Photography in Winter, a challenge for you
The colder months are a difficult time for most of us to keep pushing on when all the leaves have finally fallen and the glitz of Christmas and New Years has passed time for a Winter challenge.
Here in the UK, Winter feels like it drags on for more than a season. With endless rainy days and barely any sun over the horizon, it can oftentimes feel as though we are stuck, waiting for those lighter nights to brighten the spirits and strike inspiration into our hearts.
Well, dear reader. I am setting you a task, and I will be following along myself, too. The challenge is to wrap up warm, get on your rain coats and get outside. The Art of Photography, and creativity in general, lies in pushing those comfort zones and stepping out of ourselves just a little, to the point we start questioning if what we are doing is even worth it. And it absolutely will be.
This Winter, I am learning to shoot with a slower shutter speed, seeing how not only my own movement, but the movement of my subject affects the outcome of my photos. I have posted some examples below.
Learning something different.
First, we have a super blurry, out of focus photo of our co-founder, Stefan. I was enamoured with the sunset on Christmas Eve’s Eve, and asked him to join me down the road to an open field. I asked him to move his head from side to side whilst I snapped a few photos.
Now to most, this will be a photo that is instantly deleted, but this is a base level, the point to learn from and in an age of social media perfection and everyone is posting only the best images, it is imperative to show the path to getting those better photos and the lessons we can learn together. And actually, I kind of like this photo. Beauty is in the eye as they say.
This next photo was taken at the Nottingham Winter Wonderland when our friends came up to visit, it was a drizzly grey day with umbrellas aplenty to dodge under and the general public walking into frame, but we managed an entire mini session both on and off the Merry-Go-Round. Cue many a giggle from watching me and my friend almost slide off the horses we were sat on, twisting and contorting to face backwards and get the shots.
It is a different take to the first photo, in that the background was moving and the subjects were still. This would have been even better with some fill light and use of a tripod- but lugging both of those things around a busy city centre during the Christmas rush was not ideal. It is not what I would consider as a usable photo as the subjects are not as sharp as I would like, but hey, we’re learning!
The challenge…
Now, back to the task. I would like you to choose a day or two to get outside and take a photo. Perhaps go to a local café and take a photo of the coffee you are drinking, for the more daring you could try some street photography. Or maybe even an interesting building you walk past every day on your lunch break. I’m going to start up a hashtag on Instagram of #syrensstudiochallenge if anyone wants to follow along, share those photos and get a little feedback.
Lets get out and embrace Winter together.
Soph x
