I'm not sure when or why but I felt I was creatively lacking a few weeks ago.
My writing felt flat, my photos were few and far between, and the prospect of writing new jokes was overwhelming and burdensome.
I came up with a lot of ideas, articles and stories I should write, interesting photos to shoot, a few premises with legs. But the ideas just went into my notebook or in my phone and I left them there to marinate, hoping they'd somehow produce themselves.
It was a full-blown creative rut.
I made the age-old excuses: "I'm busy with my full-time job", "I just don't have the energy", "if it were actually a good idea, I'd be throwing myself into it", and, the classic, "I'll do it later".
I don't think there's a writer/photographer/ comic/ creative in the world that hasn't gone through this-- at least that's what I tell myself to keep from spiraling too much-- but the good ones, the ones that keep going and actually make careers out of their art forms, are the ones that recognize they're in a rut and try to do something about it.
So, about a week ago, I was sitting on the couch, watching a cooking show or a climbing documentary or something, and decided to challenge myself.
I decided to produce at least one photo everyday.
It won't necessarily fix everything, my writing may still be flat and my jokes may still land like the Hindenburg, but at least I'll be putting myself into a creative headspace everyday.
I can't remember which writer's memoir I read-- could've been Stephen King or Mark Twain or any of the other random authors-- but in it they said the key to inspiration and creativity is the routine of placing yourself into that creative mindset. Inspiration and creativity is essentially a muscle that needs to be exercised every day in order to get better and build more creativity and inspiration.
In a way, I'm challenging myself and this idea that the more often you're creative, the more likely you are to be inspired.
Over the seven days, I fired off 575 frames and produced at least seven decent photos. They weren't all, as Peter McKinnon calls them, "bangers" but I worked through the lack of energy, time, or inspiration.
If nothing else, the daily challenge will give me something to write about. Whether it's my frustrations with the process or the pride when I find a shot and nail it.
To keep myself accountable, I'm posting the pictures on Twitter everyday (you can follow along here) and trying to post daily on Instagram.
This will be another platform with which I can keep myself accountable.
So enjoy the photos but call me on my bullshit when I half-ass a photo or complain about being too busy. We're all too busy but we all should prioritize the things that bring us happiness and peace.
Keep Your Feet Moving
Frames This Week: 575
Total Frames: 575
Day 1- April 26
I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to shoot, didn’t even have the slightest idea of what types of photos I wanted to get.
But it was a nice day and Remmy always likes going on walks so I grabbed her leash, a roll of poop bags, and my camera.
Oregon didn’t have a particularly harsh winter so some of the flowers started to bloom early and a lot of them have been in full bloom for the better part of a month.
Remmy and I walked around the neighborhood and I shot some of the prettier flowers while she sniffed everything in a six foot radius. We found a small grassy area with a giant oak tree. Remmy managed to sit still long enough for me to snap a few frames.
On the way home I found a batch of white tulips and picked one and put it in Remmy’s collar. She tolerated my shenanigans for a little bit and then we played fetch.
One of the last shots I took was her taking a break and giving her best puppy smile.
The portraits of her landed her a job as a brand ambassador for Pack Leashes so if you’re in the market for a new leash or collar you can use GOAT20 to get 20% off on their site.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad first day.
But first days are rarely that bad.
Day 2- April 27
Monday was a rough day.
Next to Tuesdays, Mondays are the worst day of the week.
After wrestling tree limbs for eight hours, my energy level was pretty close to zero. All I wanted to do was enjoy a bourbon or two, eat dinner, and just relax.
I knew if I didn’t grab my camera before I ate, I wouldn’t end up shooting anything, I looked for something small around the house.
The tulip I’d used in Remmy’s collar the day before was on the counter in a glass of water.
A friend of mine, and fellow photographer, told me about wanting to take better macros and how he did his best without a proper flash. Having just gotten a new flash, I decided to test it out.
It was fun trying to find the best angle with the right settings on the flash and really bringing out the detail of the now-dying flower. The lack of energy I’d felt before I started shooting went away as soon as that first frame was fired off.
