How to Stay Motived in Your Creative Life

I wanted to share some helpful tips I personally embrace to help me stay committed to a creative life. If you’re wanting to transform your life by making your creative passion a career or just starting a new hobby, then congratulations! This is an exciting step you’re taking.  

However, taking charge of your creative passions can be overwhelming and it will probably be a rocky road ahead. To avoid giving up on yourself, try some of these tips to spark your energy and keep you motivated along the journey.

Wake up early

Research has shown that humans are most productive within the first 4 hours of the day. Since I’ve started waking up early, I use that time to follow inspirational blogs and meditate. Don’t just utilize that productive energy for your day job – give some of that valuable time back to yourself.

Consider waking up at least 45 minutes earlier in the day to do the following:

• Spend quality time with yourself. Check-in with how you’re feeling while you drink your first cup of coffee. Take stock what’s going on with your body and mind. Create a mantra for your day and/or meditate.

• Nourish your body. Eat a healthy breakfast. Drink a full glass of water with lemon (trust me, this works wonders for hydration). Go for a run.

• Journal. Write down your schedule for the day or make a make a list of your goals for the day/for the month/for life.

• Read. Take some of that time to read something related to your creative endeavor (Not the news. Give yourself a break and catch up later).  

Admittedly, I’ve always struggled with waking up early. But, I asked members of my “pack” to help keep me accountable to this goal and that’s really worked. Which leads us to the next tip…

Find your pack

When you surround yourself with people who don’t motivate or teach you, it’s time to consider broadening your social circle and finding your “pack”. Now, I’m not saying that you need to break-up with your friends necessarily... but consider the influence your buddies may have on you. Do they drain your energy or fulfill you? Do they want more out of life like you, or are they complacent where they are? These are important questions to ask yourself.

Start spending more time with the people who:

• Share your passion. Join a MeetUp or Facebook group. Go to a networking event and meet people in the industry.

• Inspire you. Is there someone you really look up to? Send them an email and ask to meet for a chat over coffee. Ask them to be your mentor, or even ask about a job opportunity.

• Support you. Embrace the friends and family who support your goals and passions.

With this pack of individuals in your life, you will be more motivated to get where you want to go. These are the people in life who hold us accountable, challenge our ways of thinking and open our minds to new possibilities.

Keep a Journal

A great way to commit to your creative passion is to journal every day. I use my journal to document ideas for blog posts, writing down want-lists for camera gear, or to record my random stream of consciousness if I’m feeling inspired. It helps me organize my thoughts and write out what I’m holding onto mentally. Here are some benefits of keeping a journal:

• A constant reminder of your goals and ambitions.

• Keeping your thoughts organized. Your home isn’t the only place you can “Marie Kondo.” Use a journal to set a plan and a schedule. Get your ideas on paper so you have a place to refer back to them. And write down the thoughts that #sparkjoy

• Letting go of frustrations. Journaling is a great way to vent and get negative thoughts out of your head. I highly recommend journaling for this!

You can find some really inexpensive journals on Amazon (I prefer the Minimalist Art journals) or you can be really thrifty and make your own!

Stay Educated

This might sound like an expensive endeavor, but I’m not talking about going back to school for a second bachelors or master’s degree. The world is full of free and inexpensive resources in this day and age. A lot of my education comes from Youtube videos and reading cheap books I bought from Half Price Books. Here are a few things you can do to keep yourself educated:

• Follow inspirational blogs. I like to follow blogs like thesartorialist.com and digital-photography-school.com for photography ideas. It’s a free way to learn as well as connect with others who share your interests.

• Take a class. Sign-up for a class at your local community college or invest in some online courses so you can learn from home. Since this is a photography blog, I recommend checking out digital-photography-school.com. They offer tons of inexpensive courses to learn more about photography and cameras.

• Subscribe to a podcast or Youtube channel. It's free!

If you invest in education, you’re investing in yourself. And I don’t necessarily mean “invest” in a monetary sense… Time is an investment, too. Take time to learn something new about your creative passion every day and it will reward you.

Confront the “Witch”

The “witch” is that little voice in your head who tells you that you can’t do something. When we feel anxious or filled with self-doubt, those negative thoughts and emotions make it easy for us to give up on our passions. Instead of giving into the witch, try these techniques to stay positive:

• Create visuals of positive affirmations. Write down an inspirational quote or word on a post-it and put it in a place you see every day (like the bathroom mirror or fridge).

• Remember to journal. Again, going back to the journaling (sorry to be a broken record), but this really helps me.

• Take a break from social media. When constantly checking Instagram or Facebook it’s easy to compare ourselves to the documented lives of others. Remember that these are the “edited” versions of people’s lives and not their full reality. Give yourself a break from social media and do something for yourself instead.

• Ask for help. Reach out to members of your pack if you’re going through a rough time. I know first-hand how scary it can be to be vulnerable with others, but it will strengthen the relationships in your life if you can open up and ask others for help.

