It’s winter in Ohio.

A typical Winter scene in the land of Hallmark

Not that pretty Hallmark type of Winter you see in every Christmas movie on said channel, but typical Ohio winter ———- dull, grey, cold, brown, muddy, slippery, dark, and soul-crushing.

For me, nearly every year from early January until the beginning of March is my low point of the year. Creativity wanes, and I struggle to find joy in getting out there to make images. Luckily in early January of this year we had a few spectacular snow events to keep me enthusiastic, but now we are back to that typical Ohio winter routine of melt, mud, and refreeze.

I’ve managed a few coping mechanisms to help with my rut that occurs this time of year, and I think now is the time to write them down and share. If for nothing else, it keeps me honest and will be a good reference to look back on.

GIVE YOURSELF SOME GRACE

Most of the time these ruts are temporary. There’s no need to punish yourself over your lack of motivation or creativity. This is the perfect time to enjoy other pursuits - spending time with family and friends, having a lazy day here or there to just sit around and do nothing, etc. This too shall pass.

GET ORGANIZED

There are times that I am just not good at sitting still, and often that means I am cleaning or organizing. This is the perfect time to organize your camera gear and put things where they are easy to find. Be honest - if you are like me, a lot of your gear usually lives in your bag(s) in the theory that its like a “bug-out” pack that enables you to leave to shoot in a moment’s notice. That’s never true, as I am always digging through the bag(s) making certain I have everything and deleting/adding things as I see fit. There’s no time savings to be had there, really.

I spent early January this year getting my “photography room” in order, even to the point of building a shelving unit, organizing my gear by format/make/model, and (gasp) getting rid of bags and other bits that I never use any more. It was a much-needed change, and I felt better for doing it.

Time to go thru and organize your client cloud storage and ensure you have space for the coming work this year!

In addition to physical organizing, this is a great time to get your digital assets (and negatives!) organized. You’ll thank yourself later when you are in the middle of your creative flow and don’t have to spend time searching for things. This includes backing up digital files as well, and while you are at it, taking down client files on your cloud share platform that no longer need to be there and taking up space. This gives you more room for creating in the coming year, and also enables you to take a look at your storage needs and update/modify them.

REFLECT ON YOUR PAST WORK - AND DO SOMETHING WITH IT

This.

This is really important as a creative. You need to look to see where you’ve been to know where you are going. I find this time of year, especially while I am organizing my files anyway, to be a great time to look through past projects and understand what worked and what didn’t. If there was a method or genre of work that just hasn’t been clicking and you don’t enjoy it - get rid of it. Free up room in your mind for other creative endeavours in the coming year.

More to come on my pending L.A.T.E. book

My “Light at the Edge” project I think has come to an end, with my feature show at Sinclair last year in May. I’m happy with the project and body of work, so its time to review and move onto the final step - a book. I’m currently laying it out now and getting samples from different vendors to decide on the final look. This is a great way to review my work and still be “creative”.

FIND OTHER CREATIVE OUTLETS

This one is easy to overlook, but so important. At least it is to me.

Is something else you enjoy doing that is “making” something? Cooking is one of my joys and often my solace when I am in a creative rut. Some of my best dishes that I’ve ever made have come out of a necessity to create and make something “different” during this difficult time of the year. One of my favorite pastimes in cooking is to find a dish at a local restaurant that I love, and then dissect it to create on my own (and maybe even better!) at home.

INVEST IN YOURSELF

This is a great time to take online classes through websites like SkillShare, MasterClass, and Great Courses. It doesn’t have to be about photography - it could be anything. A few years ago I took an online sculpture class and found that I was actually good at it and enjoyed it.

This was supposed to be a bust of Renee, but somehow mid-course I started making an alien head instead. With a little dramatic lighting, it’s really scary!

Of course, you could also take some photography classes as well. Afraid of using flash? This is the time to learn. Curious about macro photography? There are a lot of classes out there to build a new skill to add to your toolchest.

Also don’t forget your local college, university, or art association. In person learning is great, and enables you to more directly connect with others. A free flow of ideas back and forth might be just what you need at this time.

FAIL

This is the time to experiment. Just don’t put any expectations on yourself. Allow your mind to “play” and forget about results. Come home from a day of being out with nothing to show for it. Come home with bad work. Shoot images you would not normally photograph. Just get out there.

Failure is good. It reminds you of your abilities and genres that you are good at, and may enable you to find a spark that fuels future creativity.

AVOID G.A.S. aka “Gear Asquisition Syndrome”

GAS is an easy hole to fall into during times of creative rut. You’ve done it. I’ve done it. We all have.

The intentions are good - a new piece of gear is easy to get excited about and makes you want to get out there and use it. Just how many cameras and lenses that are on your shelf are a result of GAS? I have a few.

How about instead of buying another camera or lens, you dust off something you haven’t used in a while and shoot with it instead? The feeling of shooting with something different will still be there, and you might just find a new love for gear you’ve already got.

Keep that GAS in check during ruts.

ATTEMPT A PHOTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE

There are a lot of options out there when it comes to photography challenges. Whether the requirement is daily, weekly, or monthly they all have the same thing in common - pushing you to get out and make something because you are held accountable to do so. Most of these aren’t really “enforced”, so the accountability is really all on you. I currently participate in the 2025 Frugal Film Project, but there are also many others out there. In all of the challenges, it's what you do with the camera rather than what camera you own that really gets you shooting. Here are a few others:

GO WITH THE FLOW

If all else fails, and you just need to not do anything creative for awhile, its OK. Just take a deep breath, and relax. Don’t think about it. Eventually there will be a day that you wake up with a lightbulb moment and want to create. Until that day happens, just go with the flow.

That’s all for now! Hopefully this has helped you (and me!) some to jot these methods down in post.

If you have any thoughts or comments on how you’ve managed to get out of your ruts in the past, please feel free to comment below.

As always, thanks for reading!

Jeremy