In the last week two different people asked me the same question – what’s your favourite thing to photograph?
If it had been a work related question I wouldn’t have hesitated – finding heritage photography was discovering just what my ‘thing’ was. I have got to photograph amazing and interesting objects that have dated from neolithic times up to objects within my own lifetime. Heritage shoots are often mentally challenging whether it’s a tricky location or a difficult object but it’s always really rewarding.
But the questions were about what I like to shoot for fun..I don’t get asked that much and I really had to stop and think…
And my answer turned out to be – depends where I am and what I see. It’s what I notice, what I find interesting in that moment.
Until I discovered heritage photography I obsessed over discovering what my thing was. What I have come to realise is that it might not matter – I can have periods when I’m obsessed by textures and small details, or landscapes, or street scenes and all can spark my creativity.
Looking through the images caught on my phone in the last year or so – it’s an eclectic mix of subjects!
It really is what I have noticed in the world around me in a given moment – a juxtaposition of things, the way the light is falling. Sometimes it’s a rapid shot, sometimes it’s more considered.
I definitely have a looser, more relaxed way of shooting for fun – partly because my heritage work always has to be so precise and exact. I love playing with abstracts, intentional camera movement, multi exposures and experimenting with how I edit.
Photography always has a new technique to learn, a different type of subject, a different way of seeing or a new way to edit. It’s what I have always loved about it – I am always learning.
So if you are starting out or you are struggling to discover what your thing is – keep taking photos and you will discover what you truly love.
Taking photos that you like is more powerful than trying to please or imitate others.
And it’s definitely OK to change what that is – again and again and again.