Dear PIXEL.GUIDE community,

Well, by now it is safe to say that this was not a great year for travel photography guides – or indeed anyone on this beautiful and sometimes difficult planet we call home.

Creative energy has suffered in the face of the constant emotional up and down of complex statistics, personal circumstances and hard and soft lockdowns. For some of us, photography is both a passion and a job that, until now, paid the bills. For others, it is a welcome distraction and an artistic outlet from everyday life. Now we find ourselves exceedingly limited in our possibilities.

Street life on Vienna’s main square now looks very different.

However, now is the time to engage more – rather than less – with our profession or artform. At the outset of the pandemic we posted our (LINK)Guide to Staying Creative During the Corona Lockdown, which includes a few suggestions on how to find inspiration, increase your understanding of photography techniques and keep yourself entertained. We could not imagine, when we wrote it, that it would still be relevant nine months later.

It now looks like there is hope that this challenging period will come to an end relatively soon. Until then, we have to keep our spirits up, each other safe and our sense of optimism alive.    

Obligatory “Insert Inspirational Text Here” photo

A couple of ideas to keep you going over the next few months:

  • Set yourself projects: Add some structure to your time by setting yourself goals: document your immediate surroundings, decide to create a series on a certain theme or simply use your existing photos to learn new editing skills. Ever wondered how to use curves to create compelling images? Now is the time to find out
Color grading can give your images interesting new looks.

  • Plan for the future: Faced with the current situation, many people have begun re-evaluating their priorities. You don’t have to make life-changing decisions, but this time of limited distractions and movement does provide an opportunity to consider new approaches. Is it time to join a stock photo agency, start a YouTube channel or hold a first exhibition? Use this period to really think about it.
Cliff published his first book during lockdown, find it here: https://amzn.to/3pfw8Q3

  • Strike out in a new direction: Most of us have a preferred “genre” we consider our own – from travel or street to documentary or portrait photography. While branching out into studio photography may be difficult at the moment, the skills that are necessary can be learned using cheap flash triggers and strobes and bedsheets pinned to a wall. In the same way, the skills that allow you to capture well-exposed images of urban existence can be learned using buildings, sculptures and other elements of city life as “models”.
Street photography doesn’t always have to include people

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and, as the great philosopher and country musician Kinky Friedman once said: May the God of your choice bless you.

The PIXEL.GUIDE team