Limitations inspire creativity. I would even say there would be no creativity without limitations. Limitations create challenges, and creativity overcomes challenges. Its as simple as that. Think of aviation—people can't fly, that's a challenge to overcome. So bam, we invent the aeroplane. And you can always tell who the least creative art students are—they gripe the most about completing the assignment and not being able to do what they want. Our instructors have figured out the best way to kindle creativity: assign projects with an obscure, but challenging criteria—the tallest tower from one sheet of paper, the lightest bridge that can hold a brick, a piece made from multiples of one type of object. Some writing prompts for standardized tests are like this too. You could write about vigilante heroism in response to a particularly dull writing prompt about community service. The end product wouldn't turn out the same if you told someone to just build something or just write something.
That being said, the challenge for my St. Louis photos (with the exception of the fisheye-cathedral photos), was to shoot with my 50mm portrait lens and shoot in only black and white. Not much of a challenge, I know, but the photos wouldn't have turned out the same if I were switching lenses and anticipating a lot of manipulation in post production.
1/6s at f/22 ISO 100
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