Creative Spark Plug: Photo an Object
I’m old enough now to routinely proclaim, “Back in my day…” especially to my high school students, and back in my day, we didn’t have a singular device in our pocket that could play music, take photos, calculate a tip, show movies, access the internet, and so much more. In fact we had to have a separate device for each of these things, and they weren’t all portable. With smart phones being ubiquitous and capable of so much, it’s easy to take them for granted. And the cameras on our phones are no exception.
We now have the ability to snap an incredible amount of photos and to see them immediately—no clunky rolls of film that only held a couple dozen photos that took days and even weeks to be developed. Now we all have thousands of images on our devices, but do we really use these cameras to their full advantage. What if we thought differently about what we photographed and how we photographed? What if we became more intentional with how we used those cameras?
Because of the convenience of the cameras on our phones and the sheer volume of images we capture—roughly 5 billion everyday worldwide—we may not be thinking too strategically about what we photograph and how we photograph it. So let’s get more intentional and deliberate with the images that we snap.
This Creative Spark Plug focuses on photographing a single object, so pick something that is visually interesting. A water bottle or a box of cereal probably won’t give you amazing images because they are very uniform and even. But a chair, a cordless drill, or a kitchen gadget may give you a wider variety of angles and views.
The idea of this is to take an interesting photo of the object, but be careful, our first instinct may simply be to snap a photo of the entire object sitting in it’s usual or logical location. So, think about how you might take a phot of the object in a more unusual ways. Then snap a photo and look at the result thinking about how you can take a better photo. Do that 10 to 12 times, and each time try to make a better photo than the one before.
Here are a few things that you can do to get more dynamic photos:
Viewpoint - Change your perspective or viewpoint. We typically take photos while standing directly in front of or directly over an object. Kneel down, lie down, look up, and try a wide variety of views and perspectives of the object. Try to see the object like you’ve never seen it before. You can even think about moving the object.
Get Close - We can get really close to the object so that it fills the entire frame of the photograph and goes off the edges. Combine getting physically closer with zooming in and focus on a small portion of your object.
Lighting - The cameras on our phones are great at taking photos in a variety of light situations, but you can intentionally add a strong light source to the object to create a greater range of values and shadows. Also, watch the flash. Flash can wash out the object and cause harsh shadows, and rarely makes for a good image. So make sure that you have enough light.
Watch the Background - We often focus in on the object and neglect to see what’s in the background of the image. Take a moment before snapping the photo to see if the background is busy or distracting. It might be better to have a simpler, uncluttered background.
This is a great activity to try when you may otherwise not have a lot of time or perhaps not have access to your materials. It’s perfect for exercising your creativity with something that you probably always have close at hand. So, have fun exploring the creative potential!
Thank you so much for reading. This is a free publication, and I try to offer something each week. If you find what I share valuable and would like to keep it going please buy my books, hire me to speak, take a workshop, or become a paid subscriber. Paid subscribers have access to a monthly virtual meet up where we meet as a creative community to create together, talk, and share. I’d love to have you as part of that community. Become a paid subscriber:
Happy Creating!
Eric
PS. My next virtual meet-up for paid subscribers will be this Saturday, October 11th, from noon to 2pm Eastern! If you’d like to join in, become a paid subscriber, or register for individual meet-ups on my website.