At the beginning of each year, Iowa-based commercial photographer Justin Tedford picks a word to guide his work. In 2024, that word was “adventure,” which led him to escape the Iowa winter to explore and photograph Route 66. Here’s what Tedford says about tackling adventure and why personal projects are so important:
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“We’ve all been in situations where our client work starts feeling routine. A personal project gives us something fresh to focus on outside of our everyday client work. When we dive into a project, it sparks our creative energy and serves as a reminder to create images that speak to us personally. It’s like a permission slip to say, ‘Go ahead, create. Capture the images you want.’
“These projects also provide a safe space to fail. If an image doesn’t turn out as expected, we answer only to ourselves, not to a client. We can examine the failure, learn from it, and grow. So, when a similar situation arises in a client session—whether it’s a month or 10 years later—we can confidently say, ‘I’ve been there, I’ve learned from it, and I know what to do.’”
Amanda Arnold is a senior editor.
