Comments on: Where to Find Inspiration

By: Berilula

Berilula — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:33:35 +0000

Like you said watching movies is a great way to find inspiration… but i moving further and i say… the movie posters are great too! …And, like all of us in here, I squeeze the lime
Light be with you, people!

By: Stijn

Stijn — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:44:32 +0000

I get my inspiration mainly from photo’s on the internet or things that pop into my head while I’m shooting.
Books are a good source too.
Just last week I was in a store where they sell clothes, everyting from one brand was placed together and here and there
were a few catalogues. I was looking into one and one of the sellers said that I could take it with me if i wanted.
So now I have the O’neill spring/summer catalogue right in front of me. It’s 255 pages of pure photography and digital artwork!
Very nice and fun to look into.

By: Laurent

Laurent — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:22:31 +0000

When I have no inspiration, I take my camera and begin shooting… quickly, inspiration comes and plenty of ideas too. The thing is to be not too lazy to make the first step ..

By: IllOgical42

IllOgical42 — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 11:39:56 +0000

Hmmm, where to start…
- Keeping a file of things that look interesting - don’t care if it’s the message conveyed, use of colour or a pose or background
- Based on the previous point: read books or scrawl the intaweb for articles on “how-to” shoot and/or post process. I love my RSS feeds from Chase, Lime, Strobist, PGS, John Nack and Joe McNally.
- Limitation: by limiting myself I have to work around those limitations
- Alcohol, preferably consumed with friends: brainstorming with friends always yields new views and ideas
- Shooting with fellow shooters: see previous point
- Try to combine two ideas which have no apparent relationship. In absence of ideas pick 2 words at random from a dictionairy or newspaper. Works very good when done in the presence of prevouisly mentioned friends/fellow shooters.
- Music - close your eyes, listen and feel. Try to capture the feeling.

And one things I still on my to do list:
- Long term self assignments: projects that always run in the background with low priority e.g. Bryan Peterson’s red ball project (http://www.7photographyquestions.com/2008/10/p21-inspiration-creates-a-lighthearted-dalmatian-picture.html). So when the muse has taken a day of, work on one of those projects.

By: pepin

pepin — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:20:56 +0000

try watching MTV.. the lighting in music videos rock! (no pun intended)

Music videos often have funky/effective lighting. I always wanted to replicate those in my pics.

By: CallumW

CallumW — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:15:07 +0000

My inspiration comes from my surroundings and what’s shown to me thousands of times a day - if I just keep my eyes open to them :o)

My day job is in London so every billboard, bus stop, shop window, tube advert, over the shoulder newspaper, book cover etc.. gets analysed, reverse engineered and picked apart.
Even sitting on public transport or in a park watching how different coloured light falls over stranger’s faces or how someone gets perfectly framed for just a second in their surroundings and thinking about how you could take a shot with ambient light or (gelled?) flashes.
It’s all there around us

I’m also a big fan of the occasional personal “play day” where it doesn’t matter if all you shoot is rubbish as I think it can be a useful tool to free the mind. A day where there’s no pressure to get ‘the shot’ and if something different works then it’s a bonus.

By: One Mojito later

One Mojito later — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:15:56 +0000

It is funny to read we all do same things to get inspiration and then again end up making different pictures. Culture, technique and vision drive these differences which again inspire allow us to learn, experience and stay motivated in doing more and more.
On my personal blog http://www.bernardpanier.be I wrote what inspire me and referenced some magazine, photographers and movies.

By: Miguel Angel Touset

Miguel Angel Touset — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:49:21 +0000

I usually use some innovation techniques to go forward in new images and in business. It works!

By: staf sleeckx

staf sleeckx — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:18:42 +0000

it is a nice thought,reading the words of what i feel and do,
being put in to a txt
so much to explore,so little time

By: Kim Long

Kim Long — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:34:26 +0000

Sometimes, going out to take pictures with a friend is a good way to reinspire yourself. A simple idea from another person might spark up your imagination again. And it’s just more fun to play with someone else than alone.