Keeping Your Passion for Photography Alive

We have all felt the doldrums creep into our photography whether it's a career or a hobby. Follow these 4 tips to ignite your passions again:

1. Carry a camera everywhere. As an African Wildlife and Nature photographer, I usually use very large or extremely specific lenses, and as such, I am not accustomed to walking through life with a camera around my neck. This is primarily because of the the fear of leaving a crazy expensive camera and lens combo in the car and having it stolen. Recently, I began carrying around a Nikon D7500 which is a back up camera with one of my old lenses I never got around to selling. I wanted to get away from the waiting game that's so prevalent with shooting wildlife, nature and landscape images. 

2. Shoot images in a completely different genre or style to challenge yourself. Years ago, I started out shooting film and fell in love with the rich saturation of Fuji Provia and Velvia films. Because of that, I never really dabbled in black and white photography, or certainly not street photography which has become such a rage. I recently decided to try my hand at both which forced me to do some discovery about styles, methods and a different type of post production. After learning a little about each, I booked a hotel in Tucson Arizona for the weekend and planned to enjoy the weekend with my family taking a few photos along the way as we explored. I had a riot and felt a new connection to the camera. I began carrying the camera on most weekends and experimenting in Lightroom and Photoshop to explore the possibilities. I learned that everything I already knew still applied, but an entirely new set of skills would be required. 

Image above:  My daughter was leaning against a column at an old church as she waited for me to take a few images. I asked to her to move to a different column so I could utilize the Rule of Thirds and snapped the picture.  Images below: The electric bike caught my eye and was shot as the sun was setting on a vacant street. The 3rd image is the converging lines into the sun at the Tempe ASU campus.

3. Search out new photography trends in the marketplace and give them a try. For example, a new rage is to shoot portraits with huge blur in the background referred to as bokeh. Did you know you can buy a used Nikon 50mm F1.4 AF lens for $120 on ebay? This would be a great starter lens to explore this genre with. How about outdoor beauty portraiture with a Godox flash and High Speed Sync? 

4. Experiment.  Find the joy through new photography styles and skills. I have found I am the happiest when I am consistently learning, but my focus has always been in improving the areas I specialize in. Jumping out of my comfort zone and genre has been a challenge but insanely rewarding. It's a new set of rules and wonderful new possibilities. Because of that, I felt the passion return to my photography, and I learned a few things that will transfer over to my Wildlife and Nature Photography.

So step out of your box, start learning and ignite your passions.

Good luck and good light to you.

About David Williams: I specialize in African Wildlife and Indigenous People Cultural Photography. See my work at https://www.davidwilliamsphotography.com https://davidwilliams.photoshelter.com/index or Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/david_williams_photography_