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5 Personal Assignments To Keep You Challenged

25085998 M image Personal assignments have various benefits and I strongly recommend them for a number of reasons. First of all, you don’t always have the outside challenge, from a client or other sources and for some photographers, it’s enough to keep them on the couch and their cameras in bags. That’s not the way to progress, and I’m sure you are aware of that. Second, a personal challenge can diversify you portfolio. You shouldn’t be afraid to expand and try new things. Change is part of how you survive in this business. Third, it will force your creativity to come out and do some exercise.

  1. Shift to 180

Often the biggest step you can make in an evolutionary path is revolutionary change. The way to translate that into your photography is to do something totally different than what you have done so far. Start fresh and approach a new kind of photography. If nature photography is your thing, maybe it’s time you started photographing people. If portraits are your bread and butter, why not give fine art a try? Put yourself in an uncomfortable position where you are insecure about your photography and give it your best. Don’t quit after the first, probably failed attempts. Keep going and become good at something totally different.

  1. Shoot a portrait series

Portrait series are awesome projects. Not only is it a very powerful genre, but it is also popular . If you put together a portrait series that’s interesting and it gets seen enough, its chances of going viral online will increase and ultimately that will lead to more people knowing who you are and what you’re about.

  1. Go to a new place

There’s nothing like going to a new place to boost your creative thinking and to challenge yourself. When everything around you is new, you’re thinking also tends to renew itself. It can be a planned getaway, but from my experience, the best road trips and getaways are spontaneous. Take a few days off, grab one or two cameras and hit the road. You might have that one place you’ve wanted to see for many years, or you might just go and stop wherever you feel like shooting.

  1. Cover an event

This is something I recommend especially for studio photographers and other shooters who are used to directing and controlling everything in their photographs. Documenting what you see without having the possibility to interfere can be a great and very useful mental exercise. It can be a festival, a wedding or street protests. Whatever suits you as long as you are careful not to get hurt.


  1. Find a good story

I would like you to think about this as more than just a temporary challenge. Photography is a lot about storytelling. Everyone loves a good story and photography makes it easier for people to understand stories. Find a local hero, an old man with war stories or find out how tough it is to be a firefighter. There are great stories all around you. All you have to do is find the right way to photograph them. It can be one of them sot rewarding experiences in your career.

 Also Read:  41 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULDN’T DATE A PHOTOGRAPHER

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