There are times where I spent the entire week of an assignment pouring over ideas in my head with very little inspiration. When the deadline finally arrived on those weeks where I didn't have anything on the last day, I generally came through to deliver a compelling shot.
However there were a few times where I just didn't produce to the level that I wanted for an assignment. This shot of my daughter's garden makes me think of summer, but for the assignment, I was never really happy with it.
There are just going to be weeks where you aren't on your game, and those are the weeks that can make or break a project depending on how you handle them. When you settle for good enough you have two choices...get better or let it eat at you and ruin your momentum.
I've never really been one to let something like this get me down. Don't get me wrong, this shot still bothers me when I see it with my other shots from the assignments, but I am able to let it go.
The bright side of this shot is that it was a turning point for me on those last days where I had nothing. I got better at making something out of nothing from this point forward.
On Taking Assignments
I frequently listen to the On Taking Pictures (OTP) podcast, which I highly recommend to anyone looking for good conversation about creativity, especially as it related to photography. In January 2014 the hosts, Bill Wadman and Jeffery Saddoris, began a new segment of weekly assignments that they gave to listeners. Results of the assignments are posted on the OTP Google Plus group. I decided that I would commit myself to the assignments for a year without interruption, and that I would complete each one before the next assignment was announced on the show each Tuesday morning. My 'On Taking Assignments' blog posts are the culmination of my year-long focus on these assignments.