Some days it may seem like you just don't know what to photograph, maybe you have already photographed the birds on the feeder 100 times or more and maybe the flowers just aren't inspiring you or maybe the weather isn't inspiring you to go outside and photograph the flowers, so here are some ideas for those days, when you just need some new ideas to give you a creative push.

I will start with the immediate things around us that you may be ignoring or choosing not to think about photographing because you think it may be too hard, sometimes we need to photograph something that challenges us as it will push us to understand our cameras more and what we can achieve with them and also help us to seek solutions to our photographic problems.

So if you have dogs or cats, you could start with them, birds - maybe not on feeders, but as they fly in and out of your garden, why not try and capture them in flight, I know this may be harder than whilst they sit at the bird feeder, but it makes you think about what type of photo you want to capture - do you want a slower shutter speed showing the movement in their wings? Or a faster shutter speed freeze framing their movement ?

pelican in flightpelican in flight

Maybe think of projects you could set yourself and try and think outside the box with the themes - so you could have a colour theme - so pick any colour, yellow, red, black, white, blue, think about shades textures objects associated with these colours, it can be food or objects - cars, bikes, toys, etc. or a pet - your dog or cat or horse if you have one.

Look at details too - rather than the entire object - a close up of a section of a face can be truly beautiful.

Maybe your chosen topic for your project could be water - so not just a stunning waterfall or lake with fabulous reflection, but maybe the rain, puddles, a tap running - filling a glass of water - dropping things into a glass of water - maybe your pet dog drinking from his bowl of water - water running down a piece of glass - maybe you can see things through the water - reflections of flowers etc.

If you're stuck inside and need something easier to get hold of to inspire you, then how about raiding the cutlery draw - spoons and forks, can make for interesting shapes and use different light sources and backgrounds to add interest, or flowers in a vase - even fruit, you are surrounded by everyday objects that you could put by a window - to use natural light and capture in a way that you have never tried before.

Remember to think about your aperture too and what you want to show people who see your photo.

Maybe you are fortunate enough to be able to take a whole day to get out and about with your camera - jump on a train and go somewhere new - London, Birmingham, Manchester, a beach somewhere or national park - the lake district or Snowdonia, just enjoy a proper day out with your camera and get inspired again.

Whatever you decide to go out and photograph have fun with it, push yourself and try something new and don't forget to share, show me what you get up to. More ideas coming soon.

If you would like to book in for some one to one tuition Email: [email protected]