11 Exercises To Overcome A Photography Rut

A photography rut—also known as a photographic rut—is a period when creativity stalls. You might feel stuck, uninspired, or disconnected from your work. It’s a common challenge at any stage of a photographer’s journey, often brought on by repetition, burnout, or a lack of fresh ideas. Breaking out of it means finding ways to reignite your photography inspiration and reconnect with the joy of creating.

We asked eleven photographers—from food and lifestyle to portrait and advertising—to share the exercises they use to reset their mindset and refresh their creativity. Their ideas might be just what you need to train your eye and get inspired again.

1. Photograph the same subject every day, week, or month

Creating a consistent personal project can be a powerful way to reignite your photography inspiration. Photographing the same subject over time encourages you to look more deeply, notice subtle changes, and develop new creative approaches—all of which help break out of a photographic rut. Philadelphia-based lifestyle photographer Lisa Godfrey remembers that even if you can’t commit to shooting daily, a weekly or monthly rhythm can still fuel long-term creativity. "During my shelter-in-place, I photographed my dog, Nita, every day. I photographed her in multiple locations but also in the same two places to help illustrate the passing of time. There’s a short version on my Instagram. I’m working on a longer version that is a little more dramatic as the landscape starts to green up. I also have a long-term personal project of photographing dogs in the Adirondacks. I have been doing this for over ten years, and I produce a yearly dog calendar that I use as a promo piece. It has helped me land a number of projects with national brands over the years. On average, I photograph a dog a month. Sometimes it’s one of my dogs, sometimes not. It gives me a goal and keeps me motivated."

2. Try the street portrait challenge with strangers

If you're struggling with perfectionism or lack of motivation, stepping outside your comfort zone with a spontaneous street portrait challenge can be the perfect reset. The portrait photographer Matt Carr admits; "I have a bad habit of expecting all my creative projects to be good enough to go into my portfolio. It’s an unrealistic expectation to put on yourself, and it can block any creativity before it starts. So when I’m feeling that way and not actively working, I just grab a camera and hit the streets to take street portraits using ambient light. I find it exciting to find someone intriguing, convince them to do a portrait, and use what I have to make something interesting. It’s slow work, and seven out of ten people say ‘no,’ but those three who agree can make your day. For a young photographer, there are some valuable lessons there. First, it helps you understand how to handle rejection, and second, it teaches you how to use any light and background you can find. It can also teach you how to work with people who aren’t used to having their photo taken and how to communicate with people who aren’t in a creative field."

This kind of low-pressure, high-reward practice is a powerful tool for overcoming a photographic rut. It builds confidence, hones technical skills, and most importantly, reconnects you with the spontaneity and joy of photography.

3. Go shopping for photography inspiration

“My favourite prompt is to go shopping for farm-to-table produce,” the food and product photographer Judy Doherty tells us. “I love to go to the farmer’s market to see what is in season from the person who grew it."

“From there, I love to photograph the food, make it into a recipe, and photograph it some more. I can often go off on a tangent for even more ideas. Since I am a food photographer, I get excited about all kinds of ingredients and all things food. You can see some of this crazy creativity in my Nature Morte collection. I take hundreds of photos of the same thing and just keep changing it up and exploring.”

This kind of playful, exploratory process can help shift your focus and energise your creativity. And it’s not limited to food—you can try it with anything from vintage fabrics and quirky objects at a thrift store to seasonal flowers or handmade crafts. The goal is to break routine and reconnect with the joy of discovery, which is key to getting out of a photography rut.

4. Shoot with a specific viewer in mind

This technique comes from Atlanta-based photographer and art director Ahmad Barber, who calls it the “Who am I photographing this for?” prompt.

“Whether it is a personal passion project or something for a client, understanding the audience of your photograph is important to making sure that you are hitting the right target,” he says. “I sometimes create that audience in my mind, be it an art director, a fine art gallery curator, or even someone I love who is just my biggest critic. It always helps me pay attention to particular details and go the extra mile to elevating my images.”

This thoughtful approach brings purpose to the creative process, helping you push through a photographic rut by encouraging deeper engagement with your subject, style, and message.

5. Take only twelve photos a day

“One of my favourite photographic exercises is all about setting limitations,” the Los Angeles-based photographer and filmmaker Alex Michael Kennedy says. “For example, take one roll of film, and go out with absolutely no plan as to what you want to shoot and finish the roll by the time you get home." “I’ve found that shooting without a plan allows you to operate outside of any boundaries we place on ourselves as photographers. It allows you to discover things and be impulsive about what you find interesting as a subject. Furthermore, limiting yourself to one roll keeps you from just shooting everything you see. You have to make the conscious decision that the scene in front of you is well worth being one out of the finite images you can make that day.” This exercise works just as well with a digital camera—just set a firm shot limit for the day. The “twelve photo” rule is inspired by a standard roll of 120 film, but the exact number isn’t as important as the mindset. It’s about slowing down, observing carefully and being intentional—making it a great exercise for anyone seeking fresh photography inspiration.

6. Get inspired by new surroundings

“When I find myself in a foreign country or an environment very different to my home, it’s hard to feel like I’m in a rut,” the Australian photographer Damien Drew admits. “I feel we tend to have our eyes prized open by difference, and there seems to be an endless supply of new content, photographic ideas, and thoughts in a new city. It is much more difficult at home, as I think we are rendered blind by familiarity."

