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Break The Rut by Russ Burden If you find yourself in need of some photographic inspiration, read these novel ideas from Russ Burden. Article rating: 9.09

When you’re down, there’s only one direction in which to go and that’s up. So when you reach that down point in your photography, it’s time to celebrate as things can only get better! Hold a party in your mind thinking about all the ways you can get out of your Rut. So many positive things can come out of being in a rut, it’s a wonder we don’t wish them upon ourselves more often! So what can you do to get out of a rut? First off, as I said, celebrate the occasion as a whole new aspect of photography may become a passion. Celebrate as you’ll be creating new and exciting images. Celebrate in that you’re about to try something new. Celebrate in that once you’re out of your rut, you may fall back into another allowing you many more celebrations! Here are some suggestions to get you on the road to celebration should you experience the photographic doldrums.

Work a Different Angle: Break away from the obvious composition. You’ve shot thousands  and they all look the same. If the standard photographic rule says that  A+B equals C for a given situation, try using a D in place of A or B. For instance in portraiture, the “rule” says the subject should be looking at the camera. If you like taking images of people, break away from this rule and photograph the subject from behind, from the side, with the subject looking away, with a skewed horizon, or any other way you can think of that deviates from your standard compositions. Anything and everything goes.  Press the shutter even if you think it may not work. If it’s a bust, the delete key is a mouse stroke away.

Use a Point and Shoot: Realize that every time you press the shutter, you don’t have to create a masterpiece. In other words, have some fun out there. Leave the SLR at home. Go out for a walk with a point and shoot and snap away as if you just bought a camera and everything before you is a new subject. Don’t be conscientious of looking silly if you lay down on the sidewalk to try a close up shot of your neighbor’s lawn. There is nothing in front, to your side or behind you that shouldn’t be photographed. So what if it’s a snapshot, you’re having fun. On my most recent Nature Photo Tour to the Tetons and Yellowstone this spring, I played with my Panasonic TZ3, a point and shoot I was loaned in that I’m   teaching classes for the Digital Photo Academy (www.digitalphotoacademy.com) and took some wildlife shots using it instead of my standard equipment. I chuckled when I heard the simulated point and shoot shutter sound. But I was having fun. What blew me away was the quality of the photo. So for the rest of the morning, I used the point and shoot right along side my SLR and had one of the most memorable shooting experiences in a long time.  (see image of bison)

Assign Yourself a Subject / Try Something New: If you’re primarily a ______ shooter (fill in the blank), get out and shoot anything and everything but this subject. The idea is to get you to think out of the box and realize there’s a plethora of subject matter beyond your comfort zone. Not only do I encourage you to temporarily abandon your standard subject matter, I implore you to try a technique you never utilized. Dust off and remove the cobwebs from the flash, dig for the filter that hasn’t seen daylight for the past five years, walk the environment in the evening with a tripod and set the shutter speed to those so seldomly visited ones below 1/4 second, photograph nothing but silhouettes, use the lens that’s hidden in the closet you thought you’d sell on Ebay but never got around to it. How about breaking out the film camera and shooting a roll reminiscing about the “old days?” Regardless of what you choose, make a choice so you’ll get out and realize that the rut you thought you may be in has just opened a whole new door to your passion for photography.

To learn more about this topic, join me on one of my Photographic Nature Tours. Visit www.russburdenphotography.com and click on the NATURE TOURS button for more information. Also, pick up a copy of my new book, Amphoto’s Complete Book of Photography. You can purchase a signed copy directly from me or visit your local book store or Amazon. Contact me at rburden@ecentral.com to order your signed copy.

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