You’re probably thinking, “What the heck kind of a title is this?”

You’d be right, but this is a post dedicated to everyone who ever said that they barely ever get time to go out there and shoot anymore. You bought an expensive camera to shoot images with it, improve your photography, learn, grow, and bud into more of an artist. Yet, life is getting the best of you and your time.

Seriously, stop making excuses.

Every photographer that has ever done a 365 project of some sort has found a way to continually progress in their craft and grow as a photographer overall. But there is no reason why you can’t take a photo a day if not with that snazzy camera, with your phone or tablet.

But you have no subject matter?

Here’s what happens when you shoot anything: your brain starts to think of new ways to make an image better. Maybe it’s a different angle, maybe it’s a different composition or a new approach. Either way, it processes something new and you keep thinking creatively and differently–therefore building new ideas in your head and when you come to the subject matter that you really want to shoot, you tackle it much better when combining it with your other inspiration that you may have.

The point is that yes, your camera isn’t going to shoot itself. It will only do what you tell it to just like any other machine. A camera is just a tool to create images and exercise your creativity; but that creativity won’t exist if you don’t get out there and try to make images–inspiration or not.

Here’s an idea to get you started and to add extra value to this otherwise attempt at motivating you to be more than just a weekend warrior when it comes to shooting:

– Choose one subject for an entire day or a set amount of time.

– Define what that subject is by writing it all down

– Figure out a way to translate its identity in pixels or film

– Try 10 different angles

– Choose three different locations

– Figure out four different lighting scenarios (this can all be done with natural and existing light)

– Do six different compositions

Then when you’re done, go to the images, look at what you did and figure out how you could have made each one tell more about that identity that you wrote down before.

Give it a try–for the artist inside of you.