Are you often facing a huge to-do list, filled with an endless number of tasks ? Where do you start ? And, maybe even more importantly how can you still feel really good even when you only finished only one of those tasks during an entire day ? I’ll tell you how I do it.

There are numerous books, articles, etc telling you how to organize your work. I’ve tried a lot of them but I’ll try and explain which one works best for me and why.

Let’s start by taking our to-do lists (don’t get depressed just yet ). I have 4 different kinds of tasks :

• urgent (aren’t they all urgent ?)
• important
• urgent & important
• not urgent nor important

Now, organize your tasks and decide if they are urgent, important, urgent & important or none of the above. Some will be obvious, others might not be so clear but think about it and assign them to one of the 4 categories.

Done ? Good job ! Which one would you start with ? The urgent ones ? Or maybe the important tasks first ? Let’s think about this for a moment : why would you start with an urgent task if that task is not important ? If it’s not important, than it can wait. Finishing an important task will also make you feel better once it’s done, since it was so important.

This means the correct answer is :
1) urgent & important
2) important
3) urgent
4) not urgent nor important

If a task is urgent AND important, than it’ll better be on top of your list ! Second on the list are all your important tasks, urgent tasks come next. Even though they are urgent they can wait till all the important once are completed. And, waaaay in the back come the not urgent not important tasks.

Organise your to-do list in this way, and you will feel satisfied at the end of your day, even when you only finished one task on your huge list !

Which effective way of sorting your to-do lists have you discovered & work for you ? Let us know in the comments !

Pieter Van Impe

I don’t think my post processing is anything special. Usually I’m very much into “getting it right in camera” and only do post processing for basic adjustments (Lightroom only) and for times when it’s just not possible (or expensive) to do it in camera. But since so many people asked about my post processing work, I thought I’d share how I processed a portrait of Erika.

LIME010 -Bert Retouches a Portrait of Erika - by Bert Stephani from squeezethelime.com on Vimeo.

In case you can’t play the video, you can also see it on YouTube.

The behind-the-scenes footage and the final image of this shoot, can be seen in this earlier LIME article.

Let me know what you think, maybe I’ll do some more of these screencasts in the future.

Here is Episode 11 of LIME’s Happy Hour. As always we hope you enjoy it and we are hoping to get lot’s of feedback from all of you using the comments or by sending us an e-mail.

In this Episode :

• What’s up with LIME ? What have we been doing the past week & what have got in store for you in the near future ? This is where you’ll find out !
• Dear LIME In this section we will be answering your questions. Got a question ? Please send it to us @ dearlime@squeezethelime.com
  We’ll be talking about insurance, the Vivitar 285HV and the size of a studio.
• The feature segment Every week we will be talking about one specific subject. This week we’ll try to tackle the difficult subject of pricing your work.

You can listen to this podcast by using the player below or download it as an mp3 (right click/Save As).

If you are anything like me, sometimes you will get stuck with a photographer’s worst enemy: the lack of inspiration. Let’s face it, you can have all the equipment your gadget-freak-heart desires, the knowledge to use it, time on your hand and a direct line with Elite Models. But if you don’t have any inspiration, all this is useless. I have a on-off relation with the muse. Sometimes I can ‘t get her to shut up whispering great ideas in my ear and other times it seems like I can’t bring her to life no matter how many electroshocks I use. Here are some ways I try to counter those moments without creativity.

STEAL WITH YOUR EYES

There are tons of good images out there that can spark your creativity. Photo books from the masters (past and present) in the industry are always worth browsing through. Magazines like the French Photo, American Photo and PDN are amongst my favorites because they often feature a great mix of the work of legendary photographers, current top photographers and upcoming talent. More often than not you can also learn something about these artist’s vision, way of working, equipment, …
Beyond the pure photography magazines and books, there’s another world of inspirational imaginary to be found. Every few months I pick up a copy of Vogue, it has been a trendsetter in photography for years. Pick up magazines that target your audience. Even if they play it safe (like too many magazines do these days) on their editorial content, the ads will often feature great photography. Picking up a magazine that you would normally never buy can also give you some pleasant surprises.

UNKNOWN HEROES

Thanks to the internet, we now have access to the work of hundreds of thousands unknowns but good photographers. When I’m stuck for inspiration, I sometimes randomly browse around on Flickr, blogs and forums looking for images that inspire me. Often these images are not what I would consider good pictures but a color scheme, background or expression can be enough to jump start my imagination. I am often inspired by no nonsense work from teenagers without any good equipment or knowledge.

BEYOND PHOTOGRAPHY

You don’t need pictures to inspire you. There are so many other ways to set your brains on fire: movies, music, paintings, sculptures, architecture, an article in a newspaper, … But they will only come to you if you look at them with the right mindset. An open mind is key. I try to be always ready for creative stimuli (wish I could turn it off from time to time though). And when I’m in desperate need for an idea, I’m usually able to get into a state of hyperfocus.

KEEP A FILE

I keep all the magazines, books and whatever I found inspirational. And I like to keep them close instead of storing them in a box on the basement where they will be forgotten. On my computer I have a large folder with all kinds of images that move me in some way or the other.
You also might want to jot down your ideas (even if it’s only half an idea) on a small notepad. I have notepads all around the house and my iPhone also houses many premature ideas. If you don’t write them down immediately you will forget. Leafing through those notepads can be a very inspirational experience.

