Last Monday I was having a severe issue of the photog blues. This can happen when your once awesome passion turns into you putting everything into your business and you’re not booking; clients just aren’t tearing down your studio door to book. You’re in a funk, here are some tips on how to get out of that funk.
Shoot a creative non-paid session.
Just get out there! Take a friend, scout out some locations, and shoot like you have never shot before. Get all that creativity out of you and see what happens. I bet something so beautiful will transpire.
Take a break.
This may seem uber strange, but sometimes my best business ideas come from me just getting away from the business. Take a break. Have a 48 hour period where you don’t do anything photography-related and just zen out for a while. This can help clear your mind and get you back into thinking clearly. I don’t know if you’re like me, but sometimes I overthink EVERYTHING, which turns out to be counter-productive. BOO!
Rent some new equipment.
Sometimes you may feel down about your work. Then you get into that dreaded issue of comparing yourself to every photographer under the sun. Try to avoid this at all cost. It doesn’t help your situation at all. Instead, try renting a new lens. This is almost like Christmas in a box. It can definitely help get your creative juices flowing.
Look back at previous work.
Go back through and look at your favorite past sessions to remind you how much you love photography and the clients you work with.
Look back at your very first session/wedding and see how much you’ve grown.
Sometimes you’re so worried about what you’re doing now, that you forget how much you’ve improved since you’ve started. Take a walk down memory lane, maybe do a ‘Then and Now’ post showing a photo from your first session and one from your last session to show your improvement.
Read positive reviews.
Positive affirmation always helps to make me feel better when I’m feeling down. Whenever you get a good review, save it in a new folder in your email or on your computer or in a file in your desk. You never know when the photog blues will hit and you’ll need those words of encouragement to remind you of how awesome you are. Whenever you’re feeling down about your work, go back through and re-read all the reviews from people who are saying good things about your photography.
Always remember positivity is the key to productivity. If you’re always focusing on the negative, you’re never going to get very far. You need to focus on the positive and how far you’ve come.
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Special thanks to Aleshyn Andrei for the beautiful imagery included in this post.
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