As a photographer there are times I have NO CREATIVITY, but then there are times when I feel VERY creative. Those times when it doesn’t matter what I’m shooting but the results match the vision or mood I was after.

![IMG_3552.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/justinmullet/bdmJuHNE-IMG_3552.jpg)

I recently went through photos from earlier this year. One of the groups I was very proud of, not because they are so good but because of the feeling I had when I made them. When I made them, I was in the zone and feeling creative. Artistically, I believed I was nailing it!

### Where I Feel Creative
In a new place.

Finding a new place has happened several times for me. I grew up in Northern Minnesota and spent my teen years honing in on the basics of photography making a lot of embarrassing editing decisions in the process. It was in those years that I got my first camera and figured out what shooting in manual even meant. I took photos of nature, often alone with just the sun and breeze as my companion.

### A cross country move at age 20
When was 20 I moved to upstate New York, to a community I had never stepped foot in. I moved without a car, but soon after bought a 1998 Saab 900s that allowed me to explore the area. Because I was completely on my own, I really had no time constraints other than my construction job. I often headed out to go on a drive with no destination in mind. I distinctly remember driving down a back road in the Finger Lakes just a week or two after I arrived. I had no clue what the road name was, or that I would ever drive it again. But what I do remember is being in awe of the landscape, with the hay freshly baled, and the banks of Seneca Lake in the background glowing in the sunset. I stopped the car, and took a photo from the side of the road. After a few months I found that photo I took and realized the scene I had been so inspired by was something I drove past every week. I often tried seeing that scene in the same way as I had the first time I had seen it, but never was able to get that same nostalgia of the beauty and feeling it first provided. The actual photo isn’t that great, but I love it, because of the memory and the inspiration I felt when making it.

### Another cross country move
Fast forward from 2009 to 2012 and I had moved across the country to a little community in Newport, Washington. I had only visited here long enough to eat dinner about a year before, so the people, roads, and scenery were all brand new to me. My wife and I lived in an old 20-something foot motor home for six weeks as we looked for a place to rent. Like New York, I remember being inspired by all the landscapes and scenes around me. I distinctly remember driving down Scotia Road heading for the mountains simply for the purpose of enjoying dusk, late on an August evening. We pulled the car over beside the road to take a picture. To this day I clearly remember the cool evening air and golden light. Every time I drive by this field it jogs my memory.
### … and it’s a good memory.
One morning on my way to town, I rounded a bend and witnessed the valley fog laying low, while the sun was just rising over the mountains. I remember stopping to take a photo. Taking photos was never a chore. Even as I was still out shooting, I anticipated seeing them, and processing them. Everything around me, was inspiration because it was new!

![IMG_3774.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/justinmullet/QodUMykx-IMG_3774.jpg)

# How to fuel your creativity?
- Go to new places.
- Invest time in other responsibilities, outside of where you are seeking creativity. 
- Take time by yourself.

This post has been sitting in a drafts folder for several years and I decided to make minor updates and publish. 

Also, if you're interested in more things that I'll be writing than than you’re going to want to check out my new blog: the [Great Escapes Journal](https://greatescapesjournal.com). **It’s a blog about family, travel, photography, and our move to Patagonia Chile!** I decided to take the jump and move to a self-hosted Wordpress blog with the goal of eventually being able to profit through visual ads on the site. But don't worry, I plan to stick around here on Steem as well.