May Photo Prompts: Creativity

May’s theme is Creativity

If you’ve been following along with this month’s theme, you already know we’re focusing on creativity. One of the easiest ways to stay connected to a theme is through photos. You don’t need to set anything up or make it complicated. Just start noticing what’s already there. Your creative life is already happening. These prompts just help you pay attention to it.

If you want a few ideas to guide you, here are some simple photo prompts to try this month.

Easy Photo Ideas to Celebrate Creativity

Photo ideas for capturing Creativity

• Your workspace exactly as it looks right now
• A project you are currently working on
• Supplies you have been using lately
• A close-up of textures, colors, or materials
• A page or project in progress
• A finished project you feel good about
• A screenshot of inspiration you saved
• Your desk at the beginning or end of a creative session
• A simple creative moment during your day
• A notebook, sketchbook, or planner page
• Tools you reach for again and again

Start with What You See Every Day

A good place to begin is with your space. Take a photo of your workspace exactly as it looks right now. You don’t need to clean it up or style it. In fact, it’s better if you just capture the mess! Whether it’s a desk, the kitchen table, or a small corner where you keep your supplies, that space tells part of the story.

You could also photograph your tools. The things you reach for without thinking. Your favorite pen, your scissors, your current stack of supplies. These small details say a lot about what you’ve been working on.

This is my right-hand desk drawer. I keep it well stocked with pens (more than I will ever use), office supplies, and a few personal care items. I have also been known to pull it out and just look at it when I need a little mental break. If you are wondering about the orange tubes, they are Magic Stuff, which is a muscle balm that gets me through a lot of painful times. I also love doTerra breathe and the OnGuard spray (which I swear helps me fight off a lot of colds).

The green tangle toy is a great fidget item. The small Slice box cutter tool is a must for opening packages. My favorite writing utensils include: Areteza roller pens, Marvy LePen fine point markers, PaperMate InkJoy ballpoint pens, Pentel Twist Erase pencils, and Micron .05 fine-tip markers.

Photograph What You Love Right Now

Not every creative photo has to be about a project in progress. Sometimes the story is in the things you surround yourself with. A bookshelf filled with favorite books. LEGO flowers sitting on the counter. Supplies organized in a way that makes you excited to create. These photos help document your interests, your style, and the little pieces of everyday life that shape your routines.

Putting together LEGO sets is one of my favorite creative hobbies. I especially love the botanical items because I feel like their is also an art to arranging them when they are finished.

Document Creative Interests

I have a lot of creative interests that I don’t get to very often, but that doesn’t make them any less important. I love coloring, and these doodle-style coloring books are my favorite. I haven’t pulled them out in months, but these prompts made me think about what brings me creative joy, and that inspired me to take a photo.

I love fun coloring books and I have a great stash of them that I bring out at family gatherings. It’s also been fun to add toddler-friendly coloring books to my collection for my grandsons.

Capture Your Creative Habits

Think about the things you reach for over and over again. Maybe it is your favorite pen. A drawer full of colored pencils. The markers you always use for journaling or planning. Maybe it is the art supplies you keep nearby to use when you have a creative moment.

I have a pullout drawer in my office where I keep all of my art and scrapbook supplies. Even though I’m a digital scrapbooker, I still find uses for washi tape and I still love Smash Books. I also keep plenty of crayons on hand.

Look for All Kinds of Creativity

We tend to think of creativity showing up on a canvas or a scrapbook page. Have you thought about how you arrange items in your home? How you dress? How you cook? There are lots of ways to be creative!

I love to style bookshelves. They are little vignettes of creativity.

Where and how to use these photos

You can use a photo from each prompt, or just one that speaks to you. Add it to a scrapbook page, a journal spread, or your May roundup. Pair it with a simple line about why you took it or what it means to you in the moment.

One of the best things in the world is a brand new giant box of crayons!

Remember…

You don’t need to take all of these photos. Pick a few that fit your life right now. When you sit down to do your monthly roundup, these images will help you remember what you were making, what you were trying, and what felt interesting at the time.

Creativity doesn’t always show up in a big, flashy way. Most of the time, it’s in the small, everyday moments. These photos help you hold onto those.