Waiting to know how you can find your Photo-Mojo? Last night I outlined how you can lose the desire, want and motivation to photograph the world around you; Now I’m giving you new ideas that will inspire you to get out off the couch and out of the house.
1. Forget the money.
Forget everything except how to aim, focus, fire and review your art. There’s no sense in thinking too much about if a shot is profitable. Since you are doing what you love, money should be the last thing on your mind.
Whilst many pro’ photographers seem to analyse every shot carefully, you can be sure they take the time to be casual and aloof when shooting. Appearing to be one of the crowd rather than being confrontational ensures you don’t get caught up in the hype of your supposed self-importance. Take it easy and shoot from the hip.
2. We all have some level of stress, no matter what our profession.
The trick is to open your mind and think of nothing. Have no preconceptions nor expect anything; Instead of travelling with a destination, go simply with a purpose: to shoot a scene, moment, flower, person. But don’t over-think any part of it. This will help alleviate the supposed stresses.
In the off-chance that you are already madly stressed about anything in life, here are a seven quotes that may help you find yourself:
“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”
Mark Victor HansenPhotography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.”
Don McCullin“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”
Buddha“Perishability in a photograph is important in a picture. If a photograph looks perishable we say, ‘Gee, I’m glad I have that moment.’ ”
John Loengard“Don’t rely on someone else for your happiness and self worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can’t love and respect yourself – no one else will be able to make that happen. Accept who you are – completely; the good and the bad – and make changes as YOU see fit – not because you think someone else wants you to be different.”
Stacey Charter“Photography, as we all know, is not real at all. It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world.”
Arnold Newman“True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.”
Winston Churchill
3. Connect with people. In order to engage conversation, sometimes you need to be the conversation starter. This might mean putting your cards face-up on life’s table, and exposing at least a little bit more than expected – yet it can be worth while!
As I am a photographer, and I expect this article is being read my other photographers: Here are a bunch of photo-artists with cool sites that display their amazing photo artwork. Yet it is also important to talk with your peers and professional colleagues.
If you are joining forum & photo-display/sales sites, the most practical thing you can do is read/listen to others to determine where you fit in and how you can contribute. Nobody like an instant-know-it-all.
4. When family get in the way of your photography-time, try to catch them in front of your camera.
That’s right: When the wife is cutting lemons and the kids are squeezing them, YOU have lemonade!
The bubbling smile of a happy child, the flowing hair of a beautiful woman, or the pouring of carbonated water onto a Berocca, all moments worth capturing with your camera. If only for your family to see over and over again!
5. This last issue is the hardest to address. The best advice is : Never Give Up.
As humans, we have been given the ability to think, oppose, empathise, sympathise, create, dominate, empower and many other traits that animals have no concept nor capacity.
Consequently, when we give up we are saying we can not control these parts of our brain. There’s not many circumstance where you wouldn’t be able to control your environment.
What do I do when my photo-mojo is drained? I don’t give up: I take time out to recharge, re-evaluate, stock-up, clean lenses and filters … then go shoot flowers, bees, bugs and anything that gets in my vision!
Whilst parts of this article are slightly tongue-in-cheek, there is a lot of seriousness here. Your photo-mojo is important. It is the one element that helps makes you more than just a point-&-shoot photographer. Take the time to make it work for you.
Stephentrepreneur.com 
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