With many of us stuck indoors practicing social distancing, we have unlimited time on our hands.

This is an opportunity to be reflective and work through those goals and projects that we have been meaning to.

We, at Elinchrom, wanted to spread the inspiration and motivation for you to do just that. We reached out to 5 photographers from all over to tell us how they are using this downtime to improve themselves, work on personal projects, and grow their skill sets.

Gilmar Smith

Check out the fourth part of our chat, with photographer Gilmar Smith, we hope that his words help inspire you to keep creating and learning during this time.

How are you staying creative these next few weeks?

Right before my kids and I hunkered down, I made sure to stop by “Spectacular Themes,” a prop warehouse I am partnered with and packed my car with as many props as I could fit to do creative photo projects with my kids.

What is your daily routine?

I work from home, so there’s not much change in my routine. Besides my photography, I write for magazines, and I do marketing and social media for a couple of companies; my schedule has pretty much stayed the same except for those “mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom” I hear every two minutes.

Do you have any new goals/to-dos with the new time on your hands?

What time? (joking) I plan to return to my Self Portraiture roots, experiment, practice, and learn new things and also continue doing fun photo projects with my kids.

But out of limitations comes creativity.

Debbie Allen

What are your top 2 tips for others to stay motivated & inspired?

There is this quote I love that says, “But out of limitations come creativity” by Debbie Allen that resonates a lot during this time.

Learn to look at everything around you creatively.

If you want to practice your craft, pick an object at home, and make a photo series with it. You can use different lighting techniques; you can make different composites with it, or even include it in a self-portraiture series.

Lists, Lists, Lists, and sticky notes.

I love writing motivational sticky notes and stick them all over my house. It’s a way to shift my energy when I am not feeling positive, and when I am overwhelmed. I also need to have a visual list of the things I need to do and the things I want to accomplish, or I feel lost.

What is bringing you joy lately?

My kids. They are everything to me. I don’t mind staying at home with them. We have so much fun being silly and being creative together.