And 7 more tips to beat pandemic boredom

Saturday 21 March 2020, 22:11 by Erik van Rosmalen | 5,573 views | 0 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Michelle shared some tips on Monday for getting through the 'social distancing' during the current coronavirus crisis. If you've already run out of things to do, here are a few more tips.

1. Spring cleaning

I try to keep my archive, which I manage in Lightroom, as organised as possible. All photos are sorted by date and then divided into catalogues and collections.

But over the years, folders full of 'rubbish' always seem to appear. Failed photos, Photoshop experiments, your hard drive fills up with them anyway. If you're stuck indoors, this is a good time for some spring cleaning!

A random selection from an old folder containing photos that had been flagged for deletion, but were still on the hard drive. Over the years, the number of Mb's you waste this way can really add up.

2. Rediscover that unexpected gem

If you're rummaging through your archive anyway, you may come across something unexpected. A photo you thought was so-so years ago, had forgotten about in the meantime, but now look at with completely different eyes.

Playing games with the family: this will be popular in many households again now. Years ago, I took a few portraits of Sepp during one such afternoon. I had completely forgotten about the photos, until now!

3. Editing 2.0

Technology never stands still. Software has improved over the years, just as your editing skills hopefully have. Who knows, you may come across a photo in your archive that you would edit very differently with today's eyes.

Get rid of that selective colour, get rid of that excessive vignetting, make the skin much less smooth: who knows what will emerge!

A portrait from early 2015, which I edited again this week. I ran the image through Lightroom's new process version and mainly adjusted the mood and colour tone to better suit my current taste.

4. Dive even deeper into the (family) archive

Have you cleaned up your hard drive, but still have more time to kill? Then take a look through your analogue archive. Perhaps you still have some rolls waiting to be developed (I do, but that won't apply to everyone), or there are boxes of negatives or photo albums from your childhood to sort through.

Perhaps the old photos will inspire you (why not recreate that photo of Sinterklaas evening 1982 with your family?), perhaps you can scan and colourise an old photo or feel like making a collage!

Years ago, as an assignment for the Fotovakschool, I made a number of photos that referred back to the 1970s. And you could easily do this in your living room.

5. Selfie time!

Admittedly, just like most photographers have consciously chosen to stand behind the camera, I'm not exactly a 'selfie king' either. Still, it can be good to play around with it now and then and put yourself in front of the camera.

It gives you a chance to experience what your model goes through. It is also technically challenging, because you have to find a way to focus and take the shot. And... who knows, it might give you a new profile picture!

Around 2014, we were all watching Breaking Bad. That prompted me to make a self-portrait as a lookalike of Heisenberg/Walter White. You wouldn't want to do this to just any model, after all...

Read on Photofacts the selfie tips from fellow blogger Marit Hilarius. Need more inspiration? Then definitely check out the work of Miss Aniela, who has turned self-portraits into a genre of their own. She often does this from her living room, too.

6. Take the 'same' photo again... and again...

You can also get creative within a limited number of square metres. That restriction can be challenging. Just as you can choose to photograph only with a 50mm lens, you can also see what you can do within the square metres of your house or back garden.

A good example is this series by Albert Dros, who captured exactly the same photo at different times of the year. The same image, with different light and a different mood. What does your back garden look like at different times of day? Or in different weather conditions?

You could also make your own mini-animation or 'stop motion': put the camera on a tripod and take the same image several times. You can then edit it into a film using various software programmes, such as Premiere, Windows Movie Maker, iMovie or Photoshop!

Or read this blog about how you can really learn to look by working in the same place for four hours.

7. Sketch, read, look, get inspired!

And finally, you can work on your photography skills without a camera, too. Look around at the work of other photographers. In books or online, for example. But also write down your ideas. Make sketches, no matter how silly they may feel: they can help you develop an idea or concept later on. Prepare for the time after your confinement!

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