“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”
— Henri Cartier-Bresson
The greatest challenge we face as photographers isn’t learning how to operate our cameras, mastering the complexities of composition or understanding the subtleties of light.
It’s remaining engaged long enough for those skills to become second nature.
Creativity is rarely a constant. Our enthusiasm ebbs and flows. Sometimes we can’t wait to get out with our cameras. At other times, weeks can pass without us taking a single photograph.
We know that practice makes perfect. But how do we keep practising when the enthusiasm simply isn’t there?
The Inspiration Trap
There’s a tendency among creative people to wait until inspiration strikes before setting out to create something.
But that makes inspiration sound rather like a bus. Wait around long enough and, sooner or later, one will turn up.
Unfortunately, inspiration doesn’t run to a timetable. And there’s no guarantee that one will ever come along.
The trouble is, the longer we go without taking photographs, the harder it becomes to get started again. We lose momentum, our confidence begins to waver and photography gradually slips down our list of priorities.
The biggest mistake we make is assuming that inspiration must come before action.
Make a Wish Commitment List
Inspiration is a wonderful thing. It feels almost magical when it strikes. But commitment and discipline are far more useful to the creative process, even if they sound considerably less romantic.
The novelist Graham Greene famously committed to writing 500 words a day, five days a week. Whether he felt inspired or not, he sat down and wrote.
We can apply the same principle to photography.
Rather than making a wish list of photographs we’d like to take, make a commitment list of things we’re actually going to do.
Decide when, where and how often you’ll take photographs. Put it in your diary.
“I want to take more photos” is a wish. “I will take photos every Saturday morning” is a commitment.
Don’t wait until you feel like it. Make a commitment to turn up.
The Happy Accident
Something unexpected happens when we stop waiting for inspiration.
We begin to notice things. Our curiosity is awakened. One discovery leads to another. And another.
Before we know it, we’re thoroughly absorbed in the creative process. And that’s the happy accident.
By making a commitment, we create the opportunity for inspiration to find us.
Because, often, inspiration isn’t what gets us out with our cameras. It’s the reward for doing so.
Creativity will always ebb and flow.
There will be days when it comes easily. And then there will be days when we need to dig a little deeper.
Creative people often fall into the trap of waiting for inspiration. But inspiration is an unreliable bedfellow.
If we are to remain engaged long enough to master our craft, we need to make a commitment to keep showing up.
And when we do, we often discover that the inspiration we were looking for was waiting for us all along.
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