Being a photographer is awesome! We get to meet interesting people daily, we get behind-the-scenes views of businesses and events, and we get to make amazing photos by breaking barriers to obtain unique perspectives. As a professional photojournalist, every assignment should be fun and easy to make a handful of compelling images, right? Wrong!
While most of my assignments offer a unique experience that others rarely have, there are the few assignments that just kill me. I'm talking
bore me to death, I can't find a great photo anywhere agony. Let's use this recent small-town weekly newspaper assignment, which had me photographing recently restored buildings at the local
historical Alviso Adobe Park in Milpitas, California.
For some reason, editors and city officials love simple and clean photos showcasing big-dollar, restored, historical buildings. As a photojournalist whose work is centralized around people and the human element, this photo – while perfectly fine – is
blah!
The Alviso Adobe home photographed at Alviso Adobe Park in Milpitas, California, on March 19, 2013. (Stan Olszewski/SOSKIphoto)
Keep reading after the break to learn five tips to spice up boring photos.