“Minds are like parachutes—they only function when open.”
—Thomas Dewar
“Creativity is like a muscle. You have to exercise it to develop it,
and you have to flex it to maintain it.”
—Common Knowledge
I agree with both of the above. That’s why I’m curious how creatives stretch their thinking? How do they stay motivated and inspired?
Some establish a daily regiment that evolves into highly acclaimed art forms, as did Jessica Hische with her Daily Drop Cap. Others quietly step away from their normal working medium and pick up another, like, say, photography.
I’m interested in the quiet photography. I’d like to improve my skills so I’ve been contemplating a 365 Photo Challenge for 2012. Not only is this an opportunity for practice, but also an exercise in discipline—something many creatives are often lacking (especially me).
Here are some interesting links on Photo Challenges:
- Photojojo: I remember reading this years ago when 365 Challenges first became popular. I thought people’s projects were fascinating then. Still do now.
- Digital Photography School: I subscribe to this e-newsletter and always learn something new. Here, they’re offering weekly themes, which maybe they’ll update soon for 2012.
- FLICKR Group—100 Strangers, 100 Personalities, 100 Stories: This one will force you away from the computer and back in touch with real people!
- ITunes 365 Remember Your Year: This is actually an app for your iPhone. Makes for easy posting and, goodness, we always have our phones with us, don’t we?
- The Arrow of Time: This one isn’t a 365 Challenge, but a photographer’s site I’ve been fascinated with for the past 6-7 years. Simply beautiful.
So what do you think?
Projects like this are more fun (and motivational) when done together with someone else. Anyone care to join me? Go ahead, get that camera or phone out. Plan now for 2012!
And if you’re already doing a photo challenge, please share. We’d love to see!
Rhonda says
September 2, 2011 at 4:52 pmYou are tempting me, Di. Let me check out your photography websites and see how creative and inspired I get. We bought one of those fancy-schmancy cameras last year for ourselves for Christmas thinking of all the places we go to that we could use it. Here it is September and I’ve hardly even used it. The little ‘dash cam’ I keep at my fingertips is so much more handy for my needs but I still want to learn how to use the other, more complicated one.
Di says
September 3, 2011 at 8:25 amOh, Rhonda, that would be so cool! If you don’t find a theme that interests you, we can come up with our own. We could start a FB group as well. If I remember, isn’t Jon S. from our class a photographer? Maybe we can get him to join.
Rhonda says
September 4, 2011 at 8:37 pmyes… i think he fancies himself a phogragher. I bet he’d be up for that too.