Ed Schlotzhauer

An artists journey

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Death by GPS
Apparently, some people blindly follow GPS directions. Sometimes leading to death. There are actually topics on the internet discussing death by GPS.
Maps
I am on record as an advocate of using maps when you are photographing or traveling. My position has not changed. I will be going on about a 3000 mile trip in a few weeks and I will go armed with maps for all the regions I plan to go through.
A quick summary of my beliefs on this is that GPS is for directions directly to a destination, when you only care about reaching the destination. Maps let us see possibilities. It shows points of interests and all the alternate routes to take.
If I am photographing or traveling for pleasure or exploration, I will use maps. If I am in a city and need to find my hotel, GPS.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Death by GPS
There is actually a wiki topic on “Death by GPS”. It looks like rangers in Death Valley National Park coined the term. There are so many dangerous incidents of people getting in trouble by following GPS directions instead of using common sense that their web site says:
GPS Navigation to remote locations like Death Valley are notoriously unreliable. Numerous travelers have been directed to the wrong location or even dead-end or closed roads. Travelers should always carry up-to-date road maps to check the accuracy of GPS directions.
DO NOT DEPEND ONLY ON YOUR VEHICLE GPS NAVIGATION SYSTEM.
Drivers have died of thirst and heat in the desert. Others have died trying to follow GPS directions to drive from an island to the mainland, even though there was no bridge. A North Carolina man died after being led by GPS across a bridge that had been out for 9 years.
Some have been taken on inappropriate back roads where they ended up getting stuck and were in bad shape before they were eventually located after seardchers looked for them for days.
One story I like was the elderly woman in Belgium who tried to use GPS to guide her to her home, 90 miles away, but instead drove hundreds of miles to Zagreb, only realizing her mistake when she noticed the street signs were in Croatian. Having to stop to fill up with gas several times for the 90 mile trip did not register as a problem.
A personal example is from a trip to the Oregon coast. This was in the early days of GPS, before iPhones were common. We booked reservations at a restaurant across the bay from the small town we were in. The GPS in our rental car insisted that we must drive straight across the bay. It re-directed us that way multiple times as I ignored it. I finally turned it off, since it seemed determined to drown us.
A 2025 study examined how blindly following GPS directions can lead to dangerous, and sometimes fatal navigation errors. This study identified 52 fatalities and a number of serious injuries.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Online dependent
But the reports of people dying or being injured by following their GPS directions causes me concerns.Granted, some are understandable. Like in a storm after dark and you can’t see an unmarked bridge out until too late. But in general, it seems an outgrowth of the total dependence and unquestioning belief people now have on their mobile technology.
Statistics gathered in 2025 say Americans check their phone nearly 200 times a day. And they spend over 5 hours on it a day. 40% of people surveyed say they use their phones on a date. Nearly 30% report using their phone in the car. When I drive home tonight, I will see several people using their phone while driving, even though it is illegal in my state.
Technology is not bad. Being dependent on it to the exclusion of thinking, and relationships, and what is going on in “real life” is.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Use your head
The part of Death by GPS I can’t understand is, why did people trust what the computer said more than the evidence they could see? If the GPS says drive across the ocean when there is no bridge, doesn’t that cause a pause for reflection? If the GPS is taking you on a “shortcut” that is turning into a Jeep road doesn’t it seem advisable to turn around and find another route? When it takes you on a road that would probably be good, except it is covered with a foot of unplowed snow, shouldn’t you decline?
This is a topic of scientific study called Automation Bias. It is “the propensity for humans to favor suggestions from automated decision-making systems and to ignore contradictory information made without automation, even if it is correct.”
Do not be a robot controlled by your GPS. You are a thinking, sensing, feeling human being. You are the one driving the car. That makes you the responsible one. Accept the GPS input as suggestions that you are free to ignore.
Before phones we had to think and learn to use tools like maps. Humans have not evolved away from being able to think. Not yet.
Do you want your obituary to say: “He died following his GPS, even though all the evidence was to turn around.”
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Mindfulness
From the point of view of photography and living a rich life, I believe mindlessly following GPS has other dangers besides serious injury. I have not seen a study, but from my experience, I believe that when we are being directed by GPS, we tend to narrow our focus to the road right around us. We become mostly oblivious to anything that is not interfering with our driving. We virtually become a robot being driven by GPS.
In a lot of my writing, I preach being mindful. Not is a mystical Zen sense but just paying attention. Being aware of what is going on around you. Quieting your mind and being receptive to what is there. Seeing things that do not register with most people.
