“Ordinary to Extraordinary”
I didn’t want to become a photographer or an artist; that wasn’t my intention. But after picking up a camera one day, I fell in love with photography. Actually, I was so in love with photography that I became obsessed with it. I stayed up into the night learning as much as I could. So years later, when I thought I had reached a photographic plateau, I felt hopelessly lost.
Did I lose my edge? Did I lose my passion? I felt like I had lost that desire to take pictures; I lost that fire that had once burned inside of me. I was creatively stuck. I still had portrait and weddings to do so I did try to create something wonderful for my clients. But the something wonderful was for other people and never for me.
I knew I had to get out of this rut, but how? I did it by forcing myself to take the following five steps. To anyone out there facing this same problem I did, I hope trying to take these same steps will help you as well. Here they are:
- Pick Up Your Camera. First, I actually picked up my camera. For me. No one else. I took “dumb” pictures of things around the house and outside. Honestly, they were terrible pictures. They were terrible because for once I didn’t care how they looked; I just enjoyed taking them. Then I bought myself a new lens, because why not?
- Challenge Yourself. I also started a creative challenge for myself. As I went through this rut, I made myself do a session that portrayed my raw emotions each month. I called it the “Emotions Project.” It was unlike anything I had chosen to photograph before; it wasn’t easy to put my thoughts and feelings on display each month.
- Talk It Out. Another thing I did was talk about my fears to a close friend. I remember telling her, “Hey, I feel lost. I feel like selling all my camera gear and just forgetting this whole thing.” She looked at me closely as she waited for the real truth to come out. Finally, I admitted, “I don’t think I’m good enough.”
- Don’t Compare. Why did I think I wasn’t good enough? Because I compared myself to other great photographers. They were great, well educated, and had years of experience. But in my mind, I was just okay, had no photography education, and had less than five years under my belt. So, I stopped comparing myself to them. They weren’t me, I wasn’t them. I unfollowed photography pages online that were making me insecure. I decided to listen to the advice of my heart: follow the steps of great leaders, but wear your own shoes.
- Selfishly Create. Finally, I asked my friend to help me with a session for my “Emotions Project.” This session was just for me, no one else. I basically ripped an entry in my photography journal about what I was feeling and made her read it. I wanted the session to portray what I had experienced during my photography rut and how I had come out of it. I called this session “Ordinary to Extraordinary,” which describes exactly how I feel about my journey past this difficult, creative rut.
There are no right or wrong ways to get out of a rut or burnout. There isn’t some magic formula that will work for everyone. These five steps worked for me, and I’m truly glad they did; otherwise my gear would have been on eBay, and I still would have been lost and unhappy. The best advice for anyone seeking lost creativity and confidence is really cliché but so true. Ready for it? Be the best version of you because you were made for greatness.
Learn more about Katelyn of KMC Photography:
I’m Katelyn, owner of KMC Photography, and I’m a portrait and wedding photographer in the UP (Upper Peninsula of Michigan). I don’t want to be just another photographer, so I constantly try to challenge myself and create work that my clients and I love. I love laughter, photography, family, summertime sun, friends, and food, in no particular order (food is first).
KMC Photography | Website
