Woke Up This Morning With the Photography Blues? Be Inspired With a Photo Challenge for 2024

by Ivor Rackham December 30, 2023 2 Comments

There is always the risk of getting the photographer’s equivalent of writer’s block. You might discover that your photos are the same as what you shot before and you need a change. Here are some ways to inspire and motivate you including a photography challenge to get your creativity flowing.

Most of the time we get excited by photography. If we didn't we wouldn't be photographers, would we? I’ve certainly taken my camera for a walk and ended up with too many photos to process.

However, there have been times when I have been stuck in a rut and not inspired at all. I’ve even headed out before dawn – my favorite time of day – composed the shot I had planned and then not bothered pressing the shutter. At other times, I’ve got home and just deleted everything.

So, how can we get around waking up with the photography blues? The secret is to do photography that is out of the ordinary. For me, this means planning ahead and then setting off with a plan. But for that planning, I must have a purpose and that requires sources of inspiration.

Recently, I have been inspired by the amazing wildlife where I live.

Always Take the Weather With You

One such source of inspiration for me is the weather. Glorious sunrises, thunderstorms and torrential downpours, thick fog, cloud inversions, snow, sandstorms, and strong winds can all help to make photos more interesting.

There is a plethora of weather apps online, but for accuracy, I particularly like the UK’s Met Office app as it’s accurate. It also gives sunrise and sunset times and it’s great for planning a shoot.

Don’t Be Afraid to Be Different

I also try something different to spark enthusiasm. Here are a few things I do.

Every year, through my work, I get to handle dozens of different cameras. Some intrigue me because of novel features or clever design, while others I find bland and uninspiring as they are so similar to many other models on the market. Nevertheless, handling any equipment that’s different or new to me usually gets me wanting to use it. It’s one of the reasons I like writing gear reviews.

Experimenting with wildlife photography.

I’m not suggesting you must sell and change everything for a different make, although I see lots of people doing that. Top-of-the-range cameras that are just a few years old are a fraction of the price of when they were released. So, adding to your gear list doesn't have to be unaffordable. Furthermore, lower-end cameras, even old ones, can produce fabulous results.

Taken with a bridge camera when I lived in East Africa back in 2004. Although new, high-end cameras can do things and achieve results that old cameras couldn't, you can still get good shots with older, lower-end gear.

Currently, I'm in the process of moving home, and the place we are hoping to buy has space for a darkroom. I'm going to be dabbling with film. It's something I've neglected for a long time because setting up a darkroom where I currently live is a hassle. Even if you don't have a darkroom, it's still possible to send reels of film off to be developed but that didn't appeal to me. I have a collection of old film cameras crying out to be used.

Talking of old cameras, adaptors to fit analog lenses onto new cameras are widely available and affordable, as are some of the old lenses. The results can be intriguing.

Shot with an old Olympus 50mm f/1.4 analog lens.

I also play with different genres. I have recently started to take wildlife photography more seriously and it’s fascinating. I’ve also recently bought a macro lens, although it’s barely been out of the box, so that will be on the agenda for next year.

Getting Better All the Time

One really popular way of keeping inspired is to do a photography challenge. That is taking one photo a day, or once a week to a prescribed list. I've done a few in the past and they helped me hone my skills. I've also put a few together.

You may have noticed that the subtitles of this article are either song titles or lyrics. Below are two lists of song titles that can inspire you to take photos. I put this together ten years ago for a photography forum that has long since disappeared and have swapped some of the songs for others. The idea is to take a weekly or daily photo that is inspired by the title or lyrics of the song.

The photo can either be a literal or metaphorical interpretation, and some are harder to achieve than others. Starting January 1st, 2024, why not give it a go?

You don't necessarily have to do them in the same order as shown below. If Winter Wonderland is better suited to June than December where you live, then it's okay to shuffle them around. Also, If you live somewhere arid and "Gone Fishing" is impossible to shoot, slot an alternative song in there.

Feel free to post your challenge photos in the Fstoppers Gallery, or put your images in the comments here so I will get a notification. Alternatively, post them on Instagram, and please tag me (@ivortog); it will be great to see them.

