Mojo & Inspiration for photography
This article is a little late coming out as I normally aim to get something written every month, but the subject matter will give a hint as to why it's taken me until March to make my first post of 2026.
Unless you're a working photographer with a constant call on your skills, every now and then, you might lose your mojo for taking pictures finding you have a lack of inspiration.
There will of course be the usual things that you'll want to document, holidays, family events and special days out but simply going out to do photography can become repetitive and uninspiring. Visits to your regular locations (city centre, nearby woods, local beach etc) can feel a bit over-done at times, even in a city as vibrant as Bristol which never disappoints.
There are many ways to tackle this and you have to find one that works for you. It can be as simple as looking for a different perspective familiar places, or new projects to engage with to keep you interested. Chances are, you're just burned out temporarily, in which case it's also fine to simply take a break which is what I ended up doing.
A new perspective
There are many ways to get a new perspective in familiar locations and one of the easiest it to try a new lens. For example, if you like doing street photography and you normally use a 35mm or 50mm lens, try something completely different like a wide angle. Not just 28mm, but maybe 21, or even 16mm for a completely different and often quite inspiring take on a familiar scene.
Of course it's also possible to go the other way and use a telephoto lens to capture up-close details of your subjects from afar. A 90mm, or a telephoto zoom isn't an obvious choice for street photography but it can add a brand new dimension. In my personal experience, I prefer the ultra-wide angle approach here.
Shoot film
Switching to this medium slows you down and makes you think about every exposure you take. Film cameras don't need to be expensive and can be picked up at any camera fair for a reasonable price. Buying, developing and scanning film on the other hand can get quite expensive and involved which can be a good thing, or it can slow you down further.
My one bit of advice in this area is when you start a roll, make sure you always finish it which can be harder than it sounds. It's easy to start a new roll of film, take a few pictures and then park the camera for the next 6 months before you do any more. You end up forgetting what you took pictures of and then running out of shots the next time you use the camera. Buying smaller rolls of film like 24 rather than 36 helps a lot in this regard, as it's much easier to use up. I would go so far as to say, if you don't finish all the shots quickly then it's better to take the film out anyway and get it processed, so you can enjoy what you have done even if it means wasting some film.
There are plenty of places that will develop and scan your film for you so you can quickly see and enjoy the results. You can revel in the retro look and character of different films. Of course home developing and scanning is another dimension which can add new fun.
In a personal project, I switched entirely to using film for a whole year. I really enjoyed the experience and learned a huge amount from.
Projects
Some of the most fun I've had doing photography is when I've been actively engaged in shooting personal projects. These can be simple, short projects that last just one day, or longer affairs that take several weeks or even months to complete. You are not restricted to just one project either, it's quite possible and useful sometimes to have short-term project that last a day or so, mixed with longer term projects that you're collecting material for as it arises.
For inspiration on short term projects, I can recommend the '52 Projects' series of books by Brian Lloyd Duckett. There are many in the series, available from the usual online shopping channels. I have the Street Photography and Black and White projects editions, but there are many more to choose from. It's OK sometimes to seek inspiration from books like these. If you're a regular street photographer, you'll find you've already completed many of the tasks in the books, but may find a few new ideas too.
Longer term projects are a bit more interesting, personal and therefore more rewarding. It usually involves documenting something like an event, or a period of time. Think about what the final output looks like. This might be a book, a collage of images, a 'zine' which is a new phenomenon of printing multiple images and maybe some words into a folding sheet which reads like a small magazine. Perhaps even an article or blog for your website is all you need.
Take a break
The chances are you still love photography, but just don't know what to do with yourself. In this case, it's also fine to simply take a break and do some other things while you think about and plan what you do next.
This is precisely where I've found myself at the beginning of this year. With more time now to do photography just because I can, it has, at times felt like I just don't know where to start. Added to that, I've done all of the above, so have found myself running a little dry on ideas of late.
Photography Trips
The photographic void has given me some breathing space to think about what I want to do next but also to balance other things in my life like sport and getting things done around the house.
Travel and seeing new places features regularly in my work, as does my passion for bikes and cars, so there will be more of that forthcoming. I had thought that's it… I'll just photograph trips and motor events and at some point I'll get the bug back walk the streets again.
Photography for me is personal and I enjoy doing it alone most of the time. I do however have a bunch of friends that I met through the LSI (Leica Society International) who regularly meet up with for photography events. I have other friends who I meet with periodically for street photography, or working just with film. This can be a great source of inspiration as you tend to feed off each others ideas and inspiration.
I've been on many LSI events around Europe over the years which have been a lot of fun, but I've found the formula to be a bit boring and overly expensive, meaning I've ended up doing my own thing a lot of the time which I could have done in the same place for a lot less money.
To that end, an LSI splinter group has started to form whereby we're organising our own trips on our own terms. There is no listening to the same people, bleating on about how wonderful a particular brand is, or talks of a technical nature whilst sat in a hotel conference centre for hours on end when we could be out enjoying a fabulous location.
Instead, it's all about photography, time together as friends, food, drink and laughter. I'm not saying there are no geeky conversations, but they are usually over a meal or a few drinks.
About 6 months ago, we organised a trip to the Isle of Skye this March which will I've actually just returned from. I've been there before, and it's a long way away but the prospect of spending time doing landscape photography with long exposures and creative compositions was really appealing to me as it's definitely out of my comfort zone.
I was surrounded by good friends from all over Europe that I know well. It wasn't a huge group, but enough to be a lot of fun but at the same time not over powering.
Taking my own car too, I was free to roam about as much as I like, and take plenty of kit for any eventuality without having to worry about airports and fitting the kit into small bags.
Back from Skye, I'm filled once again with enthusiasm and ideas and of course a huge pile of images to process. On the trip, I was also able to try out a high resolution medium format camera which is something I've wanted to do for a long time. This in itself has given me some ideas for a new direction and has been something I've wanted to investigate for a while.
If you've suffered any lack of photographic mojo like I have these past couple of months, I hope the above has been of some interest to you. For me at least, normal service along with more images from Skye will be resumed in due course. I've come back with lots of ideas and renewed enthusiasm for photography.