When I started out in photography, I wanted to be a landscape photographer, but I soon realised that I didn’t have the proper camera or lenses to do justice to the landscapes I encountered.

I then moved closer to home, photographically speaking, and began to do most of my photography in my local woodland. From there I became fascinated with the tiny landscape of macro photography, while occasionally taking the opportunity to do urban landscape photography.

All these types of photography offer huge potential for image making yet I have often been in the situation where I want to go out with my camera, but my head says, ‘Why bother? There’s nothing left to photograph’.

Of course, that’s not true, and there is always something to photograph, but sometimes we need a slight change of mindset to see that reality more clearly.

The reasons for this lack of inspiration can be varied and complex,  but whatever the reasons, I have found that these three techniques have the potential to get me out of my self-imposed rut and start believing in my photography again.

3 THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU LACK PHOTOGRAPHY INSPIRATION

# Do a photography walk without your camera 

If you lack inspiration and feel that there’s nothing to photograph, then go on a photography walk without your camera. I know that when I do this, I am guaranteed to see a potential image and regret not having my camera with me!

On this walk, pay attention to what is around you. Watch out for things you are drawn to; anything that encourages you to stop and take notice. It might be the way in which the sun is lighting a particular angle of a building, or shadows cast on a subject. It might be something out of place or something ordinary that has a certain attraction.

While you are not under pressure to take a photograph, you will begin to see the subjects that attract your attention.

I recently went for a walk with my dog. I thought I would be walking down some country lanes but I came across what appeared to be an abandoned activity centre. I did regret not having my camera as I could have captured lots of images for my current project.

When I go out for a walk without my camera, I always know that I have my phone camera as backup, so if I see something worth photographing, and I did on this occasion, and often do, all is not lost!

# Photograph anything, anytime, anywhere

I used to only do my photography in certain locations and at certain times of the day. I also confined myself to photographing certain subjects that fitted into my photography ‘plan’. But this only contributed to a lack of inspiration at times as I was not open to photographing different subjects at different times of the day in any location.

So, my philosophy now is to photograph anything, anytime, anywhere.

This means that I have given myself access to numerous locations and an abundance of potential images that I previously denied myself.

# Let go of expectations (your own and those of others)

Failure to believe that there is always something to photograph may come down to our expectations.

I often felt that there was no point in going out with my camera if I didn’t come home with something worthwhile. And worthwhile meant an image that I would be happy to show to others on social media or on my website.

After all, I didn’t want others to think that I was a bad photographer!

But these expectations can keep us stuck. They can prevent us from taking chances, experimenting, making new discoveries, and just enjoying our photography.

Today when I go out with my camera, I just want to enjoy the process of photography and have fun.

I want to discover new ways of photographing that appeal to me.

I want to enjoy finding unique ways of photographing subjects that may seem mundane and ordinary.

I want to shoot the subjects and scenes that draw my eye and tell a story.

I want to show my own personal photography perspective to the world and not be concerned that it doesn’t fit the perspective of others.

BONUS TIP - START A PROJECT

Starting a project is often a good way to recover your lost inspiration. It gives you a tangible reason to get out with your camera and work on finding suitable images for your chosen theme. I have been working on a project for some months, as mentioned above, and will discuss in a future post how I got started with the project and how it has helped keep me inspired to go out with my camera, even when I think there's nothing to photograph.

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If you often get the sense that there is nothing to photograph, try these ideas and see if they might change your mind.