Kyle Tunney Photography

I’ve been noticing in the past few weeks more and more friends and people online mentioning they’re going through a photography rut or can’t think of anything to shoot. Well, I’ve a simple solution. Just give up photography. Na, I’m just joshing with ya!! Hopefully some of these ideas will help give you a good kick up the arsé and get your groove on again.

 

 

 

Save photos you like

Save save save! Start cutting pictures out of magazines & newspapers. Head to some of your favourite websites, Google images and type in random words or places, photographer’s websites, stock image sites, flickr, jpgmag and many many more. This is something I started to do in March of last year. I usually file everything by month but would have a few other folders purely for the likes of ‘modelling’, ‘strobist’, ‘photography ideas’ and so on. Organising the files is purely up to you; this is just a suggestion and an insight to how I’ve been doing it. I have close to 500 files, all of which I have yet to look back upon for inspiration. Luckily I’ve had many of my own mini-projects to keep my photography lively.

 

 

 

Remember a good spot.

I’m sure it’s happened to everybody. Your out for the day without the camera and come across an amazing field/landscape on your walk or a hidden street, deep in Dublin city that you’ve never seen before. Instead of just going ‘Damn I wish I had my camera with me’, whip your phone out and take a picture or get out the trusty pen and paper to write down the location/shot. These will all come in handy a few days/weeks/months down the line when you draw a blank and can’t think of something/somewhere to go shooting.

 

 

Of course if you’re walking down that same street and a naked priest goes running down the road with 50 nuns after him wielding rolling pins and crosses, then you can go ‘Damn I wish I had my camera with me’. Nothing will help you then. Although if you’re a fast running you could find a camera shop grab a camera and run after them! I think I’ve just come up with my next project!
Does anybody know fifty nuns or nun look-a-likes?

 

 

Buy a disposable camera

You don’t always need a big camera! Buy a disposable camera and shoot to your hearts content. You may be pleasantly surprised with the results.

 

 

 

Use everyday things

Go about your house picking up normal objects like TV remotes, speakers, candles, your fridge (if your strong enough), cups, chairs etc. Then try to take photos you usually wouldn’t see of these bits and pieces. Or go one step further and bring the items to places you’d never see them. Ever seen a goldfish bowl at the side of a swimming pool? A bowl of weetabix and a spoon on a swing in a playground? A person pointing a TV remote at a lamb in the middle of a field? The possibilities are endless!

 

 

 

Play with your camera

Most people get acustomed to certain dials on their camera and don’t bother to use the rest. I do it myself, I don’t think I’ve taken my camera off manual in four or five months. Wack up the ISO, use your timer and get in your own photos, slow that shutter right down; the posibilities are endless!

 

 

 

Let there be light

Lock yourself in a room closing the curtains to get the room as dark as possible; or even better, do it at night. Pop your camera on your tripod and set a long exposure. Grab your torch and try to spell your name or make a smiley face. If you’re feeling sporty, head outside and run around like a lunatic, throwing your hand everywhere with the torch. I’ve only tried this once myself but it was great craic and I’m really happy with the results. I’m looking forward to trying it again.

 

 

 

Mixing it up

Change how you hold your camera. Shoot with your camera upside down, shoot from the hip, use your bad hand to hold the camera.

 

 

Set yourself challenges

Shoot all day with the tripod attached. With the tripod only having one leg on the ground and the other two leaning on different objects (trees, walls, your leg etc)

 

Find inspiration in the little

No offence intended to any midgets reading! Macro is what I’m talking about of course! Beg, borrow or steal (don’t steal!) a macro lens if you have to. There are so many new things to see and find around us when a macro lens is introduced. Give macro a go!

 

 

 

Post Processing

Find a spot, something you’d usually shoot and then when you get home start process the shot into something else.

 

 

 

Old photos

Cold rainy day out? Not pushed about heading out to take new photos? How about going over some of your old photos and reprocessing them. I often see some old files that I didn’t think were much but now I see them in a different light and proceed to process them.

 

 

 

Two good to be true

Nope, it’s not a typo. Find a suitable image and double it. Not sure what I’m talking about. Look at the photo below. *Poof* Magic!

 

 

 

One last tip

Don’t forget your own photography. Often times when I’ve dropped the camera for a few weeks I start to look back at some of my shots and think “that’s a really nice shot, I wish I could take something like that now”. The only thing stopping you from taking great shots is yourself. Push yourself, your boundaries and your comforts. All your efforts will come back ten fold and it will show in your images.

 

 

A few links

JPGmag
Flickr River
My Own Portfolio
Behance
Erica Leighton
Muratsuyur
Chase Jarvis
Flickr
Cool Hunting(the odd photography thing crops up here)
Boards Photography Forum
Don’t forget to keep an eye on this blog too!

 

Remember, save, save, save!

 

 

Make sure to check out all the past Random Photo threads on boards. Some brilliant work and they’re already up to their eight album. Some amazing photographers and I’ve saved many of their photos in my own Inspiration folder!

 

If you have any other ideas I’d love to hear them, I’m always looking for inspiration. I hope this has helped you get out of your photography rut!

Kyle

Follow me on Twitter - @kjtphotography

This entry was posted at 5:02 am on Friday, January 30th, 2009. She's filed under Have a look | Tutorial.
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