Photography Projects to Tackle While You’re Stuck at Home
Six ideas to make the best of this unique time
It seems really easy right now as a photographer to make the excuse that external events are putting you in a state of stagnation. It’s not a good time to try to sell yourself. It’s not the time to be traveling. It’s not the time to go out and network. I think when this happens, the lazy part of our brains acts with a new sense of authority. It convinces us that now is the time to sit still, not do anything, and put our lives on pause.
While there is a great deal of value in taking time to step away from things and reassess, I don’t think social distancing and self isolation are a good reason to stop work on the things we want to accomplish. Even though we can’t actively engage in everything that we want to be doing, there are some projects that this is the perfect time to tackle. As photographers there are lots of areas outside of shooting that we can do to better ourselves as artists and push our careers forward. Today I’ve put together a list of six projects you can tackle while you’re at home. Let’s go through them.
Edit Old Photos
We’ve all come back from a day of shooting or a trip and pushed off the importing or editing of the photos we took. Use this downtime as an opportunity to go through those photos. Spend an evening editing and organizing. Once you’re done share your work with friends, family or online with your followers. You’re bound to drum up some great connections and conversations in the process.
Prepare a Pitch Deck for a Potential Client
Right now might not be the perfect time to sell new work, but this will all eventually pass. Wouldn’t it be great to hit the ground running once the cloud of isolation lifts?
Take some time to come up with a few potential clients you’ve wanted to work with and get everything ready to send over that initial email. Put together a pitch deck, even type up that first email and save it as a draft. That way when the time comes all you have to do is click send.
Print Your Photos
I’m a huge advocate for printing your photos. In the time of digital photography and social media we very rarely get to see the work we create become a tangible thing we can hold. Right now is the perfect time to get a photo printed. Walk around your apartment or house and find a wall or shelf that could use a little life. Then find the perfect photo to go there and have it printed. Seeing your work on paper and getting to look at it in a larger size is important to do when you’re a photographer. It’s an aspect of the art form we don’t do nearly enough anymore.
It isn’t difficult either. There are plenty of great places online for getting photos printed that will deliver right to your door.
Create a Photo Book
Similar to printing, creating a photo book is a great way to spend time with your work and create something new from it. Whether it’s just creating a book from your last family trip or it’s a collection of your favorite images, creating a photo book is an incredible exercise that requires you to exercise a variety of skills from curation to design.
Finish Your Website
If you have a website for your photography, chances are that there is something on it that could use some improvement. Whether it’s getting your About page perfect, or beefing up your site’s SEO, you’re bound to find something you can use this opportunity to improve. If you don’t have a website yet, I can’t think of a better time to start one. So get on it!
Take a Photography Course
One way to prepare for the future is to better yourself now. There are plenty of great photography courses online catered to all different types of skillsets throughout the medium. I personally love the work Alex Strohl is doing with his courses on Strohl Works. The different courses cover a variety of topics and feature some of the top photographers out there. Skillshare is also an incredible resource for taking courses in a variety of different areas including photography, and we also can’t forget the plethora of tutorials on YouTube.
Plan Your Next Photo Trip
Tough times can often be easier to get through when you have something to look forward to on the horizon. Like I mentioned earlier, this period of self-isolation and quarantine will end, so start planning and researching where you want to go after this is all said and done. Maybe it’s a simple camping trip to a nearby state park or maybe you want to travel to Iceland and photograph puffins. Whatever you want to do, use this time to do all the research, and figure out all of the details so you have an adventure to look forward to. Since our current end date is uncertain, you don’t have to book anything. Just do the research for when you can!
Conclusion
Times like these are the ones that require us to get creative when we’re deciding what to spend our time doing. Getting creative is often what leads to the most interesting and unique projects we do. I wish you the best of luck through this interesting time, and hope these ideas assist or inspire you in taking action to improve your photography.
If you want more content from me feel free to follow me on Instagram or checkout my website!
Instagram: @alexlostak
Website: lostakphotography.com
