Only a week or so into my 365 project last year, I was feeling discouraged. Outside it was cold and gray. Already, I was finding it hard think of anything new to photograph. I looked at friends’ 365 projects and thought, “Well, sure, if I lived in a sunny, gorgeous location or had a gear bag full of L-series lenses and fancy lighting equipment and I didn’t have to take three small children wherever I went, this would be easy. As it is, I’m toiling away with a 50mm lens on my 40D in gloomy old Pittsburgh with three kids in tow.”
I talked to my brother. He was living in San Francisco toting a Canon 5D Mark II with access to some interesting lenses and equipment. He felt like if only he wasn’t in an office all day with self-conscious adults… it’d be easy.
I began to look at my circumstances differently.
When the weather is interesting, I can go outside.
Sometimes the messes created at my house are beautiful.
I can go to museums when they are empty.
The challenge, that doesn’t change with location, gear, or time alone, is to keep working regardless of how creative I’m feeling at the moment.
“Inspiration exists but it has to find us working.” – Pablo Picasso