As a photographer, sometimes you get the sense that opportunity isn't finding you. There are no new places around you to take interesting new photographs, and you don't have the time or money to head out on a trip to somewhere exotic. You fall into a kind of doldrums, unable to move forward, and find that it becomes an incredible struggle to get the inspiration you need to create something new.
Worse, that attitude often extends into other areas of photography. Your work isn’t being published or displayed because no good opportunities have presented themselves to you, for instance. Once you get into this mode of thinking, it can be tough to break free, to keep going. I’ve been there myself. The thing is, an opportunity is not something that will come to you. Though it is a challenge, an opportunity is something that each photographer creates for themselves. Let me show you some ways to make the opportunity happen.
Make Photographs Happen, Don’t Wait for Them
It is common for photographers to become frustrated with the area where they live. After so many years of exploring and documenting all of your favorite haunts, you start to think that you’ve seen everything there is to see and done everything there is to do within a certain radius of your home. Even more frustrating, as I said before, there just isn’t time or money to visit exotic locales as much as you would like to.
However, I would argue that chances are, you haven't seen and done everything in the area where you live. Part of making opportunities is finding the time to explore, to uncover the hidden secrets that you may have never noticed, even though you’ve walked or driven past them hundreds of times. Find a day when you can get out and drive, or an evening when you can go for a long walk and do it. See what happens, see what you can find.
If you still aren't having luck, then it might be time to get a map of the city, county, or locale where you live. Look at every single route on that map, from the major highways down to the tiny little service routes and alleys that are open to the public. Make a point to travel every single road at some point. As you travel the roads, mark them off so that you know you’ve been there at least once. And, as you travel, keep a journal so that you know where you’d like to visit again. You’ll find that even within your community, there are probably many roads you haven't traveled, which means many photographs waiting to be taken. If you've traveled all the roads within a certain area around your home, then maybe it's time to get a bigger map! Move on to the next county or city and start exploring again.
Exploration isn’t the only thing you can do when you’re looking for a way to make photographs happen. If it just isn’t a good day for exploring, look around the house for things to photograph. You might find yourself spending the day on macro photography or creating still life images on your dining room table.
Don’t Wait for Publication to Happen
Almost every photographer harbors the dream of publication or recognition of one kind or another at some point in their careers. As with the photos themselves, however, you can’t simply wait for that opportunity to arrive. Instead, you have to reach for the chance — without letting a sense of discouragement get in your way.
Fortunately, there are lots of ways to work toward your goal of publication or recognition. One of the easiest things you can do is start a website or update an existing one that has been dormant for some time. This will give you some exposure, and who knows, you may even get some offers your way. But don’t stop there. Submit photographs to magazines or portfolios to galleries — and keep on doing it until something happens. Every photographer faces rejection, sometimes hundreds of times. Don’t let those rejections stand in your way. Another thing you can do is enter a photography competition. You may win an award and even if you don’t, the satisfaction of summoning the will to participate is something that you can use to encourage yourself.
Strive to do as many of these things as you reasonably can and you will be miles ahead of most other photographers. And, like I said, don’t let rejection get you down. All photographers face it. Remember this: If you don’t submit, then there is no chance at all for an opportunity to find you.
What to Do When You Can’t Figure Out What to Do
No matter how hard you push, there will still be times when you don’t know what to do with yourself. Perhaps there isn’t time to go out on a photo walk or lay out a still life on your dining room table. You’ve already worked on portfolios and submissions as much as you are able. Now what? I say, do something else!
And by something else, I mean pick up a new photography book that you’ve not read. Go online and look at blogs and photography websites. Order a new magazine subscription. Perhaps you can slip away to a local gallery or museum for a couple of hours. Create a checklist of various “downtime” activities so that the next time you feel stuck, you can choose something from the list and move forward.
There is always something you can do to further your photography goals, making opportunities happen instead of waiting for them to present themselves. Always think about things you can do and then make time to get them done. And, of course, don’t forget to take a break once in a while. Though your efforts may yield opportunities aplenty, it is no good if you’ve exhausted yourself too much to take advantage of them entirely!
