Hey Y'all ! Hope your having a great week. Me? Not too bad. Today's blog is about stepping out of your comfort zone in photography. Now I would like to take credit for coming up with this topic but really I used the Digital Story podcast my favorite photography podcast that comes out weekly and you should be listening to it also. But during this podcast Derrick Story was talking about getting out of your comfort zone and trying something new.  I know a lot of people that only shoot Landscapes or Wildlife or Natural light only. Thats the only thing that they will shoot. And if they pushed themselves they would find out that shooting stuff that your not used to will make you a better Landscape, Wildlife or any type of photography. Pushing the boundaries of what your used to will make you better.  It certainly has for me. When I got into digital Kimbrell ChristmasMax Stansell Photography photography I was mainly a Landscape photographer but then I started shooting a lot of product photography with flashes and all sorts of props and doing a lot of experimental photography.  That made my landscape photography better. It made me look at light in a different way it made me look at perspective in a different way. It made me a better photographer. And it made me smile.  The work I was doing experimenting was turning out pretty good . People actually noticed .  My landscape stuff people would look and say "pretty" but that was about it but the experimental stuff I was Raven's Roost Va. doing got them thinking and I got responses like "how'd you do that?"  Thats awesome! We should have a workshop on that. But I was selfish I was doing it to make my other photography better and I was learning new skills that would crossover to all types of photography.

Let me tell you a story of one of my friends Mike. He is a fantastic photographer. He mainly shoots Wildlife and Sports. Really anything with a big lens! He recently went on a trip with me and my photography wingman Robert to the low country of Savannah Ga and Charleston Sc. Where we mainly did street , architecture type of photography. The lens that he had on his camera 90% of the trip was a 24-70. Which was way smaller than the 800mm EagleThis Eagle was at a Photo Expo at Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. lens that he brought with him and only pulled out once. I could tell that he was a little nervous on the first day but after just a little walking I could see the smile on his face and his camera kept going up to his face. I think he carried a larger lens with him maybe a 28-300 or something but he didn't pull it out. He was shooting and having a ball.  The next day was more of the same and I think he pulled the 800 out to shoot at a distant Lighthouse but the rest of the day it was the same 24-70.  I think the whole trip and experience really changed the way he might think about photography.  Like I said before Mike was already a fantastic photographer but I think he had forgot how to shoot with just a 24-70 and have fun.  The photo's that he produced were excellent but the smile on his face while shooting was even better.

Blue Water Splash Its important not to get stuck in just one way of doing things whether it's maybe only using Photoshop or Lightroom to edit photo's and maybe using some other software maybe just on a trial run just to see how it works. For me its stepping into infrared photography and editing it in Lightroom and photoshop. At one point I was doing a lot of composite work merging two or three photo's together to make something altogether different. Sometimes Its just using one lens for a day just to get you out of that comfort zone of being able to use whatever focal length you have in your bag. If you only have a 50mm you have to figure out a way for it to work and it takes you out of that comfort zone making you think. If you think that your shooting the same thing all the time  Man Waiting for T Boston you probably are. So think outside of that box and try something completely different. If you only shoot wildlife try street photography. If you're a street photographer try Landscape. Get out of that comfortable photography zone that you've put yourself in and try something new. It will improve your photography and broaden your horizons. So until next week get out and shoot ! Something Different.