This can be challenging going down the road at 70 mph, but it is not impossible. I often see something that might be interesting, but it takes a few seconds for it to register with my conscious mind, and I turn around to go back to see it. I do not have to contend with the GPS sternly telling me to “return to route”, because it is not on.
The routes I take are the ones I choose. If I want to wander off on a side trip, I do. My maps are showing me an overview of where I am and what options I have to get to the destination I want. My path is often not direct, but it is usually interesting.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Take back control of your life
Robert Heinlein once said:
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. — Specialization is for insects.
I would add to that read a map and be able to look around and decide the GPS is getting you in trouble.
Technology should help us fulfill our goals and lead a better life, not turn us into mindless robots.
People are starting to see danger in letting AI run unchecked, but other technologies are equally sapping our responsibility. Resist. Defend your humanity. One small rebellion is to use maps for navigation on your next trip. Spend some time studying the map to see all the roads and towns, rivers and mountains. View it is opportunity for exploration. It is exciting to spread a map out in front of you and consider all the possibilities ahead.
I have convinced a few friends to try avoiding freeways and staying on secondary roads. So far, they say they like it better. It is slower-paced and they discover charming small towns. Perhaps they are just being kind, but I know it works for me. Add that to your travel plans.
But more important, take back responsibility for your life and for your attention. Retain control of your route. Recognize danger when you see it and don’t be afraid to change plans. And always look at everything. around you as a potential photo opportunity.
You’re an artist, not a machine being controlled by GPS. As a photographer, death by GPS, to me, means it makes me miss the awe and wonder all around me for the sake of being guided along the shortest and fastest route to my next destination. Emerson was right when he said, “Its the not the destination, It’s the journey.”
Get a map. 😊
Afterword
I spoke strongly to make a point. I recognize that I am presenting my personal position and preferences. You have no reason to adopt them, other than I can speak from long experience.
In summary, my points are:
- Blindly following GPS can be dangerous
- Maps are a tool for exploring. GPS is for getting to a destination.
- Mindfulness is important to photographers. GPS tends to block mindfulness.
September 23, 2026
Documentary Shots
Documentary shots, or record shots, are something I have avoided for a long time. There came a point where I did not consider them “art”, and therefore, not interesting. I have changed some.
Documentary shots
Documentary shots record a place or event or person. They can be excellent images by themselves. If I go to an iconic location, I probably shoot a few frames of it, just to remember it. Likewise, when I am traveling, I often shoot some images of a new place I haven’t seen before. Again, just to remember it. I have no thought of putting them in my portfolio. And when we shoot pictures of family or events, likewise, they are for the memory.
Sometimes I will shoot these with my phone, since they are not “serious” images. I may put careful consideration into the framing and exposure and composition, but they are not intended to be published.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Art?
These are second class images to me because they are records of something rather than an interpretation of it.
I consider that most of my work in at least the first 20 years of my photographic journey was record shots. We would go to some great location in Colorado, and I would have to photograph it all. The sweep of the mountains, the ruggedness of a Jeep road, mountain waterfalls and streams. All well exposed and sharp, but really just “I was here; look what I saw” shots. Mostly uninteresting, from an artistic point of view.
The term “record shot” became synonymous to me as boring and not artistic. That was probably an overreaction.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Epiphany
Recently I had a mild epiphany. I have been studying American Civil War history lately. Somewhere along the way I realized that there is a wealth of photographs from the era. They are very impactful when they appear in a video or in a book to supplement the historical narrative.
It shows the people, the locations, and, sometimes, the horrible aftermath of battles. This is straight documentary photography. The equipment was large and the film speed was very slow, so they could only do tripod shots of people or landscapes. Things that sit very still. But I was seeing reality 160 years ago. That is impactful.
There was no consideration of AI fakes. They had little opportunity to be overtly dishonest. Of course, there are always the decisions of what is shot and what isn’t, where the camera is placed, and what is excluded. Those design elements were part of photography then as they are now.
But the hardy photographers back then knew they had an opportunity that never existed before to capture scenes of this war. It looks, from the images I have seen, like they were trying to be brutally honest. I believe this was the first time a war was extensively documented on film.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Context
This got me rethinking record shots. Although none of the images I have seen would win any prizes today based on their composition or artistry, they are valuable evidence of what happened. They are records of history.