That may have been the most important day of the week. It would’ve been easy to just say “fuck it” and not taken any photos. I mean, it was only the second day and I hadn’t really invested anything into the project and only a handful of people knew what I was trying to do.
But I pushed through and got what I think are some pretty great shots.
Day 3- April 28
This was probably the easiest day of the week. I realized a while ago that if I didn’t bring my camera to work, there would inevitably be a shot that I wished I could’ve gotten with my actual camera rather than settling for my phone.
We were doing a drop and leave of some very large and very dead Poplars on a guy’s property meaning we were just cutting them down and leaving the remains for the home owner to deal with.
Near the end of the day, after three of the four or five trees had been felled, I grabbed my camera and started shooting.
As I was shooting, my boss cut a limb that slipped and started to fall out of his reach. Somehow, he managed to grab the limb before it crashed into the roof— which was the point of our removing the trees in the first place.
The only thing I don’t like about the shot is that you can only sort of see the climber in the shot but that’s kind of the price you pay for getting shots of really, really, ridiculously tall trees.
Day 4- April 29
At this point I was feeling pretty good with the shots I’d gotten so I decided to add an extra layer of creativity.
After taking a handful of shots of my post-work bourbon and not being completely satisfied— although they turned out better than I thought— I borrowed some Disney stuffed animals and tried to take a series that I found hilarious (though my niece would probably cry if she saw them.
I’m not a fan of Frozen.
So I made a scene where Mickey was annoyed with the Frozen franchise and decided to contract Goofy and Mater to take out one of the most popular characters from said franchise.
The lighting and the backdrop definitely need some work but I was working with what I had at the time. The resulting photos aren’t exactly what I envisioned and are no where near perfect but the objective of a funny series was mostly realized.
And before you ask, there is a lot wrong with my sense of humor and yes I’m okay with it.
Day 5- April 30
One of the cool things about wrestling trees is getting to see so many different parts of the area that I’m unfamiliar with or haven’t really taken the time to look at.
On the way back from a job a couple months ago I noticed a barn along the side of a north-south road. I’m a sucker for trying to get good sunset photos and an even bigger sucker for older, somewhat worn down barns. This barn seemed to satisfy both of my vices.
I was a bit upset to have to do this particular shot on a weeknight when I had to be up for work the next day, especially since the days are getting longer and the sunset is getting even later but it was one of the last evenings for the week that was supposed to be clear.
In December I drove three hours to a light house to try to get a sunset shot there but there was too much cloud cover and I couldn’t see more than a few hundred meters in front of me and there wouldn’t be much of a sunset. The forecast for that day was at 85%.
On this particular day, the forecast called for 17% or basically one cloud.
Most good sunset photos have a decent set of clouds in them and those clouds are often why you get the deep red and orange sunsets that make you want to grab an expensive bottle of wine and just sit.
This was not one of those sunsets.
So I learned that 85% cloud cover is too much and 17% is not nearly enough. Like Goldielocks I’m still searching for the cover that’s “juuuuust right”.
Day 6- May 1
This was a bit of a tough day in terms of having time to get good shots. Most of the day, I’d been going over my set for a virtual comedy show and hadn’t really let myself think about what sort of shots I wanted to get.
After stressing out about my set and then doing the show, I was emotionally pretty wiped.
So I tried to give a bit of an inside glimpse into the mind of a comedian by showing my set list and my “anti-anxiety medication”.
It was a good set and I had a lot of fun doing it.
Day 7- May 2
I don’t remember the photographer but they were really good at showing rain and snowfall in their photos and since it rained most of the day, I attempted to capture rain as it fell.
During the one snowfall this winter, I tried to capture the flakes in a cityscape but was mostly unsuccessful. A different photographer friend suggested using a flash— after I had already started editing and the snow had stopped.
Not to be thwarted I took my new flash out and tried, once again, to capture the rain.
Most of the shots where individual rain drops were visible didn’t really blow my skirt up in terms of composition and intrigue.
So I focused on drops that had already fallen which gave a nice contrast in feel to the flower photos I’d taken earlier in the week.
