I recently wrote a blog post about how I have been learning online during my baby's nap time. Now we have a loose routine (of sorts) and she sleeps for a couple of hours in the early afternoon, it means a few times a week I get to work on photography ideas, my blog and my website - I generally get to put my creative hat on!
As a new mum to a seven month old baby, I may not have endless hours in the day to visit museums, go to film screenings or devour whole books in a day but there are other things that I do to keep my mind active and find inspiration for my work. I read tons of magazines, mainly fashion and I love the ideas and concepts behind fashion shoots. I quite often rip out pages and keep them for future reference. It could be how a prop is used, or how two colours work together, or maybe the camera angle. They are all ideas that influence me and my work. I also watch lots of films - including loads of documentaries. I recently watched a film called Time Zero, all about the last days of Polaroid film. It inspired me to dust off the two Polaroid cameras I have and order some film from The Impossible Project to test out for a future blog post idea.
People sometimes ask me what is the best way to get into photography and learn about taking pictures. I still believe the answer is practice, practice, practice. I'm constantly setting myself little projects and challenges in order to keep my photography fresh. Sometimes I pick a theme and go off and take shots based around that idea, or I may experiment with food photography or play around with my macro lens. For me it's all about learning and improving.
Another way to help get the creative juices flowing is through online courses. The last one I completed was How to Build a Successful Creative Blog by April Bowles-Olin and it was a huge eye-opener. It has not only given me a whole new way of thinking about my blog but it also encouraged me to totally revamp my website.
April is back on November 10th with another class called Create Digital Products That Sell While You Sleep. As I discovered with the blogging course, April is great at serving up new, exciting ideas and working them into your business. I'd love to hear more from her about selling photography online, advice on creating downloadable e-books, blogger case studies, as well as successful marketing strategies for selling digital products. Most of all, I know April will make the class fun! Here's more:
Are you ready to make your creative work more lucrative, stable, and sustainable in the long-term? Join April Bowles-Olin for an introduction to digital products and how they can enhance your creative business. This course will show you how to produce and position viable products for generating multiple revenue streams and passive income. RSVP right here to watch it live and get access to the workbook for FREE. This post is part of the Create Digital Products blog tour.