Inspiration

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Gary
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morning all!

Just wondering how you all come by ideas is it a hard thought out process or is it something that comes naturally?

Do you look for things or come across things?
Do you think that would make a great photo or “how can I make this into a great photo?

Do you think people would love this shot or do you put your thoughts first?

I struggle with ideas lol
 
I also struggle a bit with inspiration. I agree with @Phil V, photograph what you love. But even that I sometimes struggle with, flowers is my thing, but find they all look a bit samey. I try and think outside of the box (easier said than done sometimes).
Take a look at Flickr or similar and see if anything inspires you.
 
I had an idea of a sunset reflecting off a motorcycle helmet visor.... looks like I’ll have to find a model

My love is divided between motorcycles/road racing and fishing so both subjects that have been done forever and a day.
I’m not naturally creative which is a bit of a downside but hopefully I can work on it
 
What's thought of as creativity can involve a lot of thought or be more visceral, and what you're drawn to might relate to your personality. For photography, don't necessarily consider 'things', but always consider light.

In answer, I take photos for myself, but then I share them.

If I go out photographing it can be like hunting, and I may be an opportunist, but I cultivate a visual alertness. It's like a mode that I sometimes have to remember to switch on if I have a camera with me.

Yes go for the helmet sunset!
 
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Whenever I'm stuck for inspiration, wanting to do go out and do some photography but can't think of anything specific to do, I just put a general purpose lens on the camera and take a walk, just follow my nose to somewhere interesting. Given a few hours of wandering I'll quite often come across something interesting enough to spend some time trying to take a good photograph of it, sometimes interesting enough that I'll plan to return with a more appropriate and better lens, perhaps when the sun is in a better position, with maybe a tripod.
 
morning all!

Just wondering how you all come by ideas is it a hard thought out process or is it something that comes naturally?

Do you look for things or come across things?
Do you think that would make a great photo or “how can I make this into a great photo?

Do you think people would love this shot or do you put your thoughts first?

I struggle with ideas lol
I photograph stuff which interests me. Not always visually. I make the pictures to please myself. If I manage to get creative it's through shooting a load of crap. Eventually I get bored of taking the obvious pictures and start playing around. That's when something interesting might happen.

YMMV I'm told some people work better by planning everything out in advance.
 
You’ll never take photos you love if your forcing it. You’ll find your creativity when you find subjects that interest you.
 
I just go out walking, hiking, to the beach.... If I find/see an interesting scene, if the sun is in the right place, if the clouds/sky is playing ball...... then excellent. If they aren't, then I've been out somewhere & learnt something ;)
 
I agree with the comments that you need to photograph what you love, but there is more to it than that.

A camera is not a human eye and it sees differently than we do. In some ways better and in some ways worse. It is a common mistake to see something which is appealing and then try to take a photograph of it. This can work to an extent, but only to an extent. Sunsets are the classic case. It is very hard to capture the beauty of a sunset as the real thing is a complete, wrap-around scene, but the photo is just small screen or print and needs more than just a sunset to look good.

On the other hand, cameras can record things that human eyes have trouble seeing well. Things like frozen action in a sporting match or macro detail of an insect.

Light is recorded a bit differently by cameras, as is colour, so you need to think about what the camera will see rather than what you will see.
 
I agree with the comments that you need to photograph what you love, but there is more to it than that.

A camera is not a human eye and it sees differently than we do. In some ways better and in some ways worse. It is a common mistake to see something which is appealing and then try to take a photograph of it. This can work to an extent, but only to an extent. Sunsets are the classic case. It is very hard to capture the beauty of a sunset as the real thing is a complete, wrap-around scene, but the photo is just small screen or print and needs more than just a sunset to look good.

On the other hand, cameras can record things that human eyes have trouble seeing well. Things like frozen action in a sporting match or macro detail of an insect.

Light is recorded a bit differently by cameras, as is colour, so you need to think about what the camera will see rather than what you will see.

Agreed, but finding composition of a subject you can’t find the interest or beauty in will never keep you picking your camera up.
 
Agreed, but finding composition of a subject you can’t find the interest or beauty in will never keep you picking your camera up.
Well, no, but I'm not suggesting you are blind to what the camera can take. You can look at something and imagine what the camera might see. Then you can take a picture and, with digital, see the result. The more you do it, the better you get. If you don't do it, you will probably be disappointed with the photos.
 
I sometimes struggle too, especially in my local area.

Take a trip out (maybe to the coast, nice ride to Littlehampton or Chichester from Guildford)

Consider getting an infrared converted camera too. I did this and you'd be surprised how well IR images come out on a supposedly dull day for colour (correctly processed of course).

I take my best stuff on holidays when I have no stress.
 
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