1. Watch films. Hard work I know. Films have an infinite amounts of ideas for inspiration with different concepts for lighting and composition. With 30 images per second, you’ll have some great ideas in no time.
2. Learn the ‘visual language’. Visit Art Museums, Galleries and Exhibitions that have photography shows. Learn art history from Antiquity to the Present and discover how highly creative people developed methods for expressing light and color.
3. Plan a trip to a local zoo. Zoos have loads of interesting things to shoot and animals are always photogenic.
4. Shoot with style. Pick anything around the house and shoot it just to see how it turns out. You’ll see that how you shoot something is far more important than what. With digital cameras, there’s no excuse not to!
5. Composition is the key. Think about what you are doing. Frame your photo in your mind. Look for interesting angles and light, go high, go low. The key is to shoot the subject in as many different ways, under different lighting, and try to make those images interesting. So, don’t just point and shoot, but consider composition.
6. Plan a trip to a local botanical garden or a zoo. Make sure to visit such places from time to time, – there are lots of things to shoot there.
7. Shoot in different conditions. E.g. if you shoot in early morning, late in the afternoon or in sunset, the available light will add more depth, create interesting shadows and color changes for your convenience. Try to photograph places in fog – it will hide distracting background elements.
8. Enter online contests. It’s great inspiration to find interesting stuff to photograph. You have a topic, and it can make it easier to find interesting stuff to shoot. Try Contests at shotaddict.com.
9. Shoot in different conditions. Shoot at different times of day for different lighting effects and atmosphere. Shoot in different weather for subtle changes of tone.
10. Join photography forums. It’s free and fun. You can discuss photography, post up photos and meet some cool people who love photography as much as you.
