subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 17 August 2019 27
FINDING INSPIRATION
entirely to landscape. From early
spring to late summer, he swaps
his wideangle for a macro lens to
focus on insects and flowers. Then,
when autumn arrives, he’s back to
shooting landscapes. He believes
this seasonal switch between the
two different disciplines helps keep
him motivated. ‘They say variety
is the spice of life and I do think
having subjects that are different
but complement each other helps
to keep things fresh, because
inevitably there is less repetition,
and repetition is the thing that is
going to make you feel jaded.’
Take one a day for 90 days
Even the legends of photography
lose their mojo. In 1994, National
Geographic’s Jim Brandenburg felt
so overwhelmed that he retreated to
his home on the Minnesota prairie
to build a log cabin. Then, in the 90
days from the autumn equinox to
the winter solstice, he took only one
photo a day. He recalls: ‘I did it for
therapy. I was exhausted. I’d won
Wildlife Photographer of the Year,
Photographer of the Year twice in
America. I needed to get away
because I’m basically very reclusive
and shy. I shot 90 pictures, self-
assigned, one per day, and I did it
just for myself, then I put it away.’
Eventually, the editors at National
Geographic phoned Jim, asking
him to photograph the wolves of
Yellowstone National Park. He
declined. Then he mentioned his
90-day shoot. ‘They flew out, looked
at this 90-day thing that I had
shown no one else. They said, “Can
we take this back to Washington?”
They went back, they called me and
said, “We want to run this in the
very next issue.” I thought they were
joking.’ They weren’t. The pictures
were published in the November
1997 issue of the magazine under
the heading, North Woods Journal.
‘They published all 90 pictures,’ he
recalls. ‘It’s the most number of
pictures ever published on the least
amount of film – just two and a half
rolls.’ A year later, Jim’s self-assigned
90-day photo therapy became a best-
selling book, Chased by the Light.
Today, many photography tutors
set the ‘one-photo-a-day’ project to
instil a more considered approach
into their students’ trigger-happy
ways. But for Jim, the lesson was
more holistic: ‘I learned something
about following your intuition and
your soul.’ No doubt, the success of
his idea, borne out of his own loss
of mojo, also helped restore his
confidence. As Richard Peters puts
it: ‘When you regain confidence in
what you’re doing, a new idea often
comes because you are not putting
any pressure on yourself.
So, don’t force the issue.’‘If you’re not feeling creative then
trying to make yourself go out and becreative is the worst thing you can do’
Day 10 – Wilderness Loons, from Jim Brandenburg’s 90-day Chased by the Light project
Popular landscape
settings such as
Seilebost beach on the
Isle of Harris, Scotland,
look more eye-catching
when photographed
unconventionally© ROSS HODDINOTT
© JIM BRANDENBURG