Creative ideas?

Join a competion site who regulary have themes gets you thinking.:)
 
You want to shoot portraits?
Do self portraits.
Set the shot up as you want it, self timer and bingo.
There are several people on this site who do alot of self portrait work. Me being one of them. I learn alot about myself and I know exactly how I want a shot to look.
Try it out :)
I've been doing it for years and I'm still not bored :D
Always new ideas.
 
Do you know which artist did self-portraits every so often? Rembrandt! They are some of his most famous works, as they chronicle his life and how he looked at certain ages.
 
Oh wow. Thanks for all of the millions of comments. :mrgreen:

Antoher (this comes from another member, but unfortunatelly I forgto whom): Pick a dictionary and select a random word. Try to get a pic related / inspired / signifying that word.
That's such a good idea. Thank you!

Emma, (does that mean we're your homies now?)
LOL. Okay. :lol:

For me, it is no sweat, because I'm up while it's still dark every day of the week for work. For others, especially photographer types, we know that the golden hours are around dawn & dusk. So get up before dawn and get up there. I know it's hard, but it is worth it. This is good on weekends. Then go out and shoot until the light turns to crap. Then, come home and take a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day, and wake up in time for the next golden hour!
Mmm, I'll have to try that. (Try being the keyword here.)

First make sure you have what you will need and haven't left any thing. -camera, batteries, lens brush, extra memory if you think you might need it, water and energy bars if you might be gone that long and whether you are going to hike the Grand Tetons or even if you are just going to the next neighborhood over Always tell some one where you are going and when you expect to get back. Cameras are valuable and you never know when some one is going to want yours badly enough to knock you out for it (I am NOT trying to scare you but I am hoping that you will be cautious. You should be a Great photographer, If you pay attention to the details.)
Thanks for the tips. I always been my (minimal) equipment with me, just in case!


You want to shoot portraits?
Do self portraits.
Set the shot up as you want it, self timer and bingo.
There are several people on this site who do alot of self portrait work. Me being one of them. I learn alot about myself and I know exactly how I want a shot to look.
Try it out :)
I've been doing it for years and I'm still not bored :D
Always new ideas.
They never turn out that great for me, but I still often keep on trying. Thanks!

Didn't he also invent toothpaste? :lol: :er:
HAHA, I'm laughing. Now, with my possible gullible-ness, I'll have to look it up. :confused::lmao:


.....Wooo, long post.
 
I live in a small town in Ontario, and I feel what you are going through. I try and go out and shoot a roll of black and white each week, but sometimes it is just so difficult. I try and travel outside of my town which always proves interesting, but also I don't drive.

I guess a part of photography is making boring things seem interesting. Good luck on your future creative adventures.
 
I guess a part of photography is making boring things seem interesting.

I agree. I think also that because we each see the things around us in a unique way, a part of photography is also capturing what we find interesting and intriguing that others might miss and give them a chance to get a glimpse into the world as we see it. Part of this is realizing that sometimes what is boring to us because it's something we are so familiar with can be quite interesting to someone who is not so familiar with it. I see a lot of nice scenes while hiking that don't seem worth taking a photo of because I've seen the same type of thing about a million times it seems. But to someone who has never seen mountains up close in real life, let alone seen the view from on top of one, what might be a boring photo to me could look quite spectacular to someone else. So making boring things look interesting is not always that difficult.


Hi Emma. My name is Tony. (first post here). I had a look at your photos (and incidentally you bear a remarkable resemblance to one of my daughters who is about the same age as you) and one photo in particular that I really like is this one (despite chopping a little of the top-I've done this too): http://cherrymoose.smugmug.com/gallery/2384946#124984493
It appears you have a knack for black and white which is something I don't understand very well myself. I appreciate black and white when I see one that I think is good but I don't seem to be able to do it very well myself. I think a person has to have a certain perspective (that I lack) to choose a composition that will look good in black and white. Your other black and white photos also show an eye for this type of photography. As you said you adore it and it is no problem, this may be an area for you to explore more fully as a solution to your lack of specific subject matter to photograph. I think that rather than looking for suggestions of subjects to photograph you might be better off to just go out and wander around with the camera looking for what might work well for black and white. For photos like the one I linked to, you simply need backlit shapes or lines and there should be plenty of these to find at the time of day you usually do your photography.
As well, I really like the one with the blue background in the top right of your nature thumbnails. It appears this was taken very late in the day when light was very low. This is a really great time to get color photos that are similar to black and white (in that you have various shades of blue rather than various shades of grey) as the light is quite unique just after the sun disappears behind the horizon, although a tripod is sometimes necessary. Another thought when looking at that photo is, if it interests you, macro is something that can keep one quite busy and provides for an almost endless choice of subjects both indoors and out. Constructing a light tent and experimenting with lighting for macro photos is a useful thing to learn and can help with understanding lighting for other types of photography.
Also, you have some wonderful opportunities for photography with the hills on one side and the bay on the other. Perhaps you could convince your parents to do some family outings on a weekend to explore these areas.
Hope this gives you some ideas. Best of luck and don't stop showing your view of the world to those who may not notice things the same way you do.
 
