How to fall back in love with photography – Disruption

Have you ever fallen out of love with photography?

Have you stopped looking at the world the way you used to when you saw potential photographs everywhere?

Do you not bother carrying your camera with you everywhere any more (even ignoring the one on your phone)?

Sounds like you have lost your interest in photography. Sometimes there could be valid reasons – other things come along that are more important – but often it can be that you have simply fallen out of love with photography. I know the feeling. It happened to me for about thirty years!

But I am back taking photographs again and loving it.

There are a number of ways I have used to try and reinvigorate my interest in photography. I wrote about one of them a little while ago when I suggested exploring your neighbourhood as if you were on holiday.

Another method is to change how you take your photographs and what you photograph. Trying something different is a great way to to reignite your interest so here are four ways you could disrupt your photography.

1. Mix up your genres
   • If you normally take street photography try landscape photography (it’s a bit like street photography but with fewer people). Or, if you spend your time indoors photographing still lives, head out to the streets and capture your fellow humanity in their natural environment.
2. Change your subject matter
   • Take a look through your back catalogue and check if you have photographed the same subject many times. Do you have lots of pictures of clouds, for example; or does the colour blue crop up in your photographs often? Why not try the complete oposite? If you have been turning camera upwards to look at the sky and the clouds turn it down to look to the ground, noting the details and the textures; and if you photograph blue a lot, choose a different colour and deliberately ignore anything coloured blue.
3. Take your camera off auto
   • Put it on manual so you have to set the aperture and shutter speed. Take the ISO off auto so you have to choose that as well. And, going one step further, change the camera’s profile to monochrome so that you focus on light and shade, and tones of grey. Now you will need to think a little harder about the process of making each image. If you regularly use your camera in manual mode, turn it to auto and fire from the hip to see what happens.
4. Ditch the technology
   • Find yourself a film camera and put a roll of film in it. It’s like taking photographs without a safety net. You can’t see how your picture has come out straightaway and you’ve only got up to thirty six chances (unless you have several rolls of film). The best way to start is with a simple preloaded camera, some of which are re-usable.

These are just a few ways to help you fall back in love with taking photographs. I hope you found them helpful and I would love to hear your comments on what you have tried. Add them to the comments below.

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If you are looking for more ideas then do look out for a series of videos I am planning to put together in 2025 sharing some of my experiences on re-igniting my own enthusiasm for photography.