A Classic Creativity Exercise

I've been feeling a little blocked creatively of late - it's something that always happens when I am feeling particularly busy or overwhelmed, and picking up my camera can feel more like a chore than a nice hobby!

At times like these, or just when you feel you need a little push to try something new,  a creativity exercise is a fantastic photography project to undertake to help lift you up out of a rut. 

The following is a classic artists exercise, and it's helpful regardless of what stage of your photography journey you are on. If you are a beginner, it's a great way to begin to see light and shadows and so on, and if you are more advanced, it can be challenging to come up with different compositions or use of light.  Either way, it's very simple!

Here's what you do: 

1) TAKE ONE SIMPLE SUBJECT

First of all, find a simple subject to photograph.  The classic artist's choice of an egg is actually a brilliant option as you can do so much with it, but you can use any object such as a lemon, a bottle, a fork and so on.  Just make sure it's a simple, everyday object. 

2) TAKE 5 DIFFERENT PHOTOS

The challenge is then to take 10 completely different photographs of your subject.  Think about using light, compositional techniques, adding depth, or using color and texture to add interest to your subject. This post on 10 compositional tools to add impact to your photos should give you some ideas if you are stuck. 

3) PLAY! 

Feel free to play around with your subject -  for example with a lemon, slice it and photograph the inside, or for eggs, crack the shells and photograph the contents or the shells themselves.   You could also add other elements into the scene,  or change out the background, or move the item to a different location. Remember, there are no rules as such with this exercise - if you want to make it harder, impose some - for example, keeping to the same location. 

As an example, this is the resulting photographs from my little exercise - all photographs where taken in exactly the same location, at the same time,  but just changing the images by playing with backgrounds and breaking the eggs. 

If you try this exercise, I hope you enjoy it! If you fancy another creativity exercise, try this one on for size: photography a day in your life.  

For reference, here are some of the images I took when I did this exercise! 

Want to get your hands on even MORE creative challenges? Then grab this FREE download which has 12 different creative exercises and projects - one for each month of the year! You'll never feel stuck or in a rut again :)