Understanding The Creative Process In Photography

Photography is a creative activity. Creativity is a process. Understanding that process helps you be more creative, and in turn, a better photographer.

This idea applies no matter what your level, from complete newbie to accomplished pro, or anywhere in between.

We can’t explore the entire creative process in one article. You could write a whole book about it. But I can give you two simple, practical ideas that will kickstart your creative process in 2025.

Idea #1: The creative process happens when you do something

There’s always a certain amount of thought involved with the creative process, but things don’t get moving until you take action. It’s a bit like being a writer – a professional writer knows the only way to get work done is to sit down and type.

The same applies to photography. You have to make things happen.

I relearned that earlier this year with my The End of Summer project. I didn’t start out with an idea other than visit some nearby gardens and make close-up photos of flowers. A month after I started, the idea for the project came to me. But if I hadn’t taken action, it would never have happened.

By the way, all the photos in this article are from this project.

Now I’m planning to push this idea further by visiting gardens further afield and overseas. I’ve no idea what will happen and what projects I’ll end up doing. But I do know that if I take action, then something will happen.

Learn more: New Photography Project: The End of Summer

Passive and active inspiration

It’s important to understand the difference between passive and active inspiration.

Passive inspiration is where you read articles about photography and look at the work of other photographers, but don’t do anything about it. You absorb ideas, but don’t put them into action.

Let’s be clear – learning about photography, being inspired by other photographers’ work and understanding your influences are all important parts of the creative process. This is the thinking or rumination stage. It’s where you absorb influences and ideas and mull them over in your mind.

But at some point you have to do something. Active inspiration is where you take what you’ve learned or discovered and apply it to your own photographic practice.

Active inspiration is about creating new things. Not just photos, but the tangible things that result from them, like new galleries on websites, prints, zines and photo books.

The great thing about active inspiration is that it leads to long term passion and enthusiasm. The acts of creating, experimenting, making mistakes and producing drive you forward. They help you grow as a photographer and as a creative person.

Being a creative person

Let’s explore that idea of being creative further. We’re talking about photography in this article, but many of you will have other creative interests.

Part of being a creative person is being interested in many different creative activities, including art, crafts and writing as well as photography.

Most of us have time constraints, but anything you can do to develop your overall creativity will benefit your photography in the long run.

What mastering the creative process does for you

People who master the creative process are prolific producers. They create high quality work over and over. They learn to take action and it becomes a habit. They’re always doing (and making) something new.

We can see this in the writing world with best-selling authors that write novel after novel. Stephen King is a great example.

So is one of my favorite fiction authors, Jacqueline Winspear. Her Maisie Dobbs series, written over a twenty year period, contains eighteen high-quality novels. Most novelists would be happy to write one book as good as hers in their lifetime. She’s written eighteen. That’s the output of somebody who understands the creative process.

The same applies in the photography world in both the commercial and fine art spheres. Photographers like Annie Liebovitz, Steve McCurry and Michael Kenna have achieved the highest level of success and prolific output spanning decades. You can probably think of many more examples, depending on who you follow.

As you master the creative process you can do the same for yourself, but on a smaller scale. You’ll always have projects on the go, new plans and new prints, zines and photo books to show to people.

Idea #2: The creative process involves planning

Part of making something (anything) happen is planning. This is especially true in the modern digital where we are surrounded by devices designed to distract us and demand our attention (yes, I’m talking about smartphones and tablets).

For example, how much time do you spend on social media or watching or reading the news each day?

Let’s say it’s an hour. Over a week that’s seven hours, in a month it’s 31, in a year it’s 365.

What if it’s two or three hours a day? I’ll let you calculate the answers.

Numerous studies show that both social media and news have a negative impact on your mental health. They’re also passive. You’re not learning, doing anything or being creative while you’re doing these activities.

Now what if you took that time spent on news and social media and spent it doing something positive instead? It could be anything. Reading a good novel. Learning about photography, or any creative craft. Having meaningful conversations with friends and loved ones. Exploring the outdoors. Exercising or playing sport.

Make time

You have to make time for photography, even if it’s just a few hours a month. You have to give yourself permission to take action.

If time is short, then think about how much time you’re spending on passive activities like consuming news and social media. Now ask yourself how would it impact your life if you spent it doing something active and positive instead.

Plan your year

That’s a roundabout way of getting you to think about how you’re going to spend the coming year with regards to your photography. It’s coming to the end of 2024 as I write this. A new year is a perfect time to make plans for the following 12 months. What do you want to achieve?

You need to think about it in advance so you can make plans.

For example, I’m going to continue with my idea of photographing flowers and gardens in spring. So it’s a good idea to think about which gardens I’d like to visit so I can make plans.

I’m also planning an overseas trip. I need to figure out the details now, otherwise the time will disappear and it won’t happen.

The same applies to you. Think about what you’d like to achieve with your photography this year.

• What skills would you like to learn?
• What themes and projects would you like to explore?
• What places would you like to visit?
• What sort of photos do you want to make?
• What do you want to have to show for your efforts at the end of the year? Hopefully some prints on your wall, a zine or two and some new photo galleries at the very least.

You might not know the answers to these questions yet. But you should at least be thinking about them.

Work on your creative process

Hopefully these two ideas, taking action and making plans, help you have a more creative photography year in 2025. If you’d like to learn more about the creative side of photography, then take a look at my articles on creativity and photography.

The Creative Photographer

My ebook The Creative Photographer explores seven ways that you can become a better photographer by focusing on the creative aspects of photography. Click the link to learn more or buy.