How to Overcome Photography Block

Published in

Unsplash Blog

5 min readFeb 23, 2019

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Photography block usually strikes without warning. Personally, it comes in waves; first a general lack of creative oomph, followed swiftly by self-deprecating doubt and finally infuriating frustration that I can’t muster up any creativity or enthusiasm for taking photos. Like I said — savage.

What I have found works well to banish the block though, is to try something new, get out of my usual groove and experiment.

In this article I’m sharing some different creative ideas, along with some examples from the Unsplash community and some handy links for articles and videos that have really helped me in my own photography. Hopefully you’ll find some of it useful too!✌️

Framing

Framing is a classic piece of advice, it can add an extra layer of depth to the photo, guiding the eye into the subject. But you don’t have to look for natural framing within the scene you are shooting — you can experiment with creating your own.

Creating your own frame — ideas

Examples from Sacha Styles, Clay Banks, Ian Dooley and Pine Watt, Davidsonluna and Thu Trang Nguyễn Trần.

Using architecture to frame an image — ideas

Examples by Nathan Dumlao, Jonathan Stout, Massimiliano Donghi, Bernard Hermant, Jaredd Craig and Matt Borsic

Using nature to frame an image — ideas

Examples by Zoltan Tasi, Elijah Hiett, Dan Gentile, Casey Horner, Michelle Chiu and Jeremy Bishop.

Handy links

Using framing in photography
Framing in Photographic Composition

Reflections

Using reflections in photography can give creative and unexpected results. These different types of reflective sources offer their own challenges and rewards, and give you a fresh perspective on your subject. You might like to consider…

Reflections in water

*Examples above from* *Banter Snaps*, *Fynn*, *David East*, *Craig Whitehead*, *Serge Kutozov* *and* *Ray Hennessy*

Architectural and window reflections

Examples above from Rye Jessen, Kristopher Robinson, Ryan Graybill, Liam Seskis, Dave Werbrouck and *David East*

Introducing a source of reflection

This could include mirrors — both small compact and larger sizes, prisms and fractal filters, spectacles or sunglasses, plastic or foil sheets, or even your iPhone screen.