When you are hired to tell a story either to sell a product or to motivate potential investors to get behind a project that your client has worked so hard on, you are expected to deliver results. Visual storytelling has been proven to dramatically increase client engagement and conversion rates, and it’s considered by most marketing professionals worldwide as the type of content with best ROI.

As a creator and a businessman you should take your craft seriously, that’s why a set for a commercial shoot is no place for guesswork and improvisation, things should go according to plan and protocols must be followed at all times. The problem is that the same protocols and practices that keep your set and your business running smoothly can be too rigid an environment and can stifle your creativity, which is what got you in business in the first place.

You don’t want to get to a point where your creative juices dry up, all your visuals look alike, and you begin to dread showing up for work to do the same thing over and over again. It doesn’t have to be that way, that’s what personal projects are for.

Personal projects allow me to be creative without the fear of failure, they are a sandbox where I get to troubleshoot new techniques and test crazy ideas without wasting the client’s time and money. I get to explore concepts that I wouldn’t dare to pursue if money was involved but even more important than that, they are immensely satisfying because they remind me of why I picked up a camera to begin with, they bring me back to a simpler time when everything was a personal project.

Do yourself a favor, every now and then get out there camera in hand, and let your creativity run wild.