Hurray For Play!

Hello everyone!

I hope you are having a wonderful week.

So, as many of you read, a few weeks ago I was dealing with a bit of a creative burnout (see my post here!).  Stats, figures, follower count – it was all taking a toll on my creativity.  I was overwhelmed by the lovely comments that many of you left, and decided that I just needed to strip everything back to simpler times when I posted for pleasure, and didn’t worry about how many people were seeing my blog or Instagram posts.  If the passion doesn’t shine through, then what is the point?

These kind, positive comments I received were the number one thing that helped me with my wobble.  Number two is the super inspiring hashtag #hurrayforplay that I have been taking part in on Instagram (see my post last week about it here).  Dreamt up by Instagram and blogger legends @me_and_orla and @xantheb, the idea behind #hurrayforplay is to bring the fun back into shooting…to challenge yourself, try something different and create an image with love rather because you have to.  To edge yourself away from your comfort zone and not be afraid to share the result.  Each week there is a loose theme, and last week it was indoors and outdoors.  As you know, I’m a girl that loves to shoot indoors where I have full control over an image, with the exception of blossom (Instagram gold!), beach huts or that rare sight of a funfair against blue skies.  I had a couple of heavenly free days last week that I put aside purely for taking pictures, and the weather was divine, so I had no excuse to not get outside and get creative.  I decided that I still really wanted to bring something of my home into the outdoor environment for a fun juxtaposition, so I loaded my car up with some vintage lamp shades, a chair and a couple of floral prints, and found a little spot down the road to go and play, and these are the resulting images!  I tried a few things, like stacking the shades on top of one another next to the chair, but it was only when I decided to hang them in the tree that the whole image came alive.  It was like being back at art college, and I absolutely loved it.

If you are stuck in a creative rut, I highly recommend you go and have a look through the hashtag, be inspired by what you see and go and try something different!  I have barely thought about algorithms, bots and stats the last week, and it’s been such a tonic.  I even went back into the woods last week and shot some more images which I will share with you over the weekend.

Here’s to bringing back the fun!

Tamsyn x