It can be difficult to continuously churn out interesting, dynamic, and original photos. As an amateur photographer, I understand your struggle. I have often fallen into spells of photographer's block. Below are 13 different ideas I've used before to inspire myself before. Just a simple idea can reignite your imagination and spark an epic photo shoot!

1. Add a prop

Introduce an item for your models or environment to interact with! One of my favorite photo shoots was one where I brought two large frames with me and had my friends hold them in different ways. They helped create new lines and shapes for the photos. This is a super easy way to spice up a shoot. The frame above was old wood that I spruced up with some paint. A good prop doesn't need to be expensive.

2. Mess with makeup

Find someone who enjoys makeup and mess around with your model's looks! You can create a huge variety of looks with makeup -- the possibilities are endless. So if you're tired of shooting ordinary people, spice things up with some weird makeup.

3. Switch perspectives

As photographers, we often just look at the subject, but sometimes it's great to get behind your subject instead. Spending time backstage at theater productions is always a good time.

4. Go somewhere new

Get out of your element and find a new location to inspire you. I went to Cincinnati and spent an entire day wandering the city with friends. We had no goal or plan, we just explored and took a lot of great photos.

5. Just drive

If you don't have time for a day trip to a nearby city, try just driving around. I'm from Kentucky and I've come across many epic photo opportunities by driving around aimlessly. Just make sure you have a map/GPS handy and don't talk to strangers.

6. Be a creep

I'm not saying you should stalk people or be super creepy, but people are interesting, especially when they're not posing. Please don't post photos of strangers faces without their permission and don't take photos of people in personal/creepy settings. That being said, if someone down the street is smoking and it looks super cool, I dare you to take the photo.

7. Use the weather

Rain and snow make everything more fun. You don't need a gorgeous sunny day for a good outdoor shoot. Rain can be a challenge (protect your camera!) but the photos you get are worth it.

8. Play with lighting

You can mess around with shadows and interesting ways of lighting your subjects, or you can pull out some string lights and have some fun! Changing the way your subject is lit is always exciting and makes for dynamic photos.

9. Light graffiti

Speaking of playing with lights, a long exposure, a dark night, and lights can create some epic photos. I got this image by taking a long photo of sparks as they flew off a fire. It was a dark night, we didn't have a ton of lights on, and my father stoked the fire to send sparks flying. I turned my shutter speed down and this is what happened! You can use a variety of things to create light graffiti, such as light sabers or Christmas lights.

10. Long exposures

Long exposures can do a lot of fun things besides light graffiti. Running water or anything moving can create a very cool effect. If you have a lot of patience and a really great camera you can try capturing the night sky and seeing how the stars move over a few hours. For simpler things, like waterfalls, you don't need a tripod! I just rested my camera on a ledge and took a bunch of photos until I found one where I was still enough.

11. Smoke

Using smoke to create dynamic photos is one of my favorite tricks! They can be really tricky to work with and smelly, but the results are worth it! I've used smoke bombs but you can also try smoke powder or a variety of items. Get creative!

12. Fire

BE RESPONSIBLE!!!! Fire can be really epic for photos but please be careful. Have water nearby and a buddy or two to assist you. Don't work with or near anything super flammable. (Don't light things on fire in your garage near a can of gas like me -- learn from my mistakes). For this photo I had a friend nearby with a bucket of water and we were on pavement. Be safe, but create some epic photos!

13. When in doubt, find some cute animals

Dogs are great for everything. There is nothing a dog can't improve, including a photo. I was totally lost for inspiration one day and so I just started photographing this cutey (his name is Oliver and he loves people a lot). Dogs and other animals are not the easiest/most cooperative models but they're cute.

I hope that at least one of these ideas will inspire you and give you motivation to do an interesting photo shoot! Grab your camera and get out there.