No time for photography?

Last week, I had a first on my Switch to Manual Workshop. The session is designed for those new to photography, so unusually, I had someone come back to do the session for the second time. They admitted they’d not picked up their camera since attending the workshop for the first time four years ago. As they were the only person attending on the day, I changed the session to be more of a re-cap than a re-run. Very soon, they were taking good photos, and the concepts started flooding back.

At the end of the session, I suggested that to keep the knowledge, they had to keep practising more often. The reply was that they just didn’t have the time in the last four years, which led to me giving a jokey rant. Back in February 2020, I broke my ankle and was sofa ridden for three weeks. Despite this, I still managed to take a different creative photograph every single day to keep my hand and eye in. The lack of time to take pictures is always an excuse, not a reason. So how can you make time?

Take a photo a day

It’s much easier to do something when it becomes part of your daily rhythm. An easy way to do this is to start a 365-day challenge. The principle is to take a photo every day during the year. Quite often, people start these types of challenges on 1 January and fail by 5 January – so many New Year’s resolutions end that way, but it doesn’t need to start on such an iconic date. There’s a great website called Blipfoto that can help you. Once you create an account, you are encouraged to upload a photo every day. As you reach milestones, your profile gets badges added – the first one is at ten ‘blips’ then continues at 100, 200, 300 and then the ultimate 365!

But it doesn’t stop there – keep going, and every thousand or 365 anniversary gets another badge. I’m coming up to my twelfth anniversary in a few weeks of posting (almost) every day. The thing that makes Blipfoto an encouraging place to post is the fantastic community that can comment on your photos, as well as give hearts or stars that get added to your profile.

Another way to keep shooting is to take part in photography challenges. Some are daily, weekly or monthly, and they are all trying to get you to take your camera out and shoot. If you have signed up for the Edinburgh Photography Workshop newsletter, you’ll know I run a monthly challenge on Facebook. On the first of every month, I set a theme and encourage the members to take photos during the month that meets it. Again, I have tried to create a community which constructively critiques the photos and shares their love when you take a nice snap.

Shoot with someone else

Photography can be a solitary hobby. Heading out into the hills for a 4am sunrise doesn’t usually get many takers. It becomes easy to decide to stay in bed, and the camera never gets taken out of the bag. It’s much harder to put off taking pictures if you’ve organised to go out with someone else. There are hundreds of photography groups on Facebook – join one in your local area, and you’re bound to find someone who would be happy to join you for a few hours of taking pictures.

Meet up with a group

Another way to get social and take photos is to join a group. The website meetup.com often has groups of photographers who come together regularly to take pictures at different locations. Alternatively, there is bound to be a photography club or society in your area. They usually have meetings at least once a month or more often, which is a great way to meet like-minded photographers. Every two or three months, I’ll be running a free session where we meet at a location to take photos – that’s another great reason to sign up for my monthly newsletter!

Please give us your feedback.

If you’ve got any questions or comments, leave them below. You can sign up for the Edinburgh Photography Workshop monthly newsletter, where you’ll get regular updates on exciting things happening in photography and some great tips. Sign up by clicking here.

About the author

As well as running Edinburgh Photography Workshop, Rich Dyson is a professional photographer. His photographs are regularly used in newspapers such as The Times, Guardian and Daily Telegraph. He also had two solo exhibitions and was featured in a members-sponsored exhibition in the Scottish Parliament. You can see and buy his photography at richdysonphotography.com.