kshapero
South Florida Man
Sometimes I can look through my VF and see nothing worth shooting. I think I am just uninspired. Other times every shot looks like it will be a winner and I feel so inspired. What a high! Wish I could bottle it.🙂
How to be an inspired photographer
- Thread starter kshapero
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FrozenInTime
Well-known
I know what you mean:
Sometimes I walk about a mile circuit near my house.
Done it many times - rarely take any photographs.
Today things were just right and I took a whole roll of 120 film.
After lunch I did the same walk again and took another roll.
They are in the Rodinal right now 🙂
What happened to pre-visulization 🙄
Sometimes I walk about a mile circuit near my house.
Done it many times - rarely take any photographs.
Today things were just right and I took a whole roll of 120 film.
After lunch I did the same walk again and took another roll.
They are in the Rodinal right now 🙂
What happened to pre-visulization 🙄
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jky
Well-known
Those "other times" are few & far between for me... but the pursuit of it is one of things that inspires.
Pablito
coco frío
The best way to be an inspired photographer is not to wait around for inspiration.
...variant on the old Edison quote about inspiration / perspiration...
...variant on the old Edison quote about inspiration / perspiration...
Haigh
Gary Haigh
I am often content just to notice the light, textures, shadows and just wander. After a while I start to notice possibilities. I never expect anything to happen and sometimes that's just when it does.
reiki_
Well-known
I like that zen thing about not-doing with description of how a spider just builds his web without knowing WHEN he'll catch a fly. Preparedness , not prediction. And patience , of course 🙂 .
btgc
Veteran
how about photo project "Uninspired photographers" ? That could deliver a lot of inspiration 😀
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Most professional photography doesn't require inspiration. You're working to a brief: you need to realize the brief.
Amateur/fun/fine art photography is quite hard to 'force'. Better to wait until something inspires you.
Of course, a self-imposed project (amateur/fine art) is closer in some ways to professional photography.
Cheers,
R.
Amateur/fun/fine art photography is quite hard to 'force'. Better to wait until something inspires you.
Of course, a self-imposed project (amateur/fine art) is closer in some ways to professional photography.
Cheers,
R.
jbielikowski
Jan Bielikowski
You need more nice girls.
Pickett Wilson
Veteran
Just shoot something! The act of shooting photos can often bring forth inspiration. The main thing is to shoot photos. If you "wait" for inspiration in your easy chair, she may never find you.
David R Munson
写真のオタク
Maybe this sounds contradictory, but I'd say you need to spend more time without the camera. This way you can practice seeing without the pressure of making images. After all, if you don't see the image before the camera is brought to your eye, no amount of hunting will make it happen.
Spend more time indulging in the things that you find enriching. Listen to great music. Watch great films. Look at great photography. Eat great food. Etc etc etc. Feed your mind and your spirit.
Creativity must be encouraged and maintained. Expecting it to just happen only yields frustration.
One of my favorite things to do when I'm feeling creatively-challenged is to just put on the headphones and go for a long walk. Long as in 2-3 hours sometimes. No camera*, just looking at the world around me in an unhurried way.
*I will sometimes sneak a camera into my bag in case I see something *really* good. 😉
kshapero
South Florida Man
Recently I upgraded to an Iphone 4. it is always with me a the photos are quite excellent. This made me happy (to get the shot) and depressed (what about all my other equipment). Then it flipped and that in a weird way made things look different in the VF of my Rangefinder. Rambling, sorry.
Nate Butler
Established
When I'm not feeling inspired but want to take pictures, I work on improving my technique without worrying about whether or not the picture has good content. Lately, it's been working on using a flash.
mathomas
Well-known
One thing I'm considering to try is http://www.dailyshoot.com. It's kind of like Brian Eno's "Oblique Strategies" for photography. It's a sort-of mashup site (with Twitter and some photo sites) that hands out a daily assignment, and you then upload your photo to a photo site and tweet its location to the dailyshoot's twitter account. The main site then displays your image along with those of other people. It sounds more complicated than it actually is.
The key thing is the assignment, though -- you don't have to post a thing.
The key thing is the assignment, though -- you don't have to post a thing.
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
Taking one photo from exposure to its final form (a print) usually inspires me to keep going.
Make a lens out of spare parts. You will want to try it out to see what effects you get from it.
Bob Michaels
nobody special
I think David R Munson has it figured out. You can not make photography the primary objective. That will leave you flat very often. Instead you need to go out and live life, observe, be interested in the world around you. Then you will find images or concepts you will want to communicate to others. Photography is no more than your personal best way to communicate those.
Example: Eudora Welty is one of my favorite photographers. (OK, I have many favorites) She was a great student of life, observer and communicator. She is well known as an author. Yet she was a very casual photographer. I have seen a retrospective her life's photo work and there are just over 100 photos. She only owned two cameras in her life. When she lost the 2nd one, she never bothered to replace it. Yet the photos she made are classics.
FrankS
Registered User
Whenever I hit an uninspired phase, I use a camera that hasn't been used for a while, preferably a different type of camera. The difference in gear helps get me out of a rut.
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