To me, true joy in photography isn’t finding inspiration when you’re traveling or in exotic places. Rather, it is about finding joy all around you — finding inspiration to shoot in your everyday life, regardless of how ordinary or mundane your everyday life may be.
1. Shoot colors
You don’t need to shoot exotic subject matter. Just find interesting colors to shoot.
Look for simple color combinations, hues which attract your eyes, or any vibrant colors which you want to shoot.
Look for colorful things, like colorful objects, colorful shoes, colorful signs. Manmade colors, or colors in nature.
Red and green (Gucci colors) are a nice color combination.
Shoot colors at night:
Look for colorful things when shooting urban landscapes:
Or look for colorful gritty textures:
2. Leading lines
A good photography composition to stay inspired: look for leading lines.
3. Shoot your feet
When shooting, look down. Shoot your feet, or stuff on the ground.
4. Photograph while walking
Photograph while walking. Don’t always stop before shooting. Shoot while walking.
Shoot your loved one as they’re walking. Try to simplify the background. Blur is okay too.
5. Photograph water
Fill the frame with water.
6. Shoot the ceiling
7. Shoot out of focus lights
A trick I do with my RICOH GR II: put the camera to macro mode, focus on my hand, then shoot interesting lights, and purposefully make the lights out of focus (bokeh).
I like the mood this creates, and the feeling of mystery.
8. Shoot all the food you eat
When I shoot my food, I appreciate it more. And when I review my photos and see my food photos, I can relive the experience of eating the food, the deliciousness, and sense of gratitude.
9. Photograph strangers
Of course— street photography, make photos of strangers candidly or with permission.
10. Shoot your selfie
Honor thy selfie by shooting more selfies of yourself.
Shoot selfies of your shadow, while you’re walking, reflections of yourself, in the bathroom, in the mirror —whenever, wherever.
When you see dramatic light, shoot -1 or -2 exposure compensation to get dramatic selfies.
Conclusion
Above all, shoot because you love life. Shoot because you love YOUR LIFE.
Whenever you make a photograph, you are affirming life. You are saying,
I’m so grateful to be alive, and I’m going to show my appreciation for life by photographing it.
Remember the point of photography isn’t to become the world’s best photographer, but to live a happier life.
For myself, the more I shoot mundane and ordinary photos of my everyday life, the happier, more joyful, and grateful I am.
It doesn’t even have to be photography. Make videos on your GoPro or phone, and just document the fun and mundane parts of your everyday life.
Shoot everyday like it were your last, and shoot everyday like it were the first day you were alive. Shoot like a child, without any preconceived notions of what makes a “good” or “bad” photo. Just have fun.
For more inspiration and assignments to make more photos of your everyday life, buy STREET HUNT and HOW TO SEE, to never run out of visual inspiration.
Also don’t miss out on the limited edition HAPTIC PRESS BUNDLE: a reminder to shoot more and worry less about gear #BUYBOOKSNOTGEAR
JUST SHOOT IT!
ERIC