Do something different with your photography

Doing something different isn’t always easy. Sometimes, I think we too easily give up on our ideas that may be different. Or we give up on taking the camera out because the weather isn’t ideal.

How about we stop doing these things? How about we just keep going, working on that idea a little bit at a time and take that camera out no matter what. Can we do that?

What happens when we keep doing

Sparks happen. New things happen. We are pushed to create new things in different ways. We end up with images we wouldn’t have had if the weather was how we wanted it and envisioned it. If you still want that particular image, in that particular weather, go back and try again. But, don’t stop yourself from creating anyway.

My personal example of different

I’ve had an idea for a project in my mind for several years. Have I ever acted on it? Nope. Why? I don’t have any good reason for that. It’s local, it’s not difficult and it’s within one of my favorite genres to photograph. And yet, I hadn’t created one single image for it.

The project is to photograph the local architecture in the town I live in. There are some great structures from the late 1800s, a couple of art deco buildings and a few other interesting options around town.

Then, a few weeks ago I had the assignment to photograph in a different way than I would normally.

Immediately I thought about how I could photograph architecture differently. I’ve wanted to try the Multiple Exposure technique on architecture for a long time and just never did.

So, I grabbed my camera and my Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD Lens on a dreary, misty morning and headed to downtown Elgin.

The process

It was drizzly out so not ideal for what I had initially planned for the project of capturing details of the buildings. But perfect for zooming in and creating shapes with those same details. It was also one of those days I just needed to get up from my desk and get out.

Wandering around I chose buildings and areas that were interesting. Places of light and dark or color contrast that I knew would translate well when each frame was placed on the next. I did this all in-camera. The Canon 6D has the capability to create nine exposures in one frame, the majority of the images I created were less than that. Most cameras today have an in-camera multiple exposure function.

How I operate is by feeling, a lot. What I think will work, will look good in the end. This, for me, was not a precise exercise, but that doesn’t mean it was entirely haphazard either. For some images, I just randomly moved the camera after each click of the shutter.

On other shots, I was purposeful and deliberate about it. In the clock image, for example, I kept the face in the center of the frame. I was also careful not to include too much of that white/gray sky as I knew it would not work well.

Keep going and do something different

The lesson in all of this is to just keep going. Do one small thing each day to get you where you want to be. Try something new or different to shake things up a bit. Your results may be crap and you may delete all the images. I have, plenty of times. But I’m out there, doing, going on and continuing to practice my craft.