This Simple Challenge Taught Me More Than Years of Practice

What do you do when you step outside with your camera and feel like there’s nothing worth photographing? Recently, I took on a Shutterobi photography quest called Shooting Through Something. Surprisingly, it taught me far more than just a new technique.

The Challenge

The assignment was straightforward. Photograph subjects through another object. You could use leaves, fences, windows, flowers, grasses, holes, railings, or even reflections as your foreground element. Before heading out, I searched “shooting through something photography” on Google for ideas. I honestly expected this to be a quick 30-minute exercise. Instead, I stayed out for over three hours.

The Numbers Tell the Story

I captured 350 images but only kept six. That’s a 2% success rate. However, for creative photographers, that’s actually the point. We give ourselves permission to experiment, fail repeatedly, and wait for something unexpected to happen.

What I Discovered

Once I started looking for opportunities to shoot through objects, my brain completely shifted modes. Suddenly, a tiny peephole in a fence revealed flowers on the other side. Tall grasses became a soft foreground. A gap between branches formed a natural frame. Furthermore, a rainy glass door turned into a spooky self-portrait opportunity. A dirty car window at a car wash became another creative possibility. A tinted window with a cat peering through it stopped me completely in my tracks.

I didn’t find inspiration first and then go take pictures. Instead, I started shooting, and inspiration showed up along the way.

The Real Lesson

The assignment itself isn’t the important part. What matters is that it gets you moving. Therefore, if you’re feeling creatively stuck, give yourself a simple constraint. Shoot reflections. Shoot shadows. Shoot just one color.

Creativity rarely arrives while you’re sitting at home wondering what to photograph. More often, you discover it halfway through a walk with your camera already in hand.

So get out there and shoot through something. You might surprise yourself.

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