5 Projects to Develop Your Creative Photography Skills

Many photographers reach a point where they feel like they are stuck in a rut and are producing the same pictures over and over again. A great way to take your photography in new directions is to tackle some projects. Some photography projects can go on for a year or more, but others can be completed in an afternoon. The following five projects will help you to develop your creative photography skills.

1. Self portraits.

   Experimenting with self portraits is a challenging and rewarding subject for the photographer. Self portrait photography can test your technical skills, but it also forces you to think creatively as you look for ways to capture your personality in a picture. Paying attention to background, lighting, posing and mood will sharpen many of your core photography skills. An effective self portrait should say something about your character and how you see yourself, and shooting one can be a powerful learning experience.

2. Candlelight photography.

   Photographs taken in candlelight have a beautiful romantic quality. Candlelight photography is a great way to develop skills for shooting in low light. You will need a tripod to ensure shots aren’t ruined by camera shake. Select a low ISO setting and a wide aperture. Focussing can be difficult in low light, and you may need to switch lights on to set the scene up before shooting. Portraits and still life subjects are perfect for candlelight photography, and shots can take on the look of classic paintings.

3. Capture motion.

   Photography generally involves freezing moments in time in fractions of a second. Shooting at longer shutter speeds, it’s possible to illustrate motion in a photograph. For example, a long exposure shot of a seascape can capture the motion of the waves. Neutral density filters, which inhibit light entering the lens, are useful tools for this style of photography. You can also create very interesting effects by using a camera’s flash to freeze a moment of action within a long exposure picture.

4. Shoot reflections.

   This is a great project for developing an eye for photography and learning to open your mind to potential pictures around you. The subject for this project is shooting reflections, and it’s down to your own creative interpretation. Shots of streetlights reflected in puddles or people reflected in shop windows are two examples. You can focus on colors and look for abstract shots, or use the reflections as one element of a landscape picture.

5. Shoot panoramas.

   Panoramic photography has become very popular over the past year thanks to mobile phone apps and software to make the process much easier. Landscapes are the classic subject for panoramas, but the approach works for many different styles of photography. Manual exposure works best for creating panoramas, and ensures consistent exposure across the different shots used to create the picture. Vertical panoramas work very well with some subjects. The composite shots are easily combined in Photoshop or other image editing software.

If you want to really stretch your creative and photographic skills, try combining these projects together. For example, shoot a panoramic picture where you are the subject as a self portrait.

Written by: Kaizen Marketing