LET IT FLOW

Don’t see the things that inspire you as something you have to copy. Copying can be great to learn new techniques but it’s hardly creative. Instead you want to use these things as a starting point from which you can let it flow into your own creations. One idea can lead to another, that will lead to yet another and so on. In the end you may be doing something that has nothing to do anymore with the place you started. But that’s fine.

So where do you guys find your inspiration?

While Bert is on his second shooting day in a row, I have the honor & the privilege of presenting you the second part of the real life engagement session I did a while ago with Piet & Tina.
In this second part we did a combination of posed & more spontaneous shots. I hope you guys enjoy it ! I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts in the comments.

Enjoy the movie & the weekend !

Pieter

LIME009 - A real life engagement session - Part II - by Pieter Van Impe from squeezethelime.com on Vimeo.

In case you can’t play the video, you can also see it on YouTube.

For a better version of the pics, check the Flickr slideshow below.

Here’s the 10th episode of LIME’s Happy Hour already. As always we hope you enjoy it and we are hoping to get lot’s of feedback from all of you using the comments or by sending us an e-mail.

This week we just couldn’t find a moment where we could both record the podcast. Instead of leaving you in the cold, we decided to record some audio on the first LIME Shooting Day. We also briefly discussed the new pocketwizards.

You can listen to this podcast by using the player below or download it as an mp3 (right click/Save As).

By the end of December, we did a quick shoot with Herlinde, the younger sister of my favorite model Erika. It was the first time that she stood in front of a camera but she did really great.

LIME008 - Herlinde’s First Shoot - by Bert Stephani from squeezethelime.com on Vimeo.

In case you can’t play the video, you can also see it on YouTube.

For a better version of the pics, check the Flickr slideshow below.

Here is Episode 9 of LIME’s Happy Hour. As always we hope you enjoy it and we are hoping to get lot’s of feedback from all of you using the comments or by sending us an e-mail.

In this Episode :

• What’s up with LIME ? What have we been doing the past week & what have got in store for you in the near future ? This is where you’ll find out !
• Dear LIME In this section we will be answering your questions. Got a question ? Please send it to us @ dearlime@squeezethelime.com
  We’ll be talking about depth of field, hair light and the 70-200 L IS f/2.8
• The feature segment Every week we will be talking about one specific subject. Last week we’ve been talking about ‘marketing on a budget’. This week we are going to enjoy some gear porn. Instead of talking about what already exists, we’ll give you our wish list for future camera’s, lenses, lighting gear and accessories.

You can listen to this podcast by using the player below or download it as an mp3 (right click/Save As).

Does a real pro always knows what he’s doing? The one trick pony’s probably do but I think it’s just impossible to be a creative photographer and always know what you do at the same time. Being creative implies that you are not afraid to try out different things and to venture into the unknown. I for one, am not afraid that I don’t know what I’m doing quite often. And I don’t think that’s a problem as long as you can manage to stay calm and have the knowledge to find a solution. Creative and technical challenges are what drive me and get my creative juices flowing.

I believe you can be professional and creative at the same time. Creativity shouldn’t be limited to personal work only. And if it comes with not always knowing perfectly what you are doing, so be it. Here are five tips to allow yourself the creative freedom of not always knowing what you do.

1. Play it safe … for 5 minutes
Don’t start your session with crazy experiments, take it easy and spend the first 5 minutes using things you know. You may not end up with a world press photo but at least you will have something usable. And your client/subject will get confident in your skills which will buy you a bit more credit when you get to the experimenting phase.

2. Forget something in your car
You can buy yourself some time to think by getting something from the car. You don’t want to look like a fool, so don’t leave any must carry items in the car. But it can be perfectly acceptable to leave 50kg worth of sandbags in your car.

3. Wardrobe change
If you still need more time to think, just ask the subject to have a wardrobe change.

4. Bring someone to do the talking
It happens often to me that the time you are not actually shooting is spent talking to the subject and/or the clients. I’m just a man, so I can’t multitask so thinking about a creative shot while chitchatting is very difficult. An assistant with people skills can do the small talk in your place so you have more room to think.

The tips above come in handy from time to time, but the last tip is the most important one :

5. Just tell
Being a creative photographer who’s trying to make a killer shot isn’t something to be ashamed of. If the assignment allows it, I’ll just tell the subject that I’m going to try to make something different. I also explain that that usually means that I will be spending some time on experiments that may not work. If I need time to think, I’ll just say that too. As long as you communicate it right, your client will understand and probably respect you even more. After all, why should anyone object to someone who’s trying to make them look stunning.
(You still might want to implement tip 1 before you switch to creative mode.)

How do you get away with your experiments?

Last Saturday, after many months of preparations, we finally did our first LIME workshop. Ake and Pieter helped me out to get the studio ready for the workshop and apart from the fact that it could have been a bit warmer, I think we managed just fine.

It was a great bunch of people and I was amazed about how creative they were with light. Pieter shot some video and we’ll show it after we found some time to edit it. In the mean time, here’s a stop motion impression of the day.

Stop Motion Impression of the First LIME Workshop from squeezethelime.com on Vimeo.

A big thanks to all the participants to make this a fantastic day. And also a big thanks to all those who made it possible with all their hard work.