Being able to see portraits of Lincoln and Grant and Lee and Jackson and other leading figures of the time makes them much more real. Seeing Lincoln at Gettysburg just a couple of days after the battle is powerful. Images of the battlefields at the time helps understand how the terrain contributed to the battle plans. And a picture of the aftermath of a battle captures the devastating destruction and loss of life and suffering better than a simple narrative can.
Did these photographs become good just because they are old? That’s partially it. But it is more than just age. They became more valuable because they are records of scenes that are gone. They could not be taken now.
These old photos bring us realities of people and places and events that are past and can never be again. That makes them unique and valuable historical documents.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Eugène Atget
I was also reminded of a photographer I heard about one time named Eugène Atget. He photographed Paris street scenes and architecture in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. It was a time of great change, and he recorded scenes that were disappearing.
Here is an example of one of his images in Paris:
Storefront of Little Bacchus, rue Saint-Louis-en-I’Ile, Paris (1901). By Eugène Atget from Wikimedia Commons(Public Domain).
He was virtually unknown during his life. An American photographer, Berenice Abbott bought thousands of prints from Atget’s estate after his death. She exhibited them and built recognition and appreciation for his work.
After his death, Atget’s style influenced the American realist/documentarian movement of the 1930s and 1940s. He even became associated with the surrealist movement. Man Ray even used one of his photographs as a cover image for the surrealist magazine la Révolution surréaliste. Art galleries in the USA also paired Atget’s photos with surrealist art in exhibitions.
C.S. Voll, in a Medium article, says “He had been so immersed in his project to document Paris that he hadn’t been aware of how avant-garde the images were at that moment.”
Good idea
These have got me to thinking about the history I have seen and the historical documentation I have done. Cities grow and spread. Wheat fields are permanently destroyed by housing development. Climate change alters the landscape. Buildings are torn down and new ones built. Companies I have worked for no longer exist. Many people I have known are dead now. Opportunities that will never happen again. How many pictures do you have in your files that could not be taken now?
Is there value in the records of these happenings? There could be. For ourselves, if for nothing else.
I have decided to embrace “record shots”, shoot more of them, and keep them. I have witnessed many changes in my life. Some of them I have photographed. I wish I had shot more of them. While I do not expect any of these to make me famous or to start new art movements, I believe they have value.
Documentary shots are not necessarily second class to art. They are a different photographic expression. My primary intent is fine art images, but I now see documentary images as a valid and useful thing to do. Some of them can be art, too.
September 18, 2026
Intro or Extro?
Which is your natural approach to photography? Introspection or extrospection? Intro or extro?
Psychology
Psychologists work hard to try to explain human behavior and thought processes. Sometimes their ideas seem insightful. Sometimes, off the wall.
There are many different personality tests and other tools that attempt to sort people into convenient boxes. Mostly with the noble goal of helping to understand ourselves and other people. These can help some, on a surface level. But humans are far more complex than can be captured in a simple test.
Across most of the personality tests, one of the important axes that seems to occur in some form is introvert vs. extrovert. And the common underlying definitions are based on whether you get your energy from being alone (introvert)or with people (extrovert)
Personally, I believe most humans are.far too complex and interesting to be put into a box. It causes us to make snap judgments about them, or ourselves. And they are often wrong.
But lets go with the introvert/extrovert model for a while, since it seems true of many people, Introverts tend to “live in their head”. This leads to self-awareness, introspection. Extroverts, not so much. They tend to look out more than in. The term is extrospection.
For your inner Geek: intro is Latin for inward. Extro is Latin for outward. Spect is Latin for looking at. So these words are just describing whether we tend to look inward or look outward.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Introspection
An introspective person examines their thoughts, feelings, and actions. They look inward and are self-aware. We (this is me) reflect on our emotions and judgments and feelings.
Ordinarily this is a good trait. Being self-aware lets us see ourselves as others do and work to improve ourselves. We tend to be thoughtful rather than just reactive. As an artist, we tend to seek and practice creativity.
But in our photography, it can slow us down and distract us from what is around us. There can be a tendency to filter what we react to by what we are feeling or concentrating on at the time. If your work is based on what you find in the world around you, this can be a problem.
I had a world respected photographer tell me in a workshop that I think too much. Then later that day as we were showing some work, he said he had never seen that flower viewed like that and he was going to steal the idea. Go figure.