Weekly Photography Challenge 2024

Help Me Make it Through the Night
Sentimental Journey
My Ding-a-ling
Got my Mind Set on You
Bless your Beautiful Hide
Oh, Pretty Woman
Superstition
Wooden Heart
Upside Down
Think Too Much
Rave On
High Noon
Let Me Roll It
Steam Heat
Monster Mash
If I Had a Hammer
Purple Haze
Hard to Handle
Little Boxes
Everybody's Talking
Reach Out (I'll be there)
So Far Away
Somebody to love
Half as Much
Dreamer
Hurt
Brown Sugar
Pictures of Matchstick Men
Light My Fire
When the Sun Goes Down
Wish You Were Here
What is Life?
Still Crazy After all These Years
High Hopes
In My Life
Non je ne Regrette Rien
Once in a While
Mad World
Country Road
Smooth Operator
My Generation
Up, Up and Away
Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes.
The Wanderer
Us and Them
Born to be Wild
Games People Play
Handyman
Respect
All Things Must Pass
You’re so Square
What's Up?

Daily Photography Challenge 2024

Release Me
Morningtown Ride
Love Me Tender
The Air That I Breathe
Elusive Butterfly
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
As Time Goes By
You Send Me
All Those Years Ago
Changes
Mind Your Own Business
Mr. Blue Sky
Suddenly I See
You'll Never Know
Seven Wonders
No Values
Gone, Gone, Gone
I Saw Her Again
Strange Brew
I'm Not Like Everybody Else
The Entertainer
Don’t Stop
Forever Autumn
The Beep Beep Song
Like a Rolling Stone
Black is Black
The Marvelous Toy
Old Man
Day-O (banana Boat Song)
Smoke on the Water
Me and You and a Dog Named Blue
Knock Three Times
Those Were the Days
Not Fade Away
Both Sides Now
Crazy
Cars
Your Smiling Face
The Streak
Handle With Care
Amazing Things
Time to Ring Some Changes
Lazy Bones
Don't it Make my Brown Eyes Blue
Ashes to Ashes
Beautiful Day
Let the River Run
Brand New Key
End of the Line
Fire and Rain
Which Side Are You On?
Alone Again, Naturally
Singing In The Rain
Misty
Golden Brown
Good Vibrations
5D (Fifth Dimension)
Don't Worry, Be Happy
Figure of Eight
Stuck in the Middle With You
Rainy Days and Mondays
Reason to Believe
My Favourite Things
Inside Out
Steamy Windows
Run So Far
What a Wonderful World
It's Too Late
Changes
We Didn't Start the Fire
Ol' Man River
Perfect Day
O' Sole Mio
Ruby Tuesday
I Can't Forget
Telephone Line
Shakin' all over
Blues run the game
In the still of the night
Happy Birthday
Crossroads
Wasn't That a Party
Sound and Vision
Ticket to Ride
Love Me Love My Dog
Daydream
Afternoon Delight
You Got It
Windy
Tapestry
Everybody Knows
Summertime
A Little Less Conversation
Colors
Unforgettable
I Get a Kick out of You
I Can See For Miles
Can't Get it Out of My Head
All By Myself
Sunshine of Your Love
Needle and the Damage Done
Jet
Another Day
Deep Purple
The Last Farewell
I Feel the Earth Move
Slip Sliding Away
"E Lucevan le Stelle" ("When the stars were brightly shining")
Stayin's Alive
Three Flights Up
We Have all the Time in the World
Sometimes When we Touch
Night Fever
Take it easy
The Twist
What's Going On?
Nature Boy
Gone Fishing
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White
Shelter of your Eyes
This is the Life
Ring of Fire
Take it to the Limit
Handbags and Gladrags
A Taste of Honey
Golden Years
The Last Time
Everyday Angels
Catch the Wind
Makin' Whoopee
Sundown
Come Talk to Me
Play with Fire
All shook up
Last night
Losing My Religion
Sixteen Tons
Down
Steam
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Mayhem
Without You
Things Go Up
Wild World
Two Out of Three Ain't Bad
I Walk tthe Line
Something in the Air
Ode to Joy
Walk of Life
Catch a Falling Star
Loving You
Moon Shadow
Don’t Think Twice, it's Alright
Bend Me, Shape Me
Ain't that a Shame
You Light Up My Life
Ring My Bell
Dreams
Well Did Ya Evah
The Twelfth of Never
Where Do You Go To My Lovely
Do You Want to Know a Secret?
Cloudy
The Sound of Silence
Days
Why Don't Your Write Me
Move it on Over
Strangers in the Night
I'm on Fire
Living Thing
Sorrow
Food Glorious Food
