Rainy Day Shoots — A Lesson on Motivation

One of the biggest challenges I face with photography (or almost anything else creative) is being motivated to do it.  I find it hard to find the motivation to get the camera out and to take a shot after a long day of work.  But I’ve been thinking about two quotes about productivity and motivation.

If you want to get something done, especially a larger project, you have to “touch it every day.”  It doesn’t have to be drastic, or even overly productive, but you still have to do something every day and eventually it’ll get done.  Need to clean your room? Empty the trash today, or clean off the top of your desk.  You don’t need to address the clothes piled on the chair or the bag in the corner that should go in the closet.  That stuff comes later.  This blog is also a good example.  Write your thoughts, make a post, queue up something for later, or even just writing a draft to get back to in the morning.  Everything counts.

And the next quote is tumblr, which came to mind recently:

What about photography?  Rainy days are the bane of an amateur photographer’s existence.  You’re stuck home with no interesting subject or background.  But I tried with 15 minutes of heavy rainfall:

As long as you pick up the camera and just shoot… something, it’ll be a step in the right direction.  Make a mistake.  Over edit.  Experiment.  But get out and do the thing.