5 Excuses That Will Hold Back Your Photography in 2016

The new year has arrived! Time to stop making excuses as to why you can't make better images. The only barrier to creating the work you really want to create is you. Cast aside your goofy excuses that you use to justify your failings. Do what it takes to become the photographer you want to be and do it now!

I Don't Have Anything Interesting to Take Pictures Of

Hogwash! Great photography, at its core, comes down to storytelling. There is always an opportunity to tell a story about everything, everywhere. Sure, finding a story about some exciting setting is easier, but anything can be transformed into an amazing narrative. All you need to do is shift perspective in a new and exciting way. Those who can find the exciting in the menial can transform even the most boring scene into an unforgettable moment. You can be that person! Don't malign your lack of photographic opportunities, instead make them!

I Don't Own Good Enough Gear

I assume you have a camera? It probably has a lens on it? Then you have good enough gear. All the flash and pizzazz offered by fancy gear does is widen the possibilities to create specific images that have certain technical restrictions. Any camera is capable of creating a great image. How do I know? Because cameras don't create images, photographers do. Your gear is just an extension of your vision and it is your vision that transforms the menial to the magnificent.

I Don't Have Any Good Ideas

State of mind determines state of being. Your lack of belief that you don't have any good ideas is the reason that you don't actually have any good ideas. Refocus. Shatter your disposition and free the creativity of your mind. You have good ideas. In fact, you have great ideas, you just need to break free of the shackles you have erected which are keeping those great ideas from finding their way to the surface. Stop doubting your potential, it is infinite. Instead foster it and embrace it.

I Don't Have Enough Time

You are reading this article which means you probably aren't at some sort of labor camp 20 hours per day. That means you have time and just aren't prioritizing photography. Which is perfectly OK if that isn't your goal, but if you goal is to be the best photographer that you possibly can be than you need to carve out the time to make it your focus. You have the time, you just need to re-prioritize.

I Don't Have Anyone to Photograph

Not everyone has access to an unlimited supply of gorgeous models. Such is life. Everyone has a story; there are always people who you can shoot. Whenever someone tells me that they don't have anyone to take photos of I just give them a wry smile because I know what they are really saying is: "I'm too afraid to ask people to work with me." Finding people to stand in front of your camera is easy. Only you can make that hard. Adapt and change to make this process as easy as it should be.

Get Out and Make Some Magic

Now is as good a time as any to break free of all those self-imposed constraints that are keeping your work from being what you want it to be. Go now! Become the photographic magician that you can be. Only you stand in the way.