Ever get that feeling like you are just going through the motions with your photography? This happens a lot to professionals. We get so caught up in making money on it.. on the business aspects of it.. we start to get disconnected from what got us into photography in the first place – the art.

So if you’re losing confidence in your own work, what do you do?

One way is the Self Assignment. If you ever took photography in school, you got homework.. and this is similar in concept, only without the grades.

The idea is simple.. find a topic that you like and enjoy.. something that is outside your usual box.. and shoot it – for fun. If you are a portrait photographer, you might try nature. If you are a nature photographer, you might try still life. If you are still life, you might try portraits… but these are just examples.. The idea is to get out of the box that has you feeling down.

These are some ideas.. by no means is this a comprehensive list, it is just an idea to get you started…

1. Pick an obscure or obvious subject.. wheels, ears, a color, monochromatic.. and make yourself shoot it.. and keep shooting it.
2. Observe how you stand when you typically take images and make yourself take a different perspective.. shoot from low, shoot from high..
3. If you have a prime lens, this one is easy.. with a zoom, a little more difficult.. pick a focal length (I use my 85mm) and go to a park or outside somewhere… shoot ONLY that focal length.

You’ll find this a rewarding exercise if you put some effort into it.. My Ghosts of Youth project was born this way.

Got a favorite idea for getting out of your rut? Share it with me on Twitter @txheadshots