What keeps you inspired?

[SoulfulRecover]

I am easily inspired but just as easily disillusioned through my own anxieties and fears. I know what they are and I know how to over come them but unfortunately its a slow process.

My biggest inspiration comes from looking through other peoples work. I dont know why but seeing peoples work makes me want to go shoot and create. Specifically behind the scenes videos of fashion and portrait work. Ive watched through all of Framed/Film Network on Youtube as well as DigitalRev (the latter more for entertainment) and I enjoy watching Emily Sotos videos among many others.

So I am curious to hear what keeps others inspired to continue to shoot and create whether it is for fun or profit.

 

[Trever1t]

I love my subject matter...plain and simple.

 

[MichaelHenson]

I love my subject matter...plain and simple.

Mhm. It's gotta be a chore!

I'm inspired by a combination of things. Some are legitimately artistic/creative in their inspiration, and others are more goal based. I love shooting because I love capturing the beauty of the world, the stories that a photography can tell, and the memories that would otherwise fade. I love shooting because I love the feeling that I get when I get back to my computer and see a photo I've taken come alive. I love shooting because of the challenge it presents to capture a creative expression with technical expertise (not there yet by the way). And, I love shooting because it is something that I can see myself eventually making some money that I can use to pay off student loans.

I am going to have to check out the videos you mentioned. I'm new enough that pretty much any area of photography is interesting and exciting so seeing some behind the scenes of fashion shoots, etc. is something I'm definitely going to check out!

 

[pixmedic]

people giving me money.

 

[pixmedic]

I love my subject matter...plain and simple.

lets face it Trever....
we ALL love your subject matter.

 

[gsgary]

Go on youtube and watch Andreas Feininger and you can't help to be inspired

 

[phillipkane]

someone looking at a photograph i've shot and either smiling, or it extracting some other emotion out of them

 

[runnah]

I look around on Flickr, get excited then depressed.

 

[bribrius]

when I am dead, this is something I leave behind

 

[gsgary]

If you shoot digital there is not much to leave behind, just a hard drive and prints that will fade

 

[SoulfulRecover]

I am going to have to check out the videos you mentioned. I'm new enough that pretty much any area of photography is interesting and exciting so seeing some behind the scenes of fashion shoots, etc. is something I'm definitely going to check out!

Fashion Photography Channel:

Fashion Photography Channel - YouTube

Framed Show: (I like their film section the most)

Framed Show - YouTube

Emily Soto:

Emily Soto - YouTube

DigitalRev:

DigitalRev TV - YouTube

The Slanted Lens:

The Slanted Lens - YouTube

Ben Sant:

Ben Sant - YouTube

Jared Polin:

Jared Polin - YouTube

 

[limr]

Light is inspiring. I can't help but notice it and its changing quality makes me remain interested even in the same exact scene, just to see what else I can do with that scene that is different or to figure out how to catch the light in a new way.

Past failures inspire me to do better. Past successes inspire me to live up to them.

Other people's work is inspiring if it makes me think or feel something, even if it's not clear what I'm feeling.

Emotions inspire me to figure out how to express them in a photograph.

 

[MichaelHenson]

I am going to have to check out the videos you mentioned. I'm new enough that pretty much any area of photography is interesting and exciting so seeing some behind the scenes of fashion shoots, etc. is something I'm definitely going to check out!

Fashion Photography Channel:

Fashion Photography Channel - YouTube

Framed Show: (I like their film section the most)

Framed Show - YouTube

Emily Soto:

Emily Soto - YouTube

DigitalRev:

DigitalRev TV - YouTube

The Slanted Lens:

The Slanted Lens - YouTube

Ben Sant:

Ben Sant - YouTube

Jared Polin:

Jared Polin - YouTube

Sweet! Thanks! I'll definitely be checking these out! I actually took a look at a couple of the Emily Soto videos and love them! I really like her post-processing style on some of her photos...You could say that they are...inspiring.

 

[photoguy99]

I get inspiration from all over. A blog post I read somewhere, a specific object I happen across, a random thought, something my kids say.

The common thread is that whatever it is, unfolds itself into a project. I can visualize/imagine a portfolio of a dozen photographs (more or less) that might carry an idea I have of whatever it is. It might be just to express my vision of an object. It might be an essay on a philosophy. It might be my own inverted imagining of something. But in all cases there's a group of images that seem to be possible.

 

[Derrel]

I can't stop thinking about photos and the process of making photos. The thought processes going on inside of my own brain is what keeps me at the photo game. I consciously try not to look at tons of other peoples' work: I did that for the first 25 years I was into photography, and I think the earliest years of study/imitating/practicing are where our fundamental or baseline ideas are first formed and refined, and then we sort of form our basic style, but after that I think we tend to develop our own ways of seeing, and doing things. Nowadays, with the internet and YouTube and social media becoming big vehicles for images and photography, there's more stuff than ever to look at, and not all of it is good. There's a lot less filtering/gatekeeping going on today than there ever was before, so a lot of stuff that's being shown is...it's hard to describe. I dunno...I'm not being inspired from external sources any longer, it's shifted more and more internally as I've gotten older.

I feel less desire to imitate or follow than I used to, and more like I am in charge of my own ship. I think that's what tends to happen as one gets older, and I think that for the younger people in photography, or those newer to it, that right now is a great time to be able to SEE a lot of different types of work being shown, and to get to use some of the best equipment and technology we have EVER had the good fortune to be exposed to, so it's a good time to look at a lot of stuff and dabble in it, and learn the various things that are possible to do. By the same token, there is also tons of crap being done and shown widely, and being emulated by people fascinated with Photoshop and Lightroom and software "steps" and "file processing routines",and that worship of "file processing routines" is leading to this 500px, cookie-cutter mentality where the actual lenswork and on-the-ground photography parts of the equation are often being overlooked, and the "Photoshop stage" is being used to beautify poorly-composed and even poorly-conceptualized clicks of a shutter. That's the main reason I dislike browsing the big aggregator sites.