Keep 2024 Simple | Improve your photography

I don't make New Year's resolutions; in fact, I don't even celebrate New Year's Eve, as I'm usually in bed by 9 pm to catch the sunrise. Instead, I use the new year as a measuring stick for overall life progress. So this blog post is not about reinventing yourself through the latest diet fad or some new meditation technique. This is just something I am practicing to help move my photography in a direction that promotes evolution. Hopefully, you may find inspiration in this. So let’s dig in.

In 2023, I traveled to so many places and, when reflecting on my photography, I noticed a steep increase in my skills, improving more than any year prior. This can be attributed to the numerous unique scenarios I encountered, which often aren't presented when shooting locally.

There's nothing wrong with shooting locally. In fact, I have captured my most amazing photos in local areas. Local get us in touch with an area and capture long-term changes that a visitor may never experience. You will find unique things about a place when you are the local.

I want to also highlight the con of exclusively shooting locally, and it's something that I have faced myself. Simply put, it's comfort. When shooting at a local location, like my local beach at Pearl Beach, I have shot there so much that it feels like I have worked out every possible composition. I know where the light will be best at what time of year and even the compositions when it is moody and overcast. This makes me jaded and narrow-minded in my photography.

Red-eyed, I’ll get up for sunrise and head over to Pearl Beach. On the way, I’ll see that the conditions are not perfect, so I’ll turn around and head home. Congratulations, Eric, you did not practice photography today.

As mentioned at the beginning, when reflecting on 2023 and noticing how visiting new locations more helped me increase my photography skills. To expand on this further, I can confidently say visiting new places helps with inspiration. This inspiration keeps me excited about photography.

The 'Tourist Effect' occurs when you visit a new location and are immediately inspired. You see everything with an almost childlike wonder. You notice details, and everything becomes an experience.

Contrary to social media portrays, travel doesn't necessitate going to exotic global locations. When I use the word "TRAVEL, I’m talking about stepping outside your local area.

As you arrive in a new location with the intention to practice photography, the inspiration from the new location creates a recipe for something special. When you take photos, you are taking in those unique details and capturing shots of things that excite you.

I can't speak for everyone, but when I'm inspired, I tend to shoot more. By shooting more, I then end up getting excited about getting those SD cards into the computer and editing right away. The opposite is true when I have shot locally for weeks on end. Does this resonate with you?

When you are inspired and excited you end up shooting more. By shooting more, guess what? Those photography skills are getting honed and sharpened like a fine blade. More variance of scenarios leads to new skill acquisition. Rather than repetition that stifles progress.

When I have been away from my go-to locations, I’ll come back and have a fresh perspective. I’ll start to realise that there is more there than those static rock formations. There are subjects like fishermen, boats, and wildlife right in front of me. Suddenly, I have taken a wide array of shots with a woven-together story. After distancing myself from a familiar place, I start to see it as a visitor would, rather than a local.

So let's bring this together. When entering 2024, make an effort to travel more outside of your locals, which will inspire you more. When you are inspired, the photos you take get you excited to shoot again. Coupled with the fact that you are shooting more because of the feedback loop you have created, you are increasing your chances for your photography skills to be flexed and challenged.

Let's keep 2024 simple: travel more, find inspiration, and reignite excitement for photography.

Pearl Beach, NSW Australia