It's easy to go out with a camera, point it at anything that looks interesting, and push the button. Anyone can do that.

It's harder to find things that look interesting, then take an unexpected photo of them. Interesting things are often photographed, but generally the same way, with small variations on a common theme.

I want to get beyond that stage.

Here's what I'm doing about it.

When I go out with intention to shoot, I pick a word, a theme to base my shots on. It doesn't have to be complex, or overly detailed, nor do you have to stick to it rigidly. I tend to use colours, or geometric shapes by default - the photo to the left here was on a 'blue' day, I've had 'parallel' days, 'wet' days... you get the idea. I've also gone out with the intention to avoid shooting certain things - avoid red, avoid man-made. If there's a patch of red (or something man-made) in the shot, I've failed.

On all of these days, I also shoot anything that appears particularly photogenic - I'm not limiting my shooting, I'm changing the way I look at things. By forcing myself to pay more attention to the world around me, I see more, I see how to make the most of what's around me.

While I use a camera and lens, the first lens I have to see things through is the lens of my own ego. Putting constraints around my day's shooting makes the ego recede just a little bit. Inspiration isn't going to come and find me - I have to go out and find it. Not go looking for it, since I can't wait for it. I have to be able to summon it, on demand. This is training.