As humans we like what we already know and tend to deliberately or subliminally plan our lives so we don’t have to leave our comfort zone. The same thing is of course also true for photography. A passionate portrait photographer who usually takes his photos in a studio is more likely to plan his next shooting to take place in a studio again instead of taking the risk and shooting portraits outdoors under natural light. And a landscape photographer rather photographs another sunset/ sunrise instead of trying street photography in the city. This is where my latest purchase comes in handy: The Lightbox Photography Cards.
The way these cards work is very simple: Every card means another photography task. For example there is a card that tells you to photograph a circle. Of course there are a lot of classical photography tasks like taking photos of a waterfall or shooting a portrait. But the set also contains cards with more particular tasks like “photograph machinery” or “photograph solitude”. What I do is I randomly choose a card and try to fulfill the corresponding task during my next shooting. This way I’m forced to leave well trodden paths and learn new skills. E.g. the following photo of the moving train at Zurich Main Station only exists because I took the card “photograph a bench”. When I took that card I immediately thought about the benches at the train station and voilà, the idea for the photo was born. I highly doubt I would have created this photo without the challenge set by the Lightbox Photography Cards.
I’ve got the standard version which is simply called Lightbox Photography Cards. But there are also other editions available like one for macro or wedding photography. And there are also special deals to purchase all available sets for a lower price. The standard edition costs you 10 USD (plus shipping). Delivery was not that fast for me, it took the item 2 weeks to arrive but this was probably due to the overseas delivery. Head over to https://lightbox-photography-cards.myshopify.com/ for more information.
P.S. I’m in no way affiliated to the publisher of the mentioned Lightbox Photography Cards. I wrote this article solely because I like the these cards and want to recommend them to photo enthusiasts.