A phrase has been running through my head lately.
I heard David duChemin say it during his creativeLIVE seminar, and I don’t remember it verbatim, but it is something like this:
There are no uninteresting subjects, just uninteresting ways to photograph them.
He went on to talk about cats, and how we tend to categorize pictures of cats as uninteresting. There are millions of pictures of cats, why would anyone want to take another picture of a cat? But the only thing that makes a picture of a cat uninteresting is if it is shot in the same way that everyone else did it. If you change your perspective, change your lens, change or editing, or change one of a thousand other things, you can have a truly awesome photograph of just a plain old cat.
I have a habit of avoiding certain subject matter because I think it is boring. I have been planning for a few upcoming sessions, and I keep catching myself saying things like, “We can’t use that location because it’s boring. We can’t use those props because everyone uses them and they’re boring.”
I’m all for thinking outside of the box and pushing myself to be creative, but one way to do that is to try to look at “boring” things differently.
I have been letting my creative muscles get lazy. I need to challenge myself to try to put a new twist on things that seem commonplace or overused before I brush them aside.
Whew. I feel better. Does anyone else need to vent!? 
~~~~~
P.S. Do you find yourself falling into this trap? How do you work through it? Let’s share ideas!
P.P.S. How do you need to challenge yourself? It is a new year and the perfect time for reflection. How do you need to step up your photography game?
