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151 + Things To Photograph,
A-to-Z
by Paul W. Faust
 The MG door handle is from my series (theme) of custom and hot rod cars.
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At times it can seem like there is absolutely nothing around to photograph. We have already done all of the regular photo subjects, from the birds on our backyard fence, to our states most famous landmarks. Coming up with something new to open our creative eyes, and stir us off of that soft lounge chair can seem impossible at times. In truth, finding new subjects to shoot isn’t even hard. All it really takes is paying a bit more attention to the things that are already all around you.
Often we go places and look only at the big picture. In the mountains, we look at all of the peaks instead of seeing the small patch of mushrooms growing on the side of a nearby fallen tree trunk. Even in our own backyard flower beds, we only see the flowers, and almost always miss the ladybug on a blade of grass right under it.
Finding new subjects to shoot does not require a single new piece of photo equipment, nor does it require a college education. In fact the ONLY thing that it does require is a few more minutes of your time. Enough time to stop and really look around you. It isn’t enough to just “look” at things. You have to “see” them for a change. The old saying; “Stop and smell the roses” is not just a bunch of words. For the serious photographer it is a way of life. You can’t sell a picture if you don’t take it, and you can’t take it if you don’t see it.
For those of you who need a jump-start, I have composed a list of over 150 photo subjects, and/or themes. It was meant to be 101 subjects to shoot, but I kept finding more and more things to add, the more I looked for them. This will happen to you as well. The more you learn how to see, the more things you will find to shoot. In fact, if you stick with it you will find yourself with more things to shoot than you have time to shoot them. Then you will have a new thing to complain about - but better too many subjects to shoot than too few.
It is best to create your own list though. That way it will be tailored to your personal likes. I have found that the way to create your own subject list is to first pick a “theme” to work from. One of my personal favorites is “old things.” From there all you need to do is start writing down all of the old things you can think of. (Mothers-in-law are optional.) Just thinking of all of the old things that are in your hometown should fill most of a page right there. As you fill the list for your first theme you will see how easy it is to find new subjects to shoot. You will probably even be amazed at how simple an idea it really is. It’s not even anything that requires practice. Subjects just seem to flow right to a good theme. Try it, you’ll like it!
 The old wagon and wheel can be used in several of my photo series including; old things, wheels, and ghost towns, to name a few.
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My photographer's jump-start idea list
A Abandoned Buildings, Abstracts, Auto Hood Details, & Arches.
B Bad Weather, Bald Heads, Balloons, Bare Feet, Bees, Bicycle Parts, Blimps, Bones, Bottles, Bridges, Broken Glass, & Butterflies.
C Campsites,
Catching People Unaware, Churches, Church Windows, Circles,
City Skylines,
City Street Scenes, Columns, Covered Bridges, Custom & Hot
Rod Cars.
D Dancers, Demonstrations, Doors & Door Knobs, Dishes, & Dogs.
E Emergency Situations, Environmental Trash, Eyes, Eye Glasses, & Eggs.
F Farm Animals, Feathers, Fences, Flags, Fire, Fire Engines, Flower Petals and Close-ups, Forms in Nature, & Fountains.
G Gates, Gears, Graffiti, Gardens, Glass, & Green.
H Hands, Handles, Hats, Horses, Halloween, Hallways, & Harbors.
I Ice, Indian Ruins, Insects, Isolated Objects, Inclines, & Iron.
J Jewelry, Junk yard Details, Jails, Jets, Joints, & Jugs.
K Kids & Pets, Knives, Forks, & Spoons, Keys, & Kites.
L Leaves, Legs, Letters, Looking “Down,” Looking “up,” Light Bulbs, & Locks.
M Masks, Machine Parts, Mirrors, Movie Theater Fronts, Money, & Mushrooms.
N Neon Signs, Nuts & Bolts, Numbers, Nighttime, & Noodles.
O Old Everything; Barns, Doors, Signs, Tools, Odd Couples, Orange, & Opposites.
P Pairs, Paper Abstracts, Parallel Lines, Peeling Paint, People At Work, Peppers, Pictures “in” Pictures, & Porches.
R Railroad Cars, Railroad Tracks, Rainbows, Red, Reflections in Glass, Reflections in Water, Round Things, Rows of Things, Rust, Red Barns, & Reenactments.
S Signs, Sand Patterns, Sea Shells, Self, Shadows, Silhouettes, Skulls, Sleeping Animals, Sleeping People, Small Furry Animals, Smoke Stacks, Soft Curves, Spanish Moss, Stacks & Piles of Anything, Stairs, Steam Railroads, Strange/Funny Traffic Signs, Statues & Monuments, String Instruments, & Swings.
T Tattoos, Toads, Tombstones, Tools of the Trade, & Tree Knots & Bark.
U Umbrellas, Utensils, Uniforms, & Ugly (whatever that means to you)
V Vines, Valves, Vases, Vignettes, & Vegetables.
W Waterfalls, Weathered Wood, Wide-Angle Distortions, Windows, Watches, Winter, & Wheels.
X X-rays, Xmas & Xylophones
Y Yellow, Yards & Yoga
Z Zebra, Zoos &
Zigzag designs
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