On the other hand, a great photographer Mike Langford said in Better Photography magazine: “Each destination starts with a process of quietly sitting
for a while and absorbing where I am. I genuinely try to feel
what is different about being there, as if it’s my first visit, with no
preconceptions. By being in tune with my emotions and innermost thoughts,
even the most familiar things can be seen and photographed in
a new and different way.” That sounds like a good form of introspection.
Introspection can lead to creatively trying new variations or approaches to what we are doing. It may slow us down and it may blind us to some great shots, but the potential creativity may well be worth it.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Extrospection
Extrospection is defined as the observation of things external to one’s mind. This would imply reacting to external stimuli. Many people, especially extroverts, look outward for their stimulus and validation.
Photographers with this view tend to more easily see what is there around them.They abandon preconceived plans and work freely with the reality in front of them. I have quoted Jay Maisel on this many times, but this is exactly what he means by “going out empty”. Don’t go looking for something specific. Instead, see what is there and work with it.
I said above that this is reacting to external stimuli. At least, that is the way it works for me. I think of it as shutting off my mind, at least the critical reasoning parts, and getting into a form of flow state. Shooting becomes instinctive. I’m sure a lot of it is based on experience. The scenes before me trigger the response. Composition becomes part of the instinctive response.
This is a form of mindfulness. The extrospective person is highly aware of their surroundings and ready to work with them without judgment.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Both and
So, which approach is better? Trick question: neither. Both are valuable and can lead to excellent results. Your inherent nature determines which approach you tend to.
But you are not locked in to either one. We can learn to behave in both ways. I have said that I am an introvert and I tend to introspect. Maybe too much. But I have also learned to go out with no judgment and embrace what is there at the moment. It may be harder for me to to “get in the flow” of that, but I can do it.
Both/and thinking says that you can feel more than one thing at a time. That you can hold conflicting thoughts without confusion. It is a realization that life and humans are complicated. They can’t be accurately modeled by one simple label.
When I think I am shooting with no judgment and embracing what is there, I know that that is not literally true. I try to allow myself to react emotionally to the environment, but behind the scenes, sometimes subconsciously, sometimes much more conscious, years of training and examination are guiding what is happening. Decisions about exposure and focal length and composition are being made, I just try not to let them intrude too much on my emotional state.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Do we have to decide?
I see introspection and extrospection as complimentary traits, not conflicting ones. Extrospection lets us be in the moment, to see and react to what is around us, even if it is not what we anticipated. Introspection lets us analyze what we are seeing and maybe take it to a higher level. It seeks to find the essence and answer “what if” questions.
Extrospection helps us find interesting material. Introspection helps us creatively make the best of it. Together, they make our art better.
We are not stuck just blindly following our basic nature. You are not a helpless robot. Part of growing and maturing is to learn to adapt new behaviors. To practice new thought processes. We can learn to expand our thinking. Mindfulness and creativity compliment one another. We can hold and practice both in our mind at the same time. Without breaking anything.
Don’t just react or just think. Do both. At the same time.
Intro or extro. It does not have to be either/or. It can be both/and.
September 2, 2026
Awe and Wonder
In our cynical lives these days we seldom experience awe and wonder. That is a very sad. We can change that. Photography is one of the things that brings me closest to these feelings.
Wonder
Wonder is probably easiest to talk about. It is an emotion associated with surprise. We find something unexpected, but in a good way. A happy occurrence. It is often associated with curiosity and exploring our interests.
Plato and Aristotle believed that wonder is the basis of philosophy.
Wonder can happen when we encounter something entirely new, or when we find something unexpected about what we were familiar with. Either event astonishes us.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Awe
Awe, though, is significantly different. One definition of awe is “an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by overwhelming greatness (as in beauty, power, or size).” The underlying idea is being in the presence of something so great and significant that it is frightening in a way.
People often describe awe at things like the birth of a baby, or viewing the vastness of space, or contemplating God. Other examples that I can think of are being in a large thunderstorm, or viewing the Grand Canyon, or standing in an ancient cathedral in Europe, or being out in nature.
When we discover we are in the presence of greatness or power that is beyond us, it tends to produce awe.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Not our everyday experience
I fear, though, that modern society tries to squeeze the awe and wonder out of our lives. The News is all bad. Our jobs are often an unending sequence of soul sucking monotony. TV and movies are just time fillers. The next day we can hardly remember what we saw. Social media makes us feel bad because everyone else seems to have perfect lives and really exciting vacations. All or our time is filled, but we don’t seem to accomplish anything.
