Are you stuck in a creative rut with your photography? Check out this photo challenge list to spark your creativity.
Over the years, I’ve had many highs and lows with photography. Times when creating was super easy, and times when I asked myself, What’s the point of taking pictures? The ideas listed in this blog have helped me pick myself up at times or challenge myself when feeling bored.
This list will begin with more technical ways to challenge yourself and progress into more emotional and abstract ways to help spark your creativity!
- Photo Challenge Ideas
- 1. Stick to one focal length
- 2. Focus on a skill
- 3. Experiment with composition
- 4. Try different types of photography
- 5. Take black and white photos
- 6. Do not edit your photos
- 7. Take pictures with something different
- 8. Tell a story
- 9. Document a day in the life
- 10. Make the ordinary seem extraordinary
- 11. Take pictures of a stranger
- 12. Get outside of your comfort zone
- 13. Re-create art you love
- 14. Get inspired by your favorite book
- 15. Communicate a feeling or emotion
- Summary: Photo Challenge Ideas
Photo Challenge Ideas
1. Stick to one focal length
Next time you use your camera, limit yourself to using one focal length. You can use a prime lens (a fixed length) or your zoom lens if you don’t own a prime lens.
If you use a zoom lens, select a focal length and stick with it. For this, I recommend choosing a focal length that you do not normally shoot with. One that might challenge you to compose images differently than you normally would.
This is one of my favorite ways to challenge myself with my camera and something I do quite often. Sticking to one focal length can help you learn how to use your lens better, limit what you can/cannot take pictures of, and make you look at everything around you differently.
It will force you to move your feet rather than your lens, and I think this is a good thing!
Recommended Read: 8 Reasons You Should Do a Photo Challenge
2. Focus on a skill
If there is something you want to get better out, schedule a time to get out with your camera and only focus on working on that particular skill.
There are so many skills you can focus on. Here are some examples:
- Backlight a subject
- Capture a motion blur
- Capture a candid interaction
- Tell a story with one image
- Take a double-exposure photograph
- Experiment with different light (indoor, sunrise, etc.)
This is great if you want to improve in a particular area of your photography but haven’t spent much time experimenting with it. Focusing on a skill can help you have a goal in mind when you go out to take pictures and inspire you to pick up your camera, too.
Speaking of a skill… if you’re new-ish to photography and stuck shooting on auto mode, I can help you learn that skill with my beginner-friendly guide below!
3. Experiment with composition
If you’re used to setting up all your images the same, you can start to feel bored.
Experiment with composing your images differently. Try capturing images that align with the common rules in photography, like the rule of thirds, leading lines, framing a subject with the environment, and negative space.
If you’re tired of playing by the rules, try and break them. Capture an image that’s way outside the box.
4. Try different types of photography
If you normally shoot portrait photography, try shooting a different type of photography, like street or landscape photography. It’s a great way to get out of your comfort zone and try something new.
Before moving to Europe, I mainly took pictures of couples, families, events, and my personal travels. Photography without people was way outside of my comfort zone. So I tried it. And led me to discover my love for street photography and documentary photography. Both helped me get better at travel photography.
You may be stuck in a rut because you’re used to shooting the same things over and over again. Trying something different can help get you out of it.
Recommended read: How to Get Started With Travel Photography (for hobbyists)
5. Take black and white photos
If you normally only shoot in color, try only shooting in black in white for a little while. It can completely change the way you look at light.
Black and white photography removes the distraction of color and thus requires you to work on other aspects of your image. Often, black and white images emphasize texture, contrast, and shapes. Of course, lighting, shadows, and composition are all still very important too!
You can do this by shooting in black in white on your camera if it allows it. Or you can do this by shooting in color and then converting it to black and white in your photo editor. Either way, you should take each picture with the intention of it being black and white. It’s a really fun challenge and can help you get out of your rut.
6. Do not edit your photos
Do you rely too heavily on editing your images to get them looking right? Give this a shot.
Not allowing yourself to edit your images will force you to take a solid image! You’ll have to focus on exposing your image correctly, and most likely will have to go out at the right time of day to make it look good.
7. Take pictures with something different
If you’re used to shooting with your iPhone camera, take out your camera. And vice versa.
Used to taking digital pictures? Shoot with a film camera, an instant camera like this FujiFilm camera, or a cheap disposable camera like these “old-school” Kodak cameras.
When I traveled to Hawaii, I was dealing with photography burnout/boredom. So I decided to take the majority of my pictures using my new Fujifilm Instax camera to help myself get unstuck and creative. It was such a blast. You can see a reel of images I created from a fun experience below.
Shooting with a different camera can inspire you, spark your creativity, change the way you look at taking an image, or inspire you to alter the way you edit your images. For example, after using a film camera you may aspire to have your digital images have a film-like look.
Changing what you take pictures with can help you get out of a creative rut quickly.
Recommended read: Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo: The camera that got me out of a funk
8. Tell a story
When you pick up your camera, intend to tell a story with the images you create.
