Just Get Out and Make Photos

One thing I’ve learned in my 17 years of professional photography is sometimes you need to just get out and DO SOMETHING, even when you’re not feeling inspired.

Being a parent, if you haven’t decided what you’re doing with yourself at a certain time, someone will come along and decide for you. Yesterday morning, my 4 y/o asked me to come outside with him to practice his skateboarding. It was very cold and there was a dusting of snow on the ground, so we headed to the porch.

I wasn’t planning to take any photos, but the sun popped out and the dryer turned on and there was the cool combo of steam and morning light that I had to capture.

We ended with a couple rounds of darts. Why not?

Moments in time

So is this a full photo story? No. It’s more of a vignette. Just a few moments in time. And often that’s enough. Life doesn’t always give you enough time to do a full story and really it’s better that way. I used to obsess about when to start or finish a story. Now I do what I have time to do and that’s that. It takes a lot of pressure off, frankly.

Admittedly, it’s different for client work, but that’s another blog post for another day.

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Here are some stories I made about artists. I got out and shot for an hour or two and was happy with the result.

Author: Zach Dobson

Zach Dobson is a documentary and commercial photographer based in Indianapolis. He holds a degree in journalism from Indiana University with a concentration in photography. Since starting his business in 2006, Zach has focused on documenting people’s lives and businesses in action. Zach’s client list includes the Indiana Pacers, Coca-Cola, the AARP, ZipCar, Indiana University, Visit Bloomington, Hamilton County Tourism, Land O’Lakes, RIOT LA Comedy Festival, Indianapolis Public Schools, Indiana High School Athletic Association. Zach is a Professional Member of the American Society of Media Photographers [ASMP]. He resides in Carmel, Ind. with his wife and business partner, Courtney, and their five children.

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