Sorry to be depressing, but that is what I observe in a lot of people I encounter. One psychologist describes our society as “awe-deprived.” There is hope, though.
We are expected to “grow up” and view everything coldly and analytically. Of course we must grow up, but that does not have to be at the cost of losing our sense of wonder.
Without changing your job or the News or much of your calendar, we can introduce awe and wonder back into our life.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Open to awe and wonder
Awe and wonder are feelings. Something that comes from inside us. They come from putting ourselves in their way and being open to seeing and feeling them. You don’t necessarily need to go to the Grand Canyon or a great cathedral. They are all around.
When is the last time you went out on your porch during a big thunderstorm? Just to stand there, flinching from the lightning bolts, being shaken by the thunder, feeling the spray from the blowing rain. On one hand, you are a little afraid, hoping it does not get too bad. On the other hand, though, you are in awe of the untamed power unleashed here. We know we are in the presence of something much greater than us. It is something that changes us and leads us to think new thoughts.
Or when have you spent a little time doing some research into something you are curious about? Sometimes it turns out to be interesting, even surprising. There might be more there than you ever imagined. This is a type of wonder.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Through our camera
I know it is partly just a psychological tool, but picking up my camera is a signal to myself that I am now going to be open and receptive. I am consciously switching to a mode of looking and seeing rather than just drifting through life from one moment to the next.
This simple move is a declaration that I am open to awe and wonder. And by just expecting it, it is amazing how many times they happen.
I consider it giving myself permission to look and feel. This is not something we seem to think we have in our day-to-day lives. But holding a camera, I am in a different state.
I don’t notice when I’m making myself look foolish going after a shot. I don’t care. Something is triggering wonder, maybe even bordering on awe. It is that feeling like being out in a storm. I have to experience it, participate in it.
Holding my camera, I am much more likely to notice the way the light is playing across this scene, or that fascinating rusty old truck that I have passed by dozens of times without noticing.
Awe and wonder help pull us out of the ruts we tend to fall in. In this “zone” it is easier to be curious and find out what happens if I do it like this instead of the way I normally do it. I place a high value on creativity. But creativity cannot grow without following our curiosity and being led by the wonder we find around us.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Play
As kids we played a lot. BTW, I hope you let your kids have lots of unstructured time for play. Not with socially relevant or educational toys, but with a box or some paper or a mud puddle or … Anyway, adults can play, too. It is good for us. Very good.
One good way we can celebrate these feelings we have when we experience awe and wonder is to play. Yes, like a kid. With our camera, we can do the equivalent of splashing in puddles and chasing butterflies. Instead of taking the same, safe pictures we always take, do it different. Use a different framing, maybe not even level, use a lens we don’t normally use, make some shots where we’re thinking “this may not work, but if it does, it will be cool.” It might work.
Play keeps us loose. We stay in an exploration mode. We’re in a higher emotional state. And it is fun. Don’t discount fun. If we are having fun, we are probably doing good work.
Learn to tune into those opportunities that come to you for awe and wonder in your life. It makes us better. I cannot think of any occasion where I experienced wonder or awe and then thought “that was a boring waste of time; I wish I was mowing the yard.”
August 5, 2026
Just Taking Pictures
I need to get back to the simple joy of taking pictures. Just having fun and exploring creatively. No pressure.
Pressure
Taking pictures used to be fun. Now, it seems I worry too much about whether it is a great picture, a portfolio image, does it further a project I am working on?
That puts a lot of pressure on me.
I seem to get caught up in feeling like the images are “important” and that, somehow, I am being judged by the quality of every one I take. When I got to the point that I could occasionally take a pretty good picture, then somehow, an attitude developed that all of them need to be excellent. That if most of them weren’t “winners”, then I must be losing my edge, backsliding. The artistic muse must be gone.
This is silly when you think of it. After all, I would never show you most of my photos. The mediocre ones (hopefully) get culled out. But there is a natural reaction that some of us have that leads to a fear of failure. At some point we are afraid, or at least discouraged, to do more work for fear that it will not be as good as what we did in the past.
I can understand this. It happens to me, but I am trying hard to not accept it. At the minimum, it leads to my photography becoming work, a chore instead of fun. That pressure to always exceed my best can suck the joy out of my art.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Who is it for?
I need to keep reminding myself who the real audience is. Who is your audience? I sometimes forget.
If you must produce a high-quality image from a shoot for a client contract, you are clear who the audience is. And you have the pressure of having to create to client demands. That is a clear pressure situation that you have willingly accepted by signing the contract.
