As I said in an earlier post, I recently attended a great photography conference in New Orleans. During each day of the conference they had several different classes to choose from… Some were designed to help improve the business side of your… er… business. Others were more focussed on technique. And they had others that were focussed on creativity and inspiration.

One of the classes I was able to attend was led by a fantastic photographer from Cleaveland, Mississippi, Will Jacks. Besides obviously being a very talented photographer, he seemed to be a pretty cool guy. You know, one of those people that you think, “Hmm… I don’t really know them, but I think we could be friends.”

Anyways, one of the things he talked about was making time to be creative. Deliberately going out and tracking down inspiration and creative shots. He said that he regularly will go out with only his iPhone, stopping by places he has never been, or going the long way home, seeking for new inspiration.

That has stuck with me. I think there is a misconception (that I am working to overcome) that creativity is something that just happens… I am sure that it is easier for some than it is for others. But, the thing that I am learning is that, no matter who you are, if creativity is something you want to develop, you have to work at it… You have to practice it. Someone once told me that Stevie Wonder writes a song every day… At first I think, that’s crazy!! But then it hits me… What if he hadn’t worked that hard at song writing? Would we have songs like Isn’t She Lovely? Or My Cherie Amour? Maybe…

But maybe not.

So I have been putting that into practice. Ever since that class I have been purposefully looking for creative shots, but using only my iPhone… Trying to further develop my eye for amazing photography. Here is one that I took this week:

Hanging on

I am excited to see how I improve over time, as I keep up this habit!

P.S. Occasionally I may decide to post a picture on Twitter. You can follow us here: FyreflyPhoto

P.S.S. I am following Will on Twitter and he regularly posts pictures from his creativity hunting expeditions. You can check him out here: WilJax