How to be creative

[Matt. K]

I may have posted something on this topic a long time ago...I'm not sure. But spurred on my Yi-Ps plea for help with food photography I thought it might be a good time to repost. As a professional photographic educator A common remark by many of my students is, "I'm not creative"
Anyone can learn to be creative if shown how. There are techniques and systems that can help you be creative and by far the easiest is the list technique. This technique is my own creation and I have used it many times and found it to be extremely fruitful....as have many of my students. It works like this.....Presume that you have been given an assignment/photo task to come up with an image or concept involving footware. how do you arrive at a creative concept? I advise students to make a list of all the different types of footware...so, shoes, boots, slippers, thongs, football boots, gumshoes, ballet points, flippers, high heels, joggers, walkers, snow shoes etc etc. Then make a list of the types of people who would wear these things. dancers, climbers, swimmers, runners, pretty women, slobs, farmers etc. Then think about about a farmer wearing high heels or flippers. try for a mismatch. These lists help get the imagination fertile and from that comes creativity. This works for any type of subject and gets non creative thinkers coming up with concepts they normally would not have the capacity to invent. It's a start and better than nothing.
Hope this is useful.

[PiroStitch]

nice tips matt and thanks for the ideas

agree with the fact that you don't have to be born creative to be creative. It's all about experimenting and exploring.

[Antsl]

Hi Matt,
Years ago.... don't ask how long ago ... I was working as a go for boy at a studio in New Zealand. One day a North Island photographer was visiting and I asked her what I should do to become a professional photographer and her comment to me was to go and study at the best photography school in the country. I then asked her what she thought made the best photographers and her comment was "someone who has experienced everything ..... and then in her next breath she said to me ... "go sleep with a man"! As yet I have not done that which may be why I have some ways to go as a photographer!!!

As for being creative, the most important thing is to have an open and active mind ....

Your mind really needs to be open and aware of most things that are available to you... whether they be people, props, moments or even just good light. Being aware of these things is one thing but the other is having a mind that can put things together and do something with them while the opportunity exists. I have to say that on more than one occasion (more like hundreds or thousands) I have walked away from a shoot and realised an hour or even a week later that I missed an opportunity.

I do think you can improve your creativity .... you just need to learn as much as you can about photographic technique (so you know how to get the most out of the camera), you need to learn and understand the environment you are in and you need to process all the information in a timely manner to make the most of the opportunities..... practice, practice, practice.

[Matt. K]

Hi Antsl !
I agree. One of the things I did over and over was photograph things that I knew would not photograph well. I'm a very slow learner and it took me a long time to learn that some things will never make a good photograph. I now know what does not photograph well and that's a lesson hard learnt. I see my students trying to photograph the same things and wryly think " go for it...you have to learn your own lessons". Given a choice between photographing a small pile of suger or a paper clip...I'll take the paper clip any day!

[PiroStitch]

Given a choice between photographing a small pile of suger or a paper clip...I'll take the paper clip any day!

Mr. K, what about setting fire to the sugar?

[Blokeman]

Nice post Matt, very useful. BTW I'm not creative

[radar]

Thanks Matt for the info and thanks Antsl for your perspective on it to.

Piro, you carry you name well

[whitey]

thanks for the tip matt, finding these posts great reading for a newbie. One of the concerns I have is that I wont be able to be creative and will be dissappointed with my pics. Nice to see there may be hope for me yet

[dm_td5]

Thanks Matt for sharing this simple concept. I continually find myself feeling very creatively challenged. Definitely going to give this method a try.

[Manta]

Sage words indeed Matt. Great advice not only for getting one's head into the creative process to begin with but also for kick-starting a photographer back into the swing of things after a period in the inspiration doldrums.

Thanks!

[Oneputt]

I think that I am going through a drought

[Yi-P]

Great advise Matt!!

I think the best of creativity comes with an open minded approach filled with inspirations. Always see things from different sides and you'd eventually get a bigger picture.

[big pix]

I think that I am going through a drought

....... there has got to be a GOOD line here....... but I will leave it alone