Or if you feel pressure to post daily shots that will get “likes” from your internet viewers, that is another clear pressure situation that you have bought into. You have pressure to shoot for your viewer’s tastes rather than your own.
Those generally do not apply to me, though. I may occasionally shoot for someone, and I occasionally post images to the internet, like in these articles. But in almost all cases, I am the audience that matters. That is what I must keep in mind.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Inhibition
There must be a “so what” here. If I lose sight of who I am shooting for, what are the consequences?
The consequence to me is the pressure that builds to always exceed the best of what I have done. A result of this is that I shut down. I feel inhibited from taking any pictures. I look at something that seems interesting and think “yes, but I may not be able to make an outstanding picture from that.” So, I don’t shoot. I don’t take the chance.
I find that when I get stuck in this self-imposed pressure trap, I lose my will to take pictures. Nothing seems worthwhile. I don’t feel “inspired.” I have come to understand that much of this is really inhibition caused by fear of not living up to my past performance, combined with fear of moving away from what has worked in the past.
If I only shoot “safe” scenes, this leads me to becoming less creative with time. Stagnating. I’m boxing myself in. Creativity inspires taking chances, doing things that probably will not make a great picture, but may answer a question or lead to something new. But this is the messy way new ideas and approaches are discovered. It is risk taking and exploration.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Inspiration
When you’re low and feeling uninspired, what do you do? All the artists through time have experienced this, I’m sure there must be a variety of strategies. There are 2 I have worked out that are usually effective for me.
One, probably the big one, is to get up and do something. If I sit around feeling sorry for myself and waiting to be inspired, I will probably be there a long time doing nothing. I need to make myself do something, even if it is just throwaway stuff. There is a lot of inertia to overcome, but eventually I get moving. And things get better and I feel creativity returning.
The most recent session of this (working on it now), I attacked the problem on my computer rather than by forcing myself to shoot more. I enjoy doing weird, abstract composites. So, I made myself sit down with my Lightroom catalog and do some. I would scroll through and pick out something that looks interesting as a base image and throw it into Photoshop. Then I would scroll some more until I find another image that I feel might combine in an interesting way with the other one. I take it into Photoshop and start working with them together.
I might poke away at them a while and delete the result. Or it might lead to something that intrigues me. That may serve as a base to bring in other elements and textures to make it richer and more complex. This has moved quickly from something I made myself do to something I’m having fun with. Doing this energizes me and I find my new image shooting has picked up.
The second mental kickstarter I use is to take a trip. A change of scenery works wonders to shake me out of lethargy. This strategy is usually effective, but more expensive. I don’t do it as often as I would like.
©Ed Schlotzhauer
Take pictures
When I get trapped in one of these down cycles, I find the solution is to do something. Take pictures. Do something. Don’t worry about the results. Try something new. Tell yourself that you are experimenting, and the results are not expected to be great. Give yourself permission to work without pressure.
The muse – however you visualize inspiration – seems to only be there when we are working.
Excited
Being an introvert, I’m not very demonstrative. Unless you know me well, it may not be apparent to you when I’m excited. But I know. When I’m caught up in a project or exploring new techniques or ideas, I’m excited. My mind is not just engaged, it is spinning, sparking, generating new ideas constantly. It is a great feeling, and it seems like I can’t do bad work while I’m riding this wave.
But the issue is how to get back into this zone when we are parked on the bench, out of the game? I can’t give you a foolproof formula. Sorry
What I can recommend is that action always seems to help. Force yourself to pick up your camera and go out and shoot something. Don’t worry that they are not going to be your best images. Just shoot. Throw them away if necessary. But get moving in the right direction.
I talked about how creating composites is helping get me going. Taking a trip to a new location is usually effective. Other ideas are to study a new artist’s work (Rocky Nook has a lot of good books by artists), go to a good art museum, or visit some galleries. Even reading an inspiring book can help. Whatever works for you to stimulate your curiosity, spark ideas, motivate you to do something.
When we are moving and working, fear and inhibitions fall away. We are no longer held back by uncertainty, and we aren’t focused on what we did in the past. We are moving forward doing exciting new work. Do your work to please your #1 audience – you.
I’m trying to keep in mind the joy of just taking pictures. I hope you do, too.
Get moving. Go shoot something. It doesn’t matter what it is or what pictures you get. Start something and ride the wave.
July 29, 2026