As Creative As You Claim To Be

Many photographers are not that creative. It’s true.

Consider painters – they apply paint to a blank canvas and make something.

Consider writers – they collect words and gather them up to literally make something out of nothing.

Consider photographers – they press buttons. Even the best and most creative ones… are pressing buttons. Whatever is in front of the camera at the time that they press the button ends up as the photo.

We have a saying around here – be as creative as you claim to be. We as photographers like to believe that we’re oh so creative people – when really we’re probably more guilty of lazy copying than any other art medium. And copying badly. Because it’s so easy for us to just copy. We only have to press a button.

What’s worse is that this lack of creativity among photographers spills into our businesses. Look at our blogging.

I photographed a wedding – look at 100 of the photos.
I photographed a family – look at 20 of the photos.
I photographed a baby – look at 15 of the photos.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Look at our promotions.

Win a free portrait session! Discounted portrait session for [Insert Deserving Demographic]! etc., etc., etc.

Are we all talk? Am I all talk? How about this. No more wedding summary/reviews. Instead of the usual ‘I shot this wedding, look at all of the photos’ – how about I NOT do any of that for the rest of 2013? It’s been something I’d been thinking about anyway – and I stopped doing them last July. So why not the rest of this year? Yes. Definitely.

But it isn’t about not doing something. It’s about doing more. To be more creative. Because obviously – if we don’t have our go-to choice, the industry standard option – then we either create something new… or die… well, not die but you know what I mean.

Being a photographer is hard. Being a creative photographer is harder. Being a creative businessman-photographer is harder…er.

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