Captured - Weekly Newsletter

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Frictionless Creativity

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Hey Reader,

This week, I found myself out shooting a lot more.

I don’t know if it was the weather or just the need to get out of the house, but something stood out to me.

Creativity depends on having fewer obstacles.

Walking outside, shooting, creating, it all felt easy. Effortless. Frictionless.

And that’s what sparked this idea I’ve been thinking about all week: frictionless creativity.

When It's Not Motivation, It's Friction

There’s a big difference between not wanting to do something and wanting to do it but never getting around to it.

That second one? That’s usually friction.

It’s the tiny barriers that pile up until they quietly stop you.

A dead battery, a full SD card, a messy desk, or the old microphone you still use for voiceovers that’s sitting in your drawer and makes recording feel like an effort.

For me, I’ve realised that when I have the desire to create but it’s still not happening, it’s not a discipline problem. It’s a systems problem.

Once you see where friction hides, you can start removing it.

Simplify Without Losing Depth

When I first got the DJI Osmo Pocket 3, I loved it.

It made documenting life so much easier.

No setup, no stress, I could pull it out, hit record, and stay present.

But eventually, I noticed I’d simplified too much.

Having one fixed lens made my footage look the same.

The stabilised footage was great, but I missed the creative control of using my main camera.

That’s the balance with frictionless creating.

Ease is good, but not if it limits the shots you want to capture or the vibe of the work you want.

Make your process smoother, not smaller.

Build Systems That Support Flow

The more I learn about creativity, the more I realise it thrives on structure.

This year, I’ve started learning about systems.

Not to over-organise but to make it easier to show up.

For example, I have a clear flow for this newsletter now.

I no longer sit down and try to come up with a random idea during the week; I look back at the end of the week and reflect on what’s gone down.

I’ve built project templates in Premiere so every edit starts the same way, with all my bins, titles, and sequences ready to go.

Little things, but they remove friction at the start.

And when starting is easy, you don’t waste energy deciding how to start.

I'm learning that systems don’t make you rigid. They create space for flow.

It's something that took me a while to learn, so hopefully you can take this on board sooner than I did!

The Right Kind of Friction

Not all friction is bad.

The kind that forces you to learn something new is the good kind.

It might slow you down in the moment, but it usually leads to growth.

Like learning manual settings, switching to RAW, or experimenting with a new focal length.

That is all friction, but it’s actually good friction.

You can usually tell it’s good friction when the desire to create is still there, even after the challenge, or if you feel motivated to get through a portion of it, not depleted.

It pulls you forward instead of pushing you away.

Overall

Frictionless Creativity isn’t about shortcuts.

It’s about keeping your craft close enough that you can pick it up without hesitation.

You don’t need a perfect system, just less in the way.

And the easier it is to start, the more often you’ll show up.

So this week, try to look for one source of friction and fix it.

You’ll be surprised how much opens up once you do.

Catch you next week,

Matty 📷 🚀