5 photos in 5 minutes within 5 paces…

I remember reading a blog post on DPS a year or two ago. I didn’t think it would make such an impact on me. But it is a really great idea – so I thought I would do the right thing and pass it on to you… um, I might have changed the original idea ever-so-slightly but not to worry…

For a little bit of background, a while ago I was feeling like I was not doing enough with my photography. Clients were a little scarce and my camera was not getting much use. I started to think that I was going backwards with my photography but at the same time I was not doing a lot to remedy the situation.

Around the same time I subscribed to DPS or Digital Photography School’s website. The very first blog post I read really inspired me to stop complaining and get off my butt and do something about it. Here is the idea.

Get your camera and select a suitable location. The location might be your home, the park, the beach – it doesn’t really matter. But here’s the great bit. You try to take five interesting images in five minutes that are all within five paces of each other.

Sounds simple right? And it is. That’s it! It does encourage you to take a closer look at your immediate surroundings and try to pick up points of interest that could make a cool photo. Now, no one expects that you will win the POTY Award at next years AIPP Awards ceremony - the image I have posted with this blog post is testimony to that! It’s all about getting you off of your couch and out taking photographs.

Now just to clarify; for those of you who are thinking "that's just a photo walk" well you are kinda right. But when I go on a photo walk I am certainly gone for more than five minutes and I definitely take more than five images. I really love photo walks but I think they deserve a category all of their own. What I am talking about here are instant results with minimum effort. There really isn’t a need to over-complicate this.

I try to do this once or twice a week. Sometimes I do more, sometimes I do less. But that’s the really great thing – it doesn’t really matter how much or how little you do, it’s just the act of doing it at all that’s important. Have a go today.

Shoot anything, and shoot it often. You can only improve yourself as a photographer as a result!