“It’s not that there is nothing to shoot in one’s home city; it’s just that we have lost our ability to see as the background is overly familiar. For that reason, I suggest pushing through that hometown block and visiting new suburbs, suburban markets, new housing developments, or industrial areas you might never consider driving let alone walking through. A shift of context, however small, can open our eyes to new possibilities and provide an opportunity to see our hometowns anew.”

Even small changes in scenery can provide a reset when you're stuck in a photographic rut. You don’t have to go far—just far enough to see things differently.

7. Experiment with different gear

Trying a new tool can be a simple but powerful way to break out of a photography rut.

“I often use a different camera for personal exercises than I use for my commercial work,” the New Jersey-based photographer Jamie Grill Atlas says. “Maybe it’s an old film camera or a Polaroid. It could even be your phone; try a new app or a new setting. Maybe your experimental work will lead you to a technique you end up using again and again… or maybe not."

“For me, the real purpose of these shoots is just getting me out of my head and back where I belong: behind a camera, following my gut. You’re shooting not for the end product but just for the process of shooting. It’s okay to take bad pictures. It’s okay to shoot in bad light. You can scrap everything you’ve taken at the end of the day. Just the act of putting your eye to the lens can be enough to push you through the burnout and towards your next moment of inspiration.”

8. Embrace imperfection in your photography

“I have been working as a photographer for over 30 years, and in order to not get into a rut or experience a block, I have incorporated various techniques into my practice,” the California-based fine art and commercial photographer Kristianne Koch Riddle tells us. “The first one is to force myself to make ‘mistakes.’

“I do this by getting messy with the technical side of photography. I break the rules by shooting wide open, slow motion, or under/over-expose images with subjects not normally photographed in this way. Many times, when I’ve done this enough, I learn to control the mess and incorporate this technique into my ongoing work for clients."

“This has definitely become a part of my style. The important part is that I pay attention to what I am doing when I am getting messy. I understand what happens technically to create the messiness and learn to duplicate it in a controlled way. This has taken years of practice to finetune, but it has paid off in the long run as a unique way of seeing the world.”

Exploration like this doesn’t just help you grow technically—it can offer a completely fresh perspective and serve as a creative reset when you're deep in a photographic rut.

9. Try a different genre

Exploring a new type of photography—whether it’s still life, landscape, or something more experimental—can open unexpected doors and reignite your photography inspiration.

“The pandemic’s dampening of my creative juices forced me to venture far afield of my usual comfort zone,” the fine art photographer Calli McCaw tells us. “Unable to work on the portraiture projects I had necessarily put on my back burner, and with all the time in the world and nothing to lose, I challenged myself to investigate new realms of photography.

“Braving the unknown, I completed two online classes in still life photography, opening entirely new avenues of creativity for me to pursue. The combination of my love of digital manipulation with my newfound affinity for still life gave rise to my series, The Dürer Botanicals, a digital collage of actual still life floral arrangements with bits and pieces of images culled from my archive of past photographic work, all of which I composited against Albrecht Dürer prints."

“Landscape photography also provided an alternative space within which to stretch my creative sea legs when I felt blocked. To infuse my efforts with a new twist, I took an online class in infrared photography, repurposed a camera for infrared, and began to shoot landscapes with renewed enthusiasm. Infrared photography by its very nature provided me a new perspective with which to view the natural world through the lens of my camera. And nothing excites creativity like seeing through different eyes—or, in this case, wavelengths.”

10. Look outside the world of photography

Films, TV shows, and even old magazines can spark fresh visual ideas and help you reconnect with your creative instincts.

“When watching films, I like to pay attention to the first scene,” the Los Angeles-based photographer Christina Gandolfo explains. “It’s akin to the first sentence of a book for me, and something not to be missed. More broadly speaking, in film and TV, I notice camera angles, the use of light, the production design, and the way performers move through a scene."

“Often it’s just one thing—even the use of one colour—that can spark an idea for a still photo I want to create, or maybe it just serves as a note to file away for one of the next times I shoot. To capture it, I’ll take a quick snap with my phone."

“I also turn to old magazines sometimes when I feel stuck. Seeing how people posed or were lit or the emotion that’s captured—whether in a commercial context, fashion or editorial—can spark ideas for things to try or test. I keep an active folder of screenshots and phone pics that serves as a mood board for myself, and I’ll return to it when I need a creative lift.”

These kinds of visual references are incredibly useful when you’re trying to move past a photographic rut. They not only provide inspiration, but also help build a personal library of ideas you can draw from anytime your creativity needs a boost.

11. Write down your goals (with a pen and paper)

“I take time every few months to write down new goals for myself on little pieces of paper,” the portrait and lifestyle photographer Michelle McSwain tells us. “Then, I tape them on the wall in front of my desk so I see them every day. Next, in a notebook, I write down actionable ways to achieve those goals.

“For example, if my goal is to shoot for a shoe brand, then the actions I take to achieve it are setting up a few test shoots focused on shoes, compiling a list of shoe brands I’d like to work with, researching contacts and reaching out to them with a link to some of my relevant test work, and creating mood and inspiration boards to get myself inspired.”

The simple act of writing your goals by hand makes them tangible—and putting them where you can see them daily helps keep you motivated when your energy dips or you're feeling stuck. This practice can be a powerful way to work through a photography rut and stay aligned with your creative ambitions.

Everyone hits a creative rut now and then—but the best way out is to keep shooting. Try one of these exercises, stay curious, and let your creativity spark again.

About the contributor

Feature Shoot showcases the work of emerging and established photographers worldwide, highlighting those transforming the medium through compelling, cutting-edge projects, with contributions from writers from all over the world.