I make cartoons in photoshop from my digital photos. Combine two or three photos into one and you can have some real fun in the results. It passes the time very well. check out this site under macro and landscapes I have a sunrise posted on the landscapes. Also the wildlife pics Have fun
http://www.thephotographyforum.com/forum/
 
I live in a small town in Ontario, and I feel what you are going through. I try and go out and shoot a roll of black and white each week, but sometimes it is just so difficult. I try and travel outside of my town which always proves interesting, but also I don't drive.

I guess a part of photography is making boring things seem interesting. Good luck on your future creative adventures.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't drive either [obviously], and although I used to not want to get a license, I'm almost longing for one now. I can't wait for the day I can take the car and drive somewhere to take different photographs than all this same stuff.

Try a macrophotography - there is a huge bizzare world down at your feet.

Oh, I've tried. Let me just say macro and I don't get along too well. Or maybe, I can blame it on my crappy camera.

highwoodhiker, your post was so long that I'm not going to quote it. But thank you.
Yes, I enjoy B&W a lot. I find it easier to capture stuff when I know I can convert it into black and white later. I also find that the majority of my favorite photos [the ones I've taken and other peoples] are usually always in black and white. The tones just appeal to me a lot more.

I'm dying to get my mom to take me into the city sometime soon for a photography shooting day. Hopefully she'll give in soon. Otherwise, I'll have to wait for my big opportunity this summer in Greece for something unique.
 
highwoodhiker, your post was so long that I'm not going to quote it. But thank you.
You're welcome. (And I see now that it is rather long -didn't mean to write a book:lol: )
Yes, I enjoy B&W a lot. I find it easier to capture stuff when I know I can convert it into black and white later. I also find that the majority of my favorite photos [the ones I've taken and other peoples] are usually always in black and white. The tones just appeal to me a lot more.
I've always been interested in how the camera can record the actual color of light differently than our eyes see it (which is why we have white balance setting on our camera) and I'll sometimes take it into account when I'm looking for ways to use color to influence the overall mood of a scene when the photo is viewed. I think I need about 10 years more experience to do this as succesfully as I would like to but because I've experimented with it I can visualize how the camera will show colors without white balance and sometimes may choose to change or completely overide my camera's white balance to achieve a certain effect or just because I'm curious to know the actual colors of light that our eyes filter out. I've gotten a few rather fake looking (to our eyes)sunrises and sunsets by doing this. But visualizing a scene to determine how it will look in black and white is something I don't seem to have much ability at. I'm glad some people do as some black and white photography I see is really remarkable and sometimes can be a much better way to show the scene than color. Not in the compstions I normally choose though. I guess I'm too busy concentrating on the color because I seem to understand it better. I suppose those who excel at black and white have a better ability to naturally discern the contrasts of light in a scene while I'm more apt to notice the contrasts of the colors themselves. When I took my signature photo, which is a 400 mm view of a rainstorm several miles away, I had no idea there was that much contrast in the lighting of the scene. The light levels looked fairly even all over to me and it was only the colors that made me notice the scene. If it was suitable for B&W because of the contrasting light, I never would have realized it.
Anyway, now that I'm done boring you to death....
I'm dying to get my mom to take me into the city sometime soon for a photography shooting day. Hopefully she'll give in soon. Otherwise, I'll have to wait for my big opportunity this summer in Greece for something unique.
Yea, just keep bugging her until she can't stand it anymore. Follow her around with the camera snapping pics of her so she'll get the message.:lol:
Greece sounds cool. And sorting through a zillion photos should keep you quite busy the rest of the summer.

Oh, I've tried. Let me just say macro and I don't get along too well. Or maybe, I can blame it on my crappy camera.

Actually, digicam lenses are very suited to doing good macro. I had a heck of a time with it too at first but are there several tricks to it that can really help to get nice results. I don't want to write another book here but if you're interested, I can give you some pointers. Might be an idea for a seperate thread as I know many people have difficulty with it while others seem to know how to do it very well. I'm no expert but I did learn lots one day spending all afternoon trying to get a good full frame photo of a dime.:roll:
 

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