Photography is fun again

 There have been times in the last few years where I have felt that my creative mojo had reached a crossroads, I felt that I was not producing anything different and that I had lost my photographic eye, I had the image makers equivalent of writers cramp.

Occasionally that same feeling re emerged, so I have set myself projects which have eventually overcome these feelings of self doubt and turned out to be worthwhile exercises.

My quest for perfection is a legacy from twenty plus years as a chef, as well as having a strong competitive nature, so perhaps  putting myself under creative pressure was at the core of this temporary malaise, after all, I had some good lenses and a full frame camera (at the time), surely every picture had to be good? 

Thankfully, I have learned to dispel these myths, I do not rely on photography to make a living, so it should be fun.

If my two years shooting with my Fuji X-Pro 1 had taught me to slow down because of the slow nature of the camera, my current trend of using older compact cameras has reminded me of the fun that can be had.

Taking just a small camera in a pocket or a small rucksack is a reminder of my first compact film camera where the 'snapshot' is more important than the portfolio image, so I am taking more shots but of scenes that perhaps I may have bypassed before.

Without doubt, one of my most used compact cameras, is my Lumix LX7 and it is a selection of shots from this little gem that I will showcase below.

There is a sense of freedom I feel in my photography when shooting with these smaller cameras, as well as the fact that I enjoy using them so much.