I’ve seen photographers limit themselves to a set number of images that they can take to tell a story. Common numbers are 1, 5, or 10 images, but you can set your own limit. You can also decide whether you want to tell a simple story or a complicated one. Examples include documenting a life experience, a trip to a coffee shop, going for a hike, or maybe traveling to a new location.
I’ve also seen photographers get super creative with this and think outside of the box. For example, I have seen a few photographers find a small toy (like a Lego person) and take it on an adventure and document the adventure in a few photos. The options for this are endless. Let that inspire you!
9. Document a day in the life
This is a fun one. It doesn’t require too much thinking, just creative documenting. It’s also kind of a story, like we discussed above!
If you think your daily routine is dull, find ways to make it seem exciting on camera. It’s a great way to challenge yourself with your camera, and it’ll be fun to look back on your life a few years from now and see how different your daily routine is.
Try this if you’re short on time and want to use your camera, or if you’re in a serious slump and need something to make you use your camera. You’re already going to be doing everything, so why not take pictures of some of those things?
10. Make the ordinary seem extraordinary
Not every picture needs to be taken at the dreamiest travel location or with the perfect outfit. Though social media might have led us to believe those are the only pictures worth taking these days, but they’re not.
Have a morning commute on the subway? Running to the grocery store? Taking your daily walk around your neighborhood? Bring your camera and search for a way to make an ordinary experience look extraordinary.
Recommended Read: 5 Tips To Help You Take More Photographs
11. Take pictures of a stranger
This is for my fellow street photography lovers out there!
Taking pictures of strangers can be somewhat terrifying if you’re an introvert like me and don’t want to bother people but it’s a great way to push yourself out of your comfort zone in photography.
Yes, I feel like this has been overplayed on social media “Excuse me, ma’am, may I take a picture of you?”… etc. But despite that, it is a good way to push yourself to create!
12. Get outside of your comfort zone
I can’t discuss the item above and not put this on the list.
Through the years, I’ve learned that all the best things I’ve pursued have been just outside of my comfort zone. Often, if something has scared me in the past, I’ve taken it as a sign that I need to pursue it.
So is there something in your photography that feels scary to you to pursue? Maybe it’s shooting a family session or like we discussed above, taking pictures of a stranger.
Whatever it may be, challenge yourself. It may be just what you need to get out of your creative rut and might help you move closer to what you’d ultimately like to be shooting.
Here’s a picture from when I was trying to get out of my comfort zone.
13. Re-create art you love
Do you have a photographer or artist that inspires you?
Try to recreate an image or piece of work they have created but put your own spin on it (a concept Austin Kleon talks about in his book “Steal like an Artist“).
Whether it’s an old piece of art that is currently residing in a museum, like the infamous Mona Lisa, or the iconic photograph of Mohammad Ali taken by Neil Leifer in 1965. Look at what other creators have created long before you and draw inspiration from them!
14. Get inspired by your favorite book
Over the years, I’ve realized the importance of gathering inspiration from other artists in other domains.
And as an avid reader, I have been so inspired by what some writers can do with their words. The “pictures” they can paint with words and how those words can make us feel. If you’ve never had this feeling with a book, maybe you have with a song or something else that is not visual. If so, try to create an image inspired by this piece of work.
Has it been a while since you’ve read a good book? Read a highly recommended book and see if it inspires you. After nearly a decade of only reading personal development books, I decided to give into Bookstagram and read some incredible fiction books (Yes, I am an SJM girlie). These books helped me get out of my “why can’t I create any good images rut” and truly inspired me to create.
Recommended read: Must-read Creativity Books for Photographers
15. Communicate a feeling or emotion
Do you have an emotion that is sitting heavy on your heart (happiness, sadness, loneliness, etc.) or a feeling that you want to embody in a photo (summertime, being in love, experiencing something new, etc.)?
Try to communicate it in your photography. A lot of artists, whether they’re painters, musicians, or photographers like us, use emotions and feelings to help them create.
This can be a challenging task and something that may force you to think. It’s something you can accomplish quickly if you decide to engineer the scene or something that may take you time to capture if you prefer to document it naturally.
As a street photography lover and public health graduate student, I have tried to combine the two for a long time. And it hasn’t been easy. It’s not often that I am rewarded with an image that communicates something but having the idea in the back of my mind at all times helps me pay attention to what’s around me. And that helps me think creatively. You never know when a scene will present itself.
Summary: Photo Challenge Ideas
If you’ve been stuck in a creative rut in your photography for some time, the following ideas can help you get out of it:
- Use one focal length
- Focus on a photography skill
- Experiment with composition
- Experiment with different genres of photography
- Take only black and white pictures
- Do not edit your pictures
- Take pictures with something different
- Try to tell a story with your pictures
- Document a day in your life
- Make the ordinary seem extraordinary
- Take pictures of a stranger
- Get outside your comfort zone
- Recreate a photograph or art that you love
- Create a picture inspired by your favorite book
- Communicate a feeling or emotion in a picture
Don’t worry about being stuck in a creative rut; it happens to all of us. The fact that you’re looking for ways out is a sign that you’re headed in the right direction!
