with bridges and industrial. They had a number of advantages to me - they were closer, were less dependent on weather, and are inherently less common. How do you find your 'backup' enthusiasm? You have to try a variety of subjects and styles of photography which have provided other photographers with lots of subject matter.

2) Change style - are you normally a wide angle shooter - then deliberately force yourself to use your longer lenses - perhaps you will start to see in a different way and add to your repertoire.

3) Change formats - this was an important one to me - no matter how I like to think of myself as a large format landscape photographer - the slowness and methodical nature of large format just doesn't suit the way I shoot - perhaps after 40 years of photography I should finally recognize that. That said, there may well be people who are frustrated with their small format work who would benefit greatly from going to a larger format. Some have found fun again by going to pinhole.

4) Change shape - this is somewhat tied into 3) above but you can of course crop or if shooting digitally stitch, so what about radically changing your images - normally shoot 2:3 ratio, how about cutting out a square hole in cardboard and use it as a viewing tool to deliberately look for square format images. Or go the other way and shoot nothing but panorama ratio images (at least 2:1).

5) Normally shoot for maximum depth of field, everything in focus - how about going out and shooting close to wide open with very selective focus - this will force a complete change in the type of images you take.

6) Change from colour to black and white or visa versa.

7) Stop photographing - give yourself a break, but spend the time (and money) adding to your collection of books of photographs, visiting galleries, swapping prints, and learning.

8) Take a workshop - you may not learn a lot but it's great for getting the interest back up.



9) Normally shoot everything from a tripod, then get rid of it and run around snapping things handheld, or if you don't know one end of a tripod from the other then buy, rent or borrow one and see if slowing down a little actually helps.

10) Regardless of trying to find other subjects to be interested in, what about giving yourself assignments. For example, how about giving yourself one day to create and print the best possible image of the contents of a drawer, of anything in the back lane behind your house, the best possible portrait of your dog (or borrow one). There are a million possible self assignments - think of Bill Brandt with his warped mirror images, Josef Sudek photographing from his window. Your goal isn't a great photograph. Rather the object is the best possible image within the parameters of the assignment - none of the images need to be keepers - but trust me, practising is better than not shooting, and making a rich toned image of a junk drawer is still going to help your other photography.

How about adding your own suggestions on how you get out of a slump in the comments section.