Oh My What a Shame.
The Second Time
I Drove All Night
Summer in the City
A Whiter Shade of Pale
Something So Right
On the 4th of July
All Right Now
Great Pretender
Twelve Thirty
You're So Vain
I am a Rock
Meet Me on the Corner
Silence is Golden
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes
Satisfaction
Empty Chairs
For all we Know
Fire
Nocturne
Wait
Mellow Yellow
Too Much Heaven
Torn
Fame
The Last Thing on my Mind
Our House
It's Friendship
Oh Well
Girl on a Bicycle
Get Up and Go
5 4 3 2 1
Man of the World
Che Gelida Manina (Your tiny hand is frozen)
King of the Road
Every Breath You Take
On the Road Again
Wonderful Baby
Yesterday
Something Inside So Strong
Dizzy
Late in the Evening
River Deep Mountain High
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
I Want to Break Free
The Little Things We Do
Help!
Autumn Almanac
Bad Moon Rising
Go Your Own Way
Woman
Fields of Gold
Go Where You Wanna Go
Nobody Does it Better
A Day in the Life
Give It Up
Ain't Misbehavin'
You Make Me Feel Brand New
Java Jive
Sunny Afternoon
Where Have All the Flowers Gone
Hesitation Blues
Dedicated to the One I Love
You've Got a Friend
Hit the Road, Jack
It Doesn't Matter Any more
I Feel Free
Anything Goes
If
And I Love You So
Make Me Smile (Come up and see me)
My Eyes Adored You
Kodachrome
The First Cut is the Deepest
I Got Stripes
You Were Always on my Mind
Don’t Look Back in Anger
Things Can Only Get Better
Oops! I Did It Again.
Downtown
All You Need Is Love
Lying, Laughing, Loving, Crying
The Race is On
Won't Get Fooled Again
It Ain't Me Babe
Walk on the Wild Side
Need Your Love so Bad
Spoonfull
Never Wed an Old Man
Silhouettes
These Boots are Made for Walkin'
These are the Days of our Lives
True Blue Wonders
A Fool Such As I
Two Hearts
Parklife
Oh Happy Day
Home and Dry
Gentle on my Mind
Easy
Waterfalls
Memories are Made of This
Largo al Factotum (I am the factotum)
Bang Bang
Wipe Out
If You Could Read My Mind
All I Really Want to Do
Everyday
In the Mood
Till the Morning Comes
Zero
Ain't No Sunshine
Feelin' Groovy
Born at the Right Time
Try a Little Tenderness
Malted Milk
Something in the Way She Moves
Morning has Broken
Something Stupid
Paint it Black
Homeward Bound
The Frozen Man
Misty
Window Shopping
It Takes Two
Stand by Me
Green, Green Grass of Home
Hello Goodbye
The "In" Crowd
At Seventeen
Wherewithall
Everybody Hurts
Cherry, Cherry
Blowin’ in the Wind
Whispering Grass
Blue Moon
Turn! Turn! Turn!
Funkytown
Castles in the Air
Sit down
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Four Walls
Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better
Rose Garden
Money for Nothing
In the Summertime
Salt Water
This Land is my Land
Running of Faith
Hakuna Matata
Stardust
Happy trails
We are the Champions
I Hear you Knockingg
I'm a Believer
Up on the Roof
April, Come She Will
Cool Water
Blue Skies
Something's Burning
Another Brick in the Wall
I Saw the Light
A Hazy Shade of Winter
Trouble
I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry
Que Sera Sera
Time is on My Side
Never
Blue
Hallelujah
Trickle Trickle
Maybe I'm Amazed
Secret o' Life
Line 'em Up
I Fall to Pieces
Under Pressure
Talk to the Animals
My Little Town
Imagine
It's a Kind of Magic
You’re my Best Friend
That's Alright, Mama
My Travelling Star
It's Raining Again
Winter has Me in its Grip
In Dreams
Never Going Back Again
Winter Wonderland
Teach your Children
The Long and Winding Road
She's Always a Woman
It Was a Very Good Year
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
The End

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About Ivor Rackham

ivorphotography.co.uk

A professional photographer, website developer, and writer, Ivor lives in the North East of England. His main work is training others in photography. He has a special interest in supporting people with their mental well-being. In 2023 he accepted becoming a brand ambassador for the OM System.