How much are you pushing yourself to grow as a photographer?

As Canadians we're pretty used to seeing extreme weather conditions, especially in the winter. Today, as most Montrealers stayed in to avoid being swallowed by the ice and the frozen rain, I decided to do the one thing I should definitely be doing more often. I grabbed the camera and left the house! Oh yeah, first I put on three layers of clothing and spent 20 minutes looking for my hat and gloves! It was cold, wet, slippery and everything was covered in ice!

You see, I don't always have this reflex of running out when most are looking for cover. And today I realized just how much I've lost as a photographer. We often spend so much time thinking and/or planning "the next project" that we forget the most basic element of growth, which is simply practising your craft. 

Given today's conditions, I avoided carrying too much gear. In fact, all I had was one camera body and one lens, my 17-40mm. Having less actually pushes you to think more, look for more angles and in general, it helps expand your creativity.

When it comes to just randomly going out to shoot, for some reason I've always concentrated on night photography (read the blog on night photography here). Obviously, there are way more opportunities and in the future I plan on taking advantage of them and sharing them on this blog!

Talk soon!