The Flip Side of the Govt Shutdown - Time For Photography

October 2, 2025 by Marie Joabar

The flip side of the Government Shutdown is that many of us have been handed an unexpected gift: free time. Who hasn’t wished that a week had 8 days? Or that a day had 26 hours?

If you’ve found yourself affected by the shutdown (or forced retirement or job loss) you now have that extra day or those extra hours. Use it to refocus, recharge, and invest in something that brings joy and challenge: photography.

Use this time with intention. Create a goal. Make a plan. Whether it’s learning a new technique, refining your style, or simply staying creatively active, this can be a productive and inspiring time for your photography.

Here Are Some Ideas To Help You Get Started:

Improve Skills & Techniques

  • Understand Your Camera Better: Dive into the buttons, dials, wheels, and menu settings. Know what they do and when to use them. Understanding your gear is key to making the most of it.
  • Master Exposure: Move beyond Auto. Learn how to control exposure in manual or semi-manual modes. Practice adjusting exposure when your subject is brighter or darker than ideal.
  • Sharpen Your Focus (Literally): Explore your camera’s autofocus modes and settings. Experiment to see what works best for your typical subjects, whether it's continuous focusing for action or single-point focusing for portraits.
  • Organize & Edit Your Images: Got a backlog of images on your hard drive? This is a perfect time to sort, tag, rate, and edit. A clean and organized library is a gift to your future self.

 Strengthen Composition

  • Analyze Your Work: Look back through your own photos. What works? What doesn’t? Identify patterns in your compositions—then head out with a mission to improve.
  • Get Inspired by Others: Study photos you love—whether your own or by other photographers. What draws you in? Try to replicate those compositional strengths in your next shoot. 

Experiment with Light

  • Natural Light Play: Even if you mainly shoot in natural light, there’s so much to explore - front lighting, side lighting, back lighting. Compare the quality of light in early morning and late afternoon vs midday.
  • Try the Opposite: If you usually shoot indoors or in low light, head outside into the midday sun. Flip your usual routine and see what happens.

 Rediscover Your Lenses

  • Dust Off Old Gear: Got a lens that rarely sees the light of day? Pull it out and give it some love.
  • Stick to One Focal Length: Try setting your zoom to 35mm and keep it there all day. On your next shoot, try 85mm or 120mm on the same subject and compare the results to understand how focal length affects perspective and composition.

Explore New Subjects

  • Break Out of the Rut: If you always photograph the same things, now’s the time to experiment. Try landscapes if you normally shoot portraits. Try street photography if you love nature.
  • Think Beyond Objects: What about photographing ideas? Try to capture:
    • Texture
    • Emotions: happiness, sorrow, fear
    • The senses: taste, touch, smell, sound
      (How would you visually convey those?)

Create a Schedule (If It Helps You)

You don’t need to rigidly schedule your time—but some structure can help maintain discipline. It might be as simple as “shoot every morning for 30 minutes” or “edit every Friday afternoon.”
Building a habit now will make it easier to maintain your creative momentum once your schedule returns to normal.

No Camera? No Problem!

Your phone camera is more powerful than ever. Even if you’re limited in manual settings or apps, you can still work on the fundamentals: composition, framing, light, and storytelling. Don't let a lack of gear be a barrier to practicing your skills.

Take Advantage of This Time

This unexpected free time could be a chance to grow—not just as a photographer, but creatively and mentally as well. Whether you aim to learn something new, rediscover forgotten gear, or simply stay sharp, use this time intentionally. Your creative spirit will thank you for it.

We hope the Shutdown will be short but no matter how long it lasts, have fun with this free time.

Happy shooting!