By Jon Canfield

I’ve been in a photographic rut for the past few months. Lately, it’s been easier for me to find reasons not to pick up a camera than to get out and shoot. So, for my New Year’s resolution, I’m assigning myself projects to keep the creative juices flowing.

I’ve always kept a notebook with shooting locations – sort of a “someday I’d like to shoot here” log. Now, I’m keeping a list of types of photography I’ve seen and admired, or have just been interested in learning more about. I’m finding that this gives me more flexibility in choosing subjects than a location list that might not be practical to do at any particular point in time.

For this month, I’ve been working on panoramics. I love to shoot macro and flowers, so thinking in terms of panorama composition is a stretch for me. But, it’s been a great way to get myself out and shooting again. It also reminds me why photography was so interesting to begin with.

A panoramic is at its most effective in print of course, so I’ve been experimenting with different media types. My favorite so far has been an image that I decided to try as a triptych on Moab Entrada. I printed this as three 32 x 24-in. images on the HP Designjet Z3100.
 

Although I’ve been consistently happy with the Z3100, the print quality of this triptych blew me away with the rich color. By using the built in spectrophotometer, I was able to create a very accurate custom profile for the Moab paper. I gave the three prints a deckled edge treatment and float mounted them for best effect.

So, if you find yourself in a similar rut, start thinking about what gives you pleasure and what drew you to photography to begin with. Then, get out there and do some shooting! My self assignment for February? Food photography. That gives me a double incentive – I’ll only shoot food I like to eat.