Just because we can't get out and about like we normally
would, doesn’t mean we have to stop taking pictures.
There’s still plenty you can do, provided you're
prepared to use some imagination. Here are a few ideas
to keep you shooting until normal life resumes.
Most photographers love to shoot the unusual, and you
don’t get much more unusual than These Unprecedented
Times. Right now everything counts as out of the
ordinary. There are a number of remarkable things about
these lockdown days that are worth photographing now so
we can remember them when it is all over.
Streets empty that are usually busy are remarkable and
can evoke the sense of historical pictures from before
the invention of the motorcar. Other things that are
different at the moment will be queues to get into
stores and the lines marked out on the floor to show how
far apart we should be.
Most photographers find it hard to see interesting
pictures in places in which they are most familiar. A
trip somewhere new seems always exactly what our
photography needed, as shooting away from home
consistently inspires us to new artistic heights.
Pretend everything is new and that you haven’t seen it
before, and then you will be free to notice the leading
lines, the places where one edge meets another in
delightful geometric harmony, and how the ordinary
things in the kitchen are transformed when the light is
on or off.
The trick here is to look slowly, and then look again.
Take the time to look in detail and to look at the same
thing from different angles, with different light, long
lenses and wide lenses. Then move to the left a bit. You
may never feel the need to leave the house again.