Keeping momentum in retouching, uploading, shooting and conceptualising stock over and above the load of my commercial work is tough...but holding thumbs.

My assistant is getting more and more into the stock work-flow and is constantly uploading images.

What I do more and more is look for alternative oppurtunities in my commercial jobs to shoot other images as well, or jot down ideas born from those.

My food images I however still need shoot especially, as styling is involved. Also, making license agreements with clients for stock vs discounts etc is also one of the ways I have found to gain more material.

Next month I'll be going to Libya and the job is based on a stock exchange of images agreement - basically non-exclusive, so while I don't get paid, I...

So I'm all for creative blur, flair and weirdness, but only if it serves a purpose and it is executed willingly or serendipitously. What irkes me to no end is someone who doesn't have the skill to shoot a "boring" shot, but claims that their "breaking the rules" is artistic expression.

My image above was consciously blurred and treated quite harshly. I'm very chuffed the Dreamstime saw the intention, and understood it not to be simply a checks like art image.

But, that is where the catch comes in - when doing creative breaking the rules stuff, there's always the chance that people will just perceive it for a bad photograph.

Ah, conundrums.

I have gone without analysing my photography and style for months on end, then just to return with massive amounts of self-conscious analysis of my influence, my style and then my way forward. Then to find myself getting drowned by a flood of assignments, where the creative autopilot keeps me stuck in my own groove. Like a puzzle piece, the groove is designed around my strengths and avoids my weaknesses creatively, and it doesn't encourage further probing into my motives, review of my ways, or repentance from my bad habits, it simply forces me to creatively put my head down and get the job done. Which is fine, as long as that groove is current, creative, relevant and satisfying to your client. But then, it becomes unsatisfying to yourself and before you know it your work...

In the past (I've been a pro photog for almost 10 years, starting at age 21), when people would say "Wow, it must be a cool job!", even though they imagined me standing taking pics at kiddies parties (commercial photographer doesn't say a heck of a lot to Joe Bogs), I would reply with a "Yah, well, it's not ALL glam, it's got a lot of hard graft and tough aspects as well", which isn't untrue, but I said it because I didn't want people to think I had it easy, and they hard (I grew up Calvinist and South AFrican...white...guilt is sort of built into default set-up). However, one day I came to the realization that I made the choice to do what I do when I was 12, pursued it since then and worked very hard to get where I am, and on any given day still earn the same or less...

Sometimes it takes coffee to get my creativity going. It's this weird phenomenon. When I have 1 cup, I feel generally good. If I have 2, then I get this creative urge. When I have 3, I find I get totally over-creative and can't keep my mind to one thought.

Espresso seems to spark me straight to the unproductive over-creative spin.

Now I'm looking for a coffee regime that'll keep me moderately inspired, without knocking my head or ability to focus to bits. But, alas, I haven't found it.