Where do you find inspiration?

D

danny842003

Messages
237
Name
Daniel
Edit My Images
Yes
For me I am most interested in travel photography. But when im not traveling and everything is just normal I struggle for inspiration in seeing what could make a good subject. Ideally I want to improve my photography skills so next time I do go away I can take some much nicer photos.
Has anyone else felt like this when they were just getting in to photography and if so what did you do to better yourself?
 
Yes ! This is exactly how I felt 18 months ago - I had a new camera so why couldn't I suddenly produce amazing pics ? I walked round and round and round my neighbourhood and found nothing...and started losing interest..

Then I discovered that I needed to look at things differently, get out more and take photos of different things. I'm distinctly average at taking pics but am always looking to improve. Now I'd love to take amazing photos very day but realistically it's not going to happen due to being at work. At the weekend, get up early ( or not so now the clocks have changed ) for a sunrise. Sunset is around 5.30 so that easier too..

Most of all, try to enjoy it
 
Yes its always difficult. Getting on a train and visiting a different city your not so familiar with helps some times.
 
Looking at other people's photos can be a help, I often look at somebody else's work and that will trigger an idea of how I could shoot a subject I already know in a different way. It may be a different angle, different light, etc.

Spending time trawling Flickr or this website is a great source of ideas.
 
Tunbridge said:
Looking at other people's photos can be a help, I often look at somebody else's work and that will trigger an idea of how I could shoot a subject I already know in a different way. It may be a different angle, different light, etc.
Click to expand...

I agree, attending inter club competitions gives me plenty of inspiration from seeing other peoples prints.
 
Search for your own locality on Flickr and see what others make of it; if you like it, try to imitate or improve on it.
 
I find the most inspiration when I don't have a camera with me. I see something and think I could get a good shot if I took it this way or that way etc. Then I try to go back and shoot it once I've had a think about the light and angles I want to shoot it from.

Most of my shots are aviation, wildlife and macro so I don't need much inspiration for them but with the occasional inspired shot amongst them.
 
Im a football fan but I dont think taking photos of football would interest me would rather just watch it I think. I think local history is probably going to be the best bet. If the weather looks decent on sunday I might head down HMS Victory.
 
I try to set myself mini projects by picking a concept and trying to work inside it for a couple of weeks ~ patterns, three colours, artificial light, reflections, freezing motion, trees. That kind of thing. Some fail, some I give up on, but at least I am always learning.

Carry camera everywhere!
 
I too have run into the wall of what next. It seems as if the more I learn the fewer shots I take. Mostly because I can see why the shot won't work before taking it now. The one thing that has helped me is to go back and look very closely at my favorite shots and figure out exactly what it is about the shot that I liked so much. For me I really liked taking picture that involved water. Lakes, sunsets over the ocean and so forth. As I looked closely at these pictures of mine I finally realized that it is not water that I like as much as it is the reflections. This opened up my eyes to seek out reflections of other types and in turn gave me a new avenue to explore. So go back and look at your favorite shots and you might just find something fun and interesting to shoot. Hope it helps. Good luck!
 
I take inspiration from my mince pies. If I see a scene photo worthy, I'll snap it there and then should the light be right and I have a camera with me - even a phone cam. If the light's wrong and/or I have no proper camera, I'll usually take a phonetograph as a reminder to revisit at a better time, with a better camera.

If visiting a completely new location, I'll try to remember to have a peek at Google Earth and see what others have shot there but I try not to repeat shots others have taken. I'll also have a look at local postcards to see if there are any worthwhile spots to shoot from, although many cards seem to be shot when the sun's shining and nobody's around.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top