We talked at length about becoming burned out and overly tired of the constant challenges that being a commercial shooter brings. He is a fine photographer who is going through a rough period. What he needs to understand is that it's ok to have a tough time of it every once in a while. He knows he has to deal with some of his own demons, and he will, but we talked a bit about some techniques to recharge the batteries.
He likes to shoot people, people in the environment and environments themselves. I told him to take a trip, document a specific theme and see what he comes back with.
"Christmas in small towns in the West". That is a theme I have wanted to do for quite a long time. I live in a big city and Christmas has all but been lost in the din of crap that is hawked everywhere. But in a small town, like Bridgeport CA, or Truckee NV... it has to be at least different. Shoot it. Create a book of the images at Sony. or Shared Ink or MyPublisher and share it with everyone. Print several copies and drop them off at AD's offices as soon after New Years as possible.
Taking yourself out of the familiar is sometimes a very strong kick in the creative ass. Doing it with a set theme can sometimes release a huge load of ideas, vision and clarity that can transform into amazing images.
And the power of creating something that may not be the norm, like a hard cover book with images that support a single theme (as opposed to a set of images in a portfolio) can sometimes deliver a huge kick in the viewers creative hot spots.
What can you do to help bring back those creative tidal waves and produce images that even surprise you? Cool - then do it.
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