• Tell the witch “not today”. Push through those negative thoughts by acknowledging the source and KEEP GOING. The hard work will pay off and the negativity you’re experiencing is only temporary.

The final tip I’ll leave you with is simple but perhaps the most important…

CREATE EVERY DAY!

Even if it’s just taking one photo per day or doing something else creative, don’t stop. Even the smallest efforts can make a big impact on your life.

In Conclusion

Remember that everyone had to start somewhere. If you’re having a hard time committing to your passion, know that you’re not alone in what you’re going through. Use some of these techniques to help you stay motivated and live an inspired life.

If you have any other techniques that you use to stay motivated and pursue your creative career, please share in the comments below!

7 Tips for Taking Better iPhone Photos

7 Tips for Taking Better iPhone Photos

Hey guys! Welcome to the first post! I wanted to start the blog by talking about the little camera that most of us already own and carry around everyday - the smartphone camera!

Here are some basic tips for taking great quality photos with iPhone models 7 and up.

1. Get Closer Rather Than Zooming in

Taking zoomed-in photographs on your phone might be the best way to capture something far away, however the iPhone doesn't have the technology for an optical zoom lens. Photos taken when zoomed in diminish the quality of what would be the perfect photo.

Instead, try to get as close you can to your subject.

There are also some really cool optical zoom lens accessories that attach to your phone. On Amazon you'll find an abundance of cool lens attachments you can use to take great close-up photos. Take advantage of these new tools to make the most out of phone photography.

2. Don't Use Flash in the Dark

Think back to a time where you where enjoying a nice night out with friends. Out of no where, you're very nearly blinded by a random stranger snapping photos with their phone nearby with the FLASH ON. You think to yourself "oh my, who brought the strobe light?" (or at least I do). Not only is it a nuisance for everyone around you, it's also really not necessary to use your flash when taking photos in a dark space.

Many people use their flash settings in lighter spaces to make photos more vivid and bright. However, if you're using the flash to take your photo in a dark setting, most of the time photos will turn out grainy and blurry.

Instead, use a phone flashlight or get a Lume Cube.

You will need at least two phones for the phone technique, so ask to borrow your friend's while you take their picture! You'll have much more flexibility with light placement and you can get really cool effects.

3. Embrace the Grid

One of the basic fundamentals of photography is The Rule of Thirds, and photographers utilize this with the help of a grid overlay. The "grid" creates nine even squares that help you place the important compositional elements on the lines or the intersections of those lines.

Your iPhone provides this optional grid overlay feature. To enable it, go to your Settings > Photos & Camera and and turn the Grid toggle on.

Why is this important? The idea is to create an off-center composition which much is more pleasing to the eye and looks more natural rather than placed in the middle. It's a versatile technique that you can apply to any composition and create beautiful, more professional looking photos.

4. Turn on the HDR

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. I'll admit that when I first got my iPhone, I had no idea what "HDR" meant and kept it turned off - until I learned what it could do.

When activated, HDR creates clearer, more colorful photos with a higher contrast. It can take your photos from basic to "WOW" in a flash (pun intended). You can activate auto HDR by simply tapping "HDR" in your camera app.

Unfortunately, some of the older iPhone models don't offer smart HDR, so its not ideal to leave on for certain settings - otherwise you could get some strange blurry photos.

5. Use Burst Mode to Capture Movement

Can't quite get the kids to stand still to take a photo or want to get a great shot of your friend doing a killer backflip? Burst mode is an excellent feature to use when you're taking pictures of something in movement. Instead of taking one singular photo, it will take ten photos per second while its engaged. Pretty cool, right?

To activate burst mode on your iPhone, you simply have to hold the shutter button for however long you'd like to capture the burst photos. You'll end up with a bunch of photos and you're more likely to get a clear image!

6. Clean Your Lens

This one may seem obvious, but its not something we always think about when we start snapping photos with our phones. I've had so many photos ruined due to a dirty lens. That one little black dot that appears in each photo, in the same spot, over and over! I'm sure this has happened to you before too.

Its important to clean your lens with the right material. Trying to clean it by rubbing it on the sleeve of your sweater will sometimes make the lens even smudgier. Invest in a microfiber cloth to keep it clean. Trust me, it's worth it!

7. Try Out Different Apps

Last but not least, experiment with different photography apps. There are several free iPhone photo editing apps available in the app store. I know, many of us already use Instagram for photo-editing needs - but why stop there?

I've personally used the VSCO app and I love this one! It takes my photos from ordinary to artistic. The presets and adjustments are very simple to use to make your photos really pop without having to pay for expensive editing software.

1. Without VSCO

2. VSCO Edit

There are many more photo editing apps out there like Snapseed, Photoshop Express, and Filto. Explore and see what cool photos you can create!

This was my first post on Shutter Hack - a blog dedicated to discussing technology and technique behind taking cool and exciting photos and video!

Do you have a favorite photo editing app or want to share your tips and tricks for taking great iPhone photos? Leave your feedback in the comments below!