What's up Ya'll! Hope you're having a great week! Me? Doing well. It's almost Thanksgiving and my wife already has the Christmas tree up and playing Christmas music. This week I want to talk about doing something different. Out of your comfort zone. We sometimes get trapped in one type of photography say Wildlife or Portraits or Street. Now this is good to hone your craft or your passion but I think it also hinders your growth and your imagination and you get stuck in a rut. I know it has happened to me. Sometimes new gear will snap you out of this but sometimes it's just changing the subject that you are shooting. Maybe the way you shoot. This week I want to talk about doing something completely different . Now I am mainly a stills photographer and hardly ever shoot a video even though I have a Youtube channel. LOL Most of my videos are about going somewhere a hike or camping trip. I have recently got back into biking and am having a good time exploring by bike. Not only is it good exercise but it's fun and I've started to incorporate camping into my bike riding. And one of the best ways to document my travels is by using a GoPro and video my travels. I have recently made a few videos that I will link later on in this blog. Now I am no great videographer I bearly get by. Some folks say that if they have trouble going to sleep they just look at one of my hiking video and off to sleep they go. LOL But shooting these videos is making me look at photography in a different way and I think making my photography better. 

Now I'm not saying shoot video that's just me but maybe a different type of photography one that isn't in your comfort zone. Getting out of your comfort zone is how we grow.  It doesn't have to be crazy different . Maybe you shoot Wildlife maybe you shoot some sports. You're still shooting moving objects just a different subject. If you're a portrait photographer you shoot street or wildlife where you don't have control over the situation. Maybe instead of using your regular camera you use something else. A cell phone or a point and shoot or a prime lens. All of these things will make you a better photographer. Understanding that the basics of photography don't change just the subject and the "how too" does. The holidays is a great time to do this. Taking photo's of family and friends and maybe just using your cell phone or a point and shoot without getting too technical with lights and everything. Sometimes as photographers we tend to think too much. You know what ISO what shutter speed my aperture . When you use one of these other automatic cameras it takes away all of the thinking because they are mostly automatic. You as a photographer loose control over every aspect and have to rely on what you can control composition, available light and the such. 

Snapping out of a photography funk isn't always easy but shooting something different helps. Next year I have some photography projects that will test my photography skills by doing something different. This year I started shooting film again and it has really kept me interested and excited about photography and hopefully made me a better photographer. So get outside and shoot something different!

Links to recent videos can be found on my YouTube Chanel